Accessible hi-fi designs
Having just sat through an amazing panel here at SXSW on hi-fi css designs, I struck me that the for-profit world is now ahead of the non-profit/educational world in accessible design. Sites like Wired, Fortune, and Espn are way more accessible and standards-based than 99 percent of the government/non-profit/education world. I think they main cause of this is simply money. Good designers demand the kind of money only the business world can afford; businesses can afford to do complete redesigns; businesses react to its market faster than government services because it means more money for them.
I do think that the same shift will happen in the do-gooder world, but it may be driven by different forces. Hopefully not user outcry or lawsuits, hopefully a desire to provide a better experience will drive it
You make some interesting points. I think that in order for accessibility to become the norm, that it needs to be driven by money, particularly in the for-profit world. I see your point about good designers; of course it depends on how “good” is defined with respect to designers (some/we may argue that you are only good if you design to standards; others may disagree), and how to get those designers who might be talented (but not good in our definition of the word) to become more interested in accessible design. How can money drive accessible design? Those sites that you mentioned (Wired etc.) have had their designs completed by accessibility gurus, but what about Bank of America, CNN, EBay, etc.? I am not quite sure how money is driving/will continue to drive most of the major companies to comply, other than hiring those preeminent designers like Veen et al.
My name is Jeff Coburn, too!