I've just finished reading Evan Schuman's article over at e-week entitled "On Handicapped Access, Target Fights the Wrong Fight for the Wrong Reason" and noticed the troll in the article's "talkback" feature (comments) stating "Evan Schuman, you're an idiot."
Target fights the right fight for the right reason. There is absolutely no reason Target or any other corporate entity should be forced to re-engineer their website for blind accessibility. The ADA laws are another example of government grossly intruding into areas where it has no business being. Either you're simply stupid, or you're trying to raise your readership numbers by throwing out ignorant statements.
Let's hope no-one pokes his eyes out anytime soon or that he suffers any one of a number of ailments — temporary or otherwise — that might impinge on his ability to browse the Internet.
No Jim, you're the idiot.
Update 30 September 2006:
Good lord, the comments get even worse today. It reminds me of the comments I saw on the Wall Street Journal's blog when this story originally broke in February. Oh yes, blind drivers get a mention here too.
"soper_d" is tired of it:
If the blind want to do something - get someone to design a screen reader (like a scanner that converts the screen information to readable text which can then be translated to their language. Then they can go to any site in any language they want and have it read to them.) Adding additional crap on web pages that already load slow because of the content will only slow them down more and nobody will want to use the site.
He obviously doesn't know that a standards-compliant, accessible website also actually means smaller page sizes and hence faster viewing. There is significant outreach required outside of the web development community — every report on Target's accessibility lawsuit must have a paragraph listing very concisely, in Plain English, all the benefits of coding a website with standards and accessibility in mind. If you come across such articles either contact the author to add this info or write it yourself in the comments.
5 Responses to “Jim Bendtsen is an idiot”
Jon Tan
Thanks for the previous update on the Target case Karl.
Comments like ones you cite always say much more about the author than whatever they attempt to infer about the topic. When the commercial, technological and social arguments are lost inaccessible apologists will invariably turn to the old "why do drive-thru ATM's bother having braille on the keypad" chestnut.
Interestingly for me as an unwilling but successful litigator, the Target first defence of the ADA being inapplicable to their web site is so weak the fact that it even required a determination by the court speaks volumes about the lack of specificity in the Law. That is a much more important issue and if that determination is upheld when the case is finally decided it could move our agenda for positive accessible change forward significantly.
Mike Cherim
Those guys remind me of kids who know it all at ten, then they turn fourteen and realize that they didn't know it all at ten. And when they turn twenty they realize how stupid they sounded at fourteen... and the process continues forever. As a parent I've told my kids I wanted to record what they say you I can play it back to them in a few years and will then appreciate my position at the time.
I don't know if what those commenters wrote is the result of stupidity, ignorance, selfishness, or arrogance -- probably a combination -- but they remind me of the ten-year-olds in that they have a ways to go. Fortunately, on the web, their comments are recorded. They can look back at them someday, hopefully with a different stance, and maybe apologize for what they said back when.
I despise lawsuits as a rule, but this whole Target matter could/should be a positive turning point. It should be anyway. Karl, nice article. Feel free to use anything I've written, if appropriate, to help you present the plain-speak advantages you're looking for.
dotjay
Just a note to anyone reading this who is tempted to take the Yahoo! News item at face value...
It's really worth reading Joe Clark's item about the Target lawsuit for clarifications, especially the bulleted list near the bottom.
Karl Dawson
Oh yeah, good call Jon.
Jim
makes me think of "where would it gestate? in a box?"
The idiots do seem to be out in force over the Target lawsuit. Must be very frustrating for the people who actually have intelligent, carefully constructed arguments in Targets favour. Their lawyers, for example.