Comment by burningChrome

Comment by burningChrome 21 hours ago

>> it makes me so sad when I hear people say "it's just not worth it".

Companies are going to find out the hard way then. I work for a large corporation and we've had a consistent stream of companies and individuals contacting us about accessibility with several of our apps and sites.

This means more time to fix or completely redo these because they built them with accessibility issues baked into them and now we're tasked with fixing them or else deal with the legal ramifications.

Now that several states have included anything online or digital in the ADA, that means we now have a handful of law firms in CA and NY that are filing accessibility lawsuits. Just in 2024 there were over 4,000 lawsuits filed, the majority of them at the state level. The old adage that companies were taking a risk by not having their online apps and sites being accessible is a very real threat now.

I feel like the trend is finally starting to turn and companies are taking accessibility a lot more seriously now.

typewithrhythm 17 hours ago

This is a very artificial way to make the argument though; it's still not worth it from a revenue or user acquisition perspective, it's just a risk from a potentially fickle government body.

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TeMPOraL 16 hours ago

It's worse than not worth it, it's defeating some of the main ways they make money.
Misunderstanding this point leads to endless surprise in this topic. No, companies don't just "don't care" for some unfathomable reason. They don't want it in the first place; they begrudgingly make concessions to accessibility due to cultural and regulatory pressure.
The same things that let the disabled people participate, also help regular users escape the very traps and tricks businesses on-line use to make money. Now, supporting the former group may be a rounding error on the balance sheet, but enabling the latter to defeat monetization efforts, not so much.

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rickydroll 10 hours ago

Many moons ago, I attended a demo of a new software product, and without disclosing my disability to the vendor, I inquired about its accessibility features. They said that they don't do anything for the disabled because it's such a small market, and it wasn't profitable to accommodate the needs of disabled users.
I found myself irrationally enraged and had to walk away from the conversation. I thought about it when I calmed down and I realized I was feeling, "Who the fuck are you to tell me how I can live in the world?"
Dissecting these thoughts further led me to the understanding that, without accessibility, you are telling a class of people that they don't deserve access to education, government services, or commercial products.
Telling disabled people that they don't deserve access to any benefits of a civilized society is a long-standing and persistent attitude. It's roughly analogous to denying poor people health care, food, and basic shelter because all they deserve is what scraps we are willing to bestow on them.

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- typewithrhythm 3 hours ago
  
  You seem to have the opposite perspective on the relationship between someone who makes a product and customers...
  I am never looking at one specific person or group when planning what to invest time in, I'm looking for the best return.
  Its not a fair start point to claim I'm thinking on the level of who deserves access. Usually I'm following my own plans to try to break even.
  
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