alistair@minster.york.ac.uk (Alistair Edwards) (10/26/90)
Index Number: 11274 I am shortly going to give a talk to the British Computer Society on the US legislation on accessibility of information technology. One aspect of the topic which interests me is why the US seems so far ahead of the UK in this area of legislation. I posted a question about this some time ago and several people responded along similar lines, suggesting that it was due to the fact that you have some pretty strong and vocal organizations. Reflecting on that, and my experience, I wonder whether your organizations are effective - in contrast to most of the corresponding groups in this country - partly because of two factors: 1. they are generally organizations OF disabled people, not FOR them 2. the emphasis is much more on political action than on charity I also wonder how much you are building on a foundation of Civil Rights, which probably goes way back to the establishment of the Constitution, but perhaps became more of a legislative matter in the 60's. Would anyone care to confirm or refute those ideas? ------------------------------------------------------------------ Alistair Edwards Lecturer in Computer Science University of York, York, England YO1 5DD earn/bitnet: alistair@minster.york.ac.uk arpanet: alistair@minster.york.ac.uk internet: alistair%minster.york.ac.uk@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk usenet: ukc!minster!alistair phone: +44 904 432775 fax: +44 904 432767
Jim.Sherwin@f21.n272.z1.fidonet.org (Jim Sherwin) (11/02/90)
Index Number: 11447
Hi Alistair,
If you think the United States is in the forefront of accessibility
of information, you may be suprised to find that we <Americans> have
been, and still are, taking a backseat to the efforts made in Germany,
France, and Europe. For starters try getting info on RISK in Great
Britian. If you want more information on these ideas let me know, I
have 'boxes' of literature on foreign efforts to aid the disabled.
Jim E. Sherwin
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