<andrew> Overview - http://www.w3.org/WAI/bcase/Overview
William: law has become more important
William: integrate ageing into accessibility, rather than isolating
Jack: is there a compelling reason to differentiate vs integrate? May be good to mention several groups to benefit
Andrew: enforce that older people
are online and that they are using computers
... bring closer the idea of a larger group and more
benefits
... any factors that would benefit from mentioning older
users?
William: corporation examples section not specific
Shadi: maybe should mention that the rising average age for the workforce in corporations
Jack: agree with that
... also wondering if we want to switch the order of legal and
policy factors
... it is not a nice-to-have but a fundamental right
William: in the legal part it refers to access for older people
Jack: propose putting legal and policy factors first, because people tend to see the first and last items most prominently
Isabelle: good idea for some
countries where legal frameworks exist
... but many other countries where this is not the case
... people may not pay attention to this
William: what's an example?
Isabelle: in Belgium there is a law but not strong enough
William: isn't the European Union strict about this?
Isabelle: countries within the Union have different laws
William: do you not want to put this as a first bullet?
Isabelle: there are some good arguments for doing so, but I think in some countries this does not work
Shadi: agree. also think that in many EU countries the private organizations do not feel that they are affected by policies and legislation
Andrew: also in Australia very similar
William: general direction is that accessibility eventually be regulated
Jack: what kind of factors would
be most compelling for organizations?
... why would people put the time and energy into changing
things
Isabelle: three other arguments
are more attractive to organizations
... the market generated by the ageing population is more
interesting for businesses in Belgium
...new businesses in
Belgium would likely listen to the technical and social
factors
Helle: agree with importance of
legal arguments
... but haven't seen much of a difference in the previous
years
... in EU people are still talking if we may need to have more
legislation
... don't see a difference now that we are talking about the
older population
Shadi: one difference is the UN Convention on people with disabilities - maybe bring this into the introduction, and emphasise equal access as the paramount goal
Helle: would be good if we could get that into the document
Shadi: maybe a way of formulating this is that equal rights are the basis, and the other arguments are supplementary, but necessary
Isabelle: there use to be a label called BlindSurfer in Belgium, now called AnySurfer
<scribe> ACTION: AA consider revising the first paragraph of the Overview to clarify that the paramount goal is including people with disabilities due to equal rights [recorded in http://www.w3.org/2008/09/17-waiage-minutes.html#action01]
<andrew> Social Factors - http://www.w3.org/WAI/bcase/soc.html
Andrew: any specific questions that we want to add?
Helle: second bullet, change social responsibility to equal access?
Shadi: social responsibility is
broader that equal opportunities
... could add the term "equal opportunities" into the sentence
after the question
William: should focus on older users
Shadi: think that equal opportunities also refers to gender, age, ethical background etc
[discussion if the fourth bullet leads to unnecessary separation]
William: accessibility also benefits other users
Shadi: as we grow older we all face impairments/disabilities, and we should be accounting for this (in section Social: Barriers to Web Use)
Shadi: CSR section ... commitment to providing equal opportunities for xyz? Maybe not.
William: middle block in "Access for Older Users" needs revision
Jack: think the information is
good, not sure if good under social factors
... maybe also need to say something about "functional
disabilities" or "other types of barriers" due to using other
sorts of devices
Andrew: overlap to mobile?
Jack: yes, we don't access the
Web only through desktop computers
... important social factor
Andrew: W3C holds annual meeting
where lots of W3C groups attend
... we may be able to use part of the time of the Education and
Outreach Working Group to meet
... short window of opportunity if we want to make use of
it
... some have responded already, wondering about interest of
others
... 23-24 October 2008 in Cannes, France
... will follow-up by mail to check participation
NEXT MEETING: October 1st