service_dog_user (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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accessibility_fail2011-08-27 04:23 pm
service_dog_user) wrote in accessibility_fail2011-08-27 04:23 pm
Yes, because that REALLY makes me want to come back.
I go to Six Billion Secrets (.com) fairly regularly. I visit some of the other pages in the network as well, but for some reason I'm draw back to SBS. I'm not really sure why I go there. I suppose part of it is a reminder that everyone has problems and the other part is because the comments are often "good drama".
Over the past however long, the SBS website has become increasingly less accessible. When the site recently changed to every post having a different color behind it, that was the last straw. I literally cannot see their website without having an episode. This saddens me, so I wrote a note to the website management. I thought it would be the right thing to do to let the website know why they are losing me as a reader.
Here's how the conversation went:
Me: "I've been reading this site for a while, but it has gradually become less and less accessible. The most recent change, with the color "paper" behind the secrets, is more than I can handle. When I looked at it, it set off my disorder. I wanted to let you know I will not be coming back because of it."
Andrew, the guy who responded to me: 1. We are not done working on a new feature for SBS. What you saw was a technical glitch and not a final product.
2. putting a gun to my head will never help you get your way. At least not with me.
Me: 1. Technical glitch or not, the result will be the same -- a less accessible website that I and many others like me will not be able to use.
2. I most certainly never put a gun to your head, and if you see it that way, then I feel sorry for you. I was merely telling you why I was leaving your website despite the fact that I generally enjoy it. Do what you want with the information; most businesses I know would like to know why they're losing business and if there's anything they can do to help. Since I have obviously mistaken you for a business that care, I apologize.
Andrew: We do care. You get more bees with honey than vinegar. Ask questions, give respectful opinions, and don't threaten is how you will get things accomplished with me and almost everyone else.
Me: I'm not threatening anything. I am not doing anything except informing you that because your website is becoming less and less accessible, I will not be coming back. There is nothing there except a statement of fact. It is not disrespectful to tell you that I cannot go to your website anymore because of a disability. Beyond that, I have no questions to ask. I am not demanding you change your website so I can still use it. I am not asking you to do anything. All I was doing was telling you why I will not be coming back to your website and the reason for it.
Andrew: Threats and statements of facts aren't mutually exclusive.
Me:
threat
[thret] Show IPA
noun
1. a declaration of an intention or determination to inflict punishment, injury, etc., in retaliation for, or conditionally upon, some action or course; menace: He confessed under the threat of imprisonment.
2. an indication or warning of probable trouble: The threat of a storm was in the air.
3.a person or thing that threatens.
I sure would like to know where you're getting any threats from. As I said, it's not "I'm going to leave if you don't do something." The truth of it is "I am leaving because I am disabled and can no longer use your website." There is no threat there. It is a statement of fact. I literally cannot use your website anymore because of my disability.
If you view that as a threat, then I am sorry for you.
Andrew: Either you want to talk to me about ways about how we can improve SBS or you want to fight about this.
I don't care which because I have a lot of things to do currently. But I'm done engaging in the latter.
Me: You're the one who wanted to fight. I gave you the information that your website is less than accessible and I will not be returning to it because of that. You can do what you want with the information. If you want my help with making the website more accessible, then you chose the wrong approach.
I would've been happy to help you improve the accessibility of your website, but not when the very first thing you say to me is that I'm holding a gun to your head.
Brightest blessings.
[/end conversation]
Okay, so I got a bit snarky at the end. But who wouldn't when they're told that they are threatening someone with a gun? I mean, WTH?? I would've been more than happy to work with them on what is making the site less accessible, but instead I'm accused of being manipulative and threatening. I still don't see where I was threatening anything, but the response Andrew gave was far from warranted. It's clear to me that Andrew has no idea what it means to be disabled, and it's even more clear that the business has made no efforts to give their staff sensitivity training, to ensure that websites are accessible, or even how to have decent customer service.
I am beyond upset about this. So much so that I imagine I'm losing my coherency. But I will not sit by while some bully tries to push me around because I am disabled.
I wrote an email to the head of the business. I told him that I don't care what he does with the information and that I am going to share this story on every platform that I can.
Over the past however long, the SBS website has become increasingly less accessible. When the site recently changed to every post having a different color behind it, that was the last straw. I literally cannot see their website without having an episode. This saddens me, so I wrote a note to the website management. I thought it would be the right thing to do to let the website know why they are losing me as a reader.
Here's how the conversation went:
Me: "I've been reading this site for a while, but it has gradually become less and less accessible. The most recent change, with the color "paper" behind the secrets, is more than I can handle. When I looked at it, it set off my disorder. I wanted to let you know I will not be coming back because of it."
Andrew, the guy who responded to me: 1. We are not done working on a new feature for SBS. What you saw was a technical glitch and not a final product.
2. putting a gun to my head will never help you get your way. At least not with me.
Me: 1. Technical glitch or not, the result will be the same -- a less accessible website that I and many others like me will not be able to use.
2. I most certainly never put a gun to your head, and if you see it that way, then I feel sorry for you. I was merely telling you why I was leaving your website despite the fact that I generally enjoy it. Do what you want with the information; most businesses I know would like to know why they're losing business and if there's anything they can do to help. Since I have obviously mistaken you for a business that care, I apologize.
Andrew: We do care. You get more bees with honey than vinegar. Ask questions, give respectful opinions, and don't threaten is how you will get things accomplished with me and almost everyone else.
Me: I'm not threatening anything. I am not doing anything except informing you that because your website is becoming less and less accessible, I will not be coming back. There is nothing there except a statement of fact. It is not disrespectful to tell you that I cannot go to your website anymore because of a disability. Beyond that, I have no questions to ask. I am not demanding you change your website so I can still use it. I am not asking you to do anything. All I was doing was telling you why I will not be coming back to your website and the reason for it.
Andrew: Threats and statements of facts aren't mutually exclusive.
Me:
threat
[thret] Show IPA
noun
1. a declaration of an intention or determination to inflict punishment, injury, etc., in retaliation for, or conditionally upon, some action or course; menace: He confessed under the threat of imprisonment.
2. an indication or warning of probable trouble: The threat of a storm was in the air.
3.a person or thing that threatens.
I sure would like to know where you're getting any threats from. As I said, it's not "I'm going to leave if you don't do something." The truth of it is "I am leaving because I am disabled and can no longer use your website." There is no threat there. It is a statement of fact. I literally cannot use your website anymore because of my disability.
If you view that as a threat, then I am sorry for you.
Andrew: Either you want to talk to me about ways about how we can improve SBS or you want to fight about this.
I don't care which because I have a lot of things to do currently. But I'm done engaging in the latter.
Me: You're the one who wanted to fight. I gave you the information that your website is less than accessible and I will not be returning to it because of that. You can do what you want with the information. If you want my help with making the website more accessible, then you chose the wrong approach.
I would've been happy to help you improve the accessibility of your website, but not when the very first thing you say to me is that I'm holding a gun to your head.
Brightest blessings.
[/end conversation]
Okay, so I got a bit snarky at the end. But who wouldn't when they're told that they are threatening someone with a gun? I mean, WTH?? I would've been more than happy to work with them on what is making the site less accessible, but instead I'm accused of being manipulative and threatening. I still don't see where I was threatening anything, but the response Andrew gave was far from warranted. It's clear to me that Andrew has no idea what it means to be disabled, and it's even more clear that the business has made no efforts to give their staff sensitivity training, to ensure that websites are accessible, or even how to have decent customer service.
I am beyond upset about this. So much so that I imagine I'm losing my coherency. But I will not sit by while some bully tries to push me around because I am disabled.
I wrote an email to the head of the business. I told him that I don't care what he does with the information and that I am going to share this story on every platform that I can.
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Clarify
1. I had tried in the comments section that what went up wasn't a real feature, it was a technical error involving another one of our sites. I got a little upset when someone told me they weren't coming back because we had a small technical hiccup. Our technical guys work really hard and if someone was telling me she was leaving because of a small error they made, I wanted to defend them.
2. I took "set off my disorder" to mean caused me to lose my temper. If there was a real medical issue, I apologize. Essentially anything on the site that could have caused it would have been currently running on one of our sister-sites for months now. I assumed if that could cause a medical issue we would have heard about it right now.
I really am sorry if there was a medical issue.
Re: Clarify
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I thought she was overreacting. She wasn't. Instead, I was the one was over-reacting. I feel bad. I'm in communication with her right now.
I get a lot of emails from people who make exaggerated statements, and due to my ignorance about this sort of medical issue, I thought that's what she was doing.
Hopefully, a lot of good will come from this as I will make our whole team aware of this issue and work to make sure our websites are accesible for all.
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I don't know what this person's particular condition is, but different colour combinations can cause difficulties for some people, such as with Irlen Syndrome, which I have. It can make people feel dizzy and unwell, for instance. Some sites have an option where you can change the background colour to your own preference. It'd definitely be worth changing your site to make it more accessible. Good luck with it.
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That being said, if you are concerned about accessibility, there are definitely other accessibility problems with your website. For example, I can't find any way to access your site navigation via keyboard or voice, and they don't announce correctly to screenreaders (using the ID instead of the whole link text). Looking at the source I can't immediately see why, since they initially look like native HTML and not JavaScript-generated or anything, but they are definitely not interacting directly with keyboard, screenreader, or voice.
Possibly more important to your sponsors, all of those bit.ly links connected with the Spartz header at the top of the page are also in accessible via keyboard or voice, and are merely announced as bare URL without any description to screenreaders.
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And people wonder why we don't stand up for our own accessibility needs sometimes.
I'm sorry he was such an entitled, ugly, angry ass to you.
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