20230325-accessibility.txt
I was watching Forensic Files ("Dirty Laundry"). The perp was
sentenced to 20 years back in 2005. Apparently she had been released
last year. So I go to look her up and come to local12.com and it feeds
me the lie that JS is needed due to "accessibility." Yeah, sure. Do
you need JS to dynamically load CSS files? JS is anti-accessibility by
default. I clicked the link in the noscript which took me to Userway,
some "accessibility" experts using JS to muck up Local12's site. Then
I saw that this company was mentioned in the press. So I follow the
Forbes link...

Lo and behold, the article[0] is written by the COO of Userway, Lionel
Wolberger, also a Forbes Council Member. What? I'm pretty sure that's
a conflict of interest, even if it's legal. Christ. At least it's not
littered with the Userway name and website. And the article doesn't
mention scripting or JS at all. Maybe he's not so bad in this
instance. But at the back of my mind, I still get that icky feeling
when I'm dealing with salespeople.

Another link is 9to5mac[1], which is much more critical of Userway
(making its inclusion in the press section of the Userway site all the
more head-scratching). It basically argues that the automated fixes
employed by Userway are superficial and not a panacea. Indeed, it has
many critics in the usergroup it's supposedly helping. Another reason
I don't like Apple: the Siri voice actress is in the article, but
never knew her work would be used for Siri or on every Iphone. Classy.

But the fact remains that the Local12 website is a glaring example of
an accessibility company making things LESS accessible. You can't
create accessibility on a flawed, dynamic foundation.

"Aristophanes once wrote--roughly translated--'Youth ages, immaturity
is outgrown, ignorance can be educated and drunkenness sobered, but
STUPID lasts FOREVER.'"
-William Hundert, The Emperor's Club


0. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2022/10/27/access-for-all-its-not-only-the-law-its-ethical/
1. https://9to5mac.com/2022/05/19/siri-visits-couples-therapy-star/