[Mailman-Users] What would your dream Mailman web interface look like?

[David Andrews]

At 07:26 PM 4/7/2015, Stephen J. Turnbull wrote:
>David Andrews writes:
>
>  > A reminder that any web UI, whether end user, or
>  > administrator, needs to be accessible to disabled
>  > persons -- preferably it will use the WCAG 2.0 AA standards.
>
>We do use industrial-strength web frameworks, mostly Django.  To the
>extent they support the "string-of-letters-and-digits standard", we
>will certainly take advantage of those capabilities.  Javascript-
>disabled, several of us are definitely in favor and know how to do it.
>
>If that's not good enough, "detailed advice, and better yet designs
>and patches, welcome!"  Sorry, but that's the reality in a volunteer
>project.
>
>I'm willing to do it for money (hourly rate negotiable) :-), but the
>LOC per hour would be ruinously low because I am not a spectacularly
>fast programmer to start with and know nothing about the standard
>mentioned.  Other project members tend to be faster, with less spare
>time, and quite likely about the same amount of knowledge of the
>relevant standards (standards that don't start with "RFC" are
>generally not on our required reading lists).
>
>Please keep the details coming.  We care, we just don't have the
>cycles to do it ourselves without help.
>
>Regards,


I know what you say is true.  Nevertheless, it makes me sad.  Twenty 
percent of the population has some sort of disability, yet 
accessibility just isn't taught in computer science courses.

The Federal government is supposed to buy accessible technology -- 
and many states, in the U.S. like mine Minnesota, also have laws 
requiring us to procure accessible technology and web sites.  The 
Justice Department has already said that the web is a place of public 
accommodation, and the ADA applies.  It is only a matter of time 
before they issue specific regulations.  So, in the near future, 
anyone producing publicly facing web sites will need to do this!

Using a current, "industrial-strength framework" is not a guarantee 
of accessibility, and passing the buck to them will ultimately not 
hold water.  While at one time turning off javascript was  one way to 
increase accessibility, this is no longer the case.



By the way, the web UI for Mailman 2.X is very accessible -- at least 
for blind persons.

If anyone has an actual site I can get to, I will take a look.  I am 
not a professional accessibility tester, just a skilled amateur who 
also runs a bunch of Mailman lists, as a 2nd job

Thanks!

Dave