When I attempted to summarize the substance of the accessibility lawsuit against Target, I commented in frustration about the extensive ignorance concerning accessibility and the rights of the disabled.
Today, I ran across a post by Bruce Lawson which is devoted to this very problem. If you read the post, it’s really necessary to read through the comments. The post summarizes a few relatively high-profile comments on the subject, such as those from Molly Holzschlag and Derek Featherstone.
But in all of these cases, the really interesting issues come in the comments. Ignorance begets response begets response. I have yet to see an example of somebody changing their mind because of this discussion – but the discussion is still helpful.
The reason for making a website accessible, to me, is that web designers and business owners do not have the right to prevent access to our resources on the basis of disability. Making an accessible website, at least to the basic elements such as ALT texts and appropriate labels is not complicated, and to not follow these guidelines due to ignorance or laziness is simply unacceptable.