[html4all] Copy of e-mail to Karl Dubost

[Joshue O Connor]

Charles McCathieNevile wrote:
>>>  The ethics goal of caring for them is a noble  
>>> >> goal, but is not very effective (unfortunately) in our society. The  
>>> >> goal is more that there is really a need to make business with these  
>>> >> users.
> 
> Again, this is true. 

Yes but I have to chip in with an addendum here, as I think it is
actually *half* true or maybe 80/20. To put what we are doing within the
WG within a social context I think there is a responsibility, whether on
the part of government or other public service providers, to ensure that
the technologies used by the public are of the highest standard possible
and no one can deny that HTML 5 is a language that will filter into
every bodies lives in a far more profound way than many realise. This is
of course due our even increasing reliance on technology.

I think this raises even what the HTML 5 WG  are doing beyond a merely
commercial or fiscal context. I do however live in the real world (you
will be glad to hear) and know that there are commercial concerns,
imperatives etc but that is not the end of the story IMO. Without trying
to sound grand or pompous as I am only a very, very small cog in the
machine - the development of the language should transcend the
commercial imperative and be a bit more by 'the people of the people,
for the people'. It can be informed to some degree by the needs of
business but I really would rather not see it being led by business. I
know it *is* led by business (and you are probably now saying 'O, shut
up you hippy') but business has a responsibility which is at the moment
in a kind of grey area as to what that responsibility actually is and
what form it should take.

In any conversation on the business case for accessibility you will hear
that the consumer of a product is a stakeholder, well the citizens of
country that use these technologies like the web are also stakeholders,
and people with disabilities can be vulnerable so there is an element of
social responsibility within the development of the specification.

Can we get that in the HDP docs, maybe we need to turn up the volume on
the social responsibility aspect?

Actually maybe I should expand on this on the Wiki?

</am now off soapbox>

Josh