Having completed my experiment in web layout, the experience prompted me to wonder why it is that the legal and practical responsibility for web accessibility is placed on individual developers rather than the web browser developers who are actually responsible for a lot of the differences in the way code is rendered from one to the other?
From a policy perspective it seems to me that browser developers and also assistive technology developers must need to work together to establish cross-compatibility in how code is rendered and yet it is not these parties who are held responsible when people with disabilities find access to content difficult, but the individual developer who has to try to compensate for what I assume are deliberate choices on the part of browser developers to market applications not to meet W3 standards.
It seems to me that blaming the individual developer and web site publisher for the level of web content accessibility (which very much depends on how many hacks and browser specific prefixes are employed by the coders) is putting the responsibility onto the wrong party in terms of creating good policy outcomes regarding accessibility. What do you think?
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