[LINK] ABC Mobile Web Site Failed Accessibility Test

[Tom Worthington]

At 10:55 AM 19/03/2009, Ivan Trundle wrote:
>... A common misunderstanding: the iPhone app is not a web interface - and
>the two should not be confused. ...

Yes, the ABC are offering three versions of their mobile service. One 
is web based, one is an application for an iPhone and the other an 
application for a Google Android phone. I have tried both the web and 
iPhone versions on an Apple iPhone and the interfaces look similar.

The suggestion I was making was that the ABC should put their effort 
into getting the general purpose web version to work well first, 
before diverting resources into multiple versions which only work on 
one brand of phone. While it would be nice to have a custom 
application for each model phone, the ABC has only limited resources. 
The ABC should first ensure the web version is accessible to people 
with a disability and also will work on a large range of devices.

The ABC could be taken to court for unlawful discrimination. The 
judge is likely to take a dim view if the ABC's defence is that a 
handful of people with Google phones are more important than 
providing access to people with a disability.

Building custom information applications for mobile content is, in my 
view, a flawed business strategy which has been tried many times and 
failed. When teaching web design for mobile phones to ANU students I 
demonstrate current mobile phone services. Each year I have to find 
new examples, because the services, and in some cases the companies 
providing the service, tend to not last more than a year.

It is a matter for the ABC management if they want to waste public 
money in this way. But I ask they first spend money on meeting their 
legal obligations to provide a service to the wider community. They 
can then throw the rest of the money away on vanity applications to 
impress their fellow media executives. If this was a private company 
I would not invest in it, as a taxpayer I don't have a choice. But I 
am able to point out when the senior executive of the ABC may be 
acting unlawfully and ask they change their behaviour.



Tom Worthington FACS HLM tom.worthington at tomw.net.au Ph: 0419 496150
Director, Tomw Communications Pty Ltd            ABN: 17 088 714 309
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617                      http://www.tomw.net.au/
Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Australian National University