Quoted: But wait a minute!  This sounds like a problem with the software being used ("Jaws").  So, any company that has a web site is supposed to tailor their site to "Jaws"?   What about other software?  Certainly "Jaws" is not the only such software on the market.  And what if tailoring the website to work with Jaws prevents other software from working? Sorry, I just don't get it.

Actually - the way it should work is that websites are developed to standards - and thus Jaws, firefox, IE, opera, or any other browser will have no other problem using it.

Designing with Web Standards (2nd Edition)
This is a good book to check out if you want to read about standards, what they are, and why we should use them.

www.w3.org <-- here is where to find them and see if your site is compliant...

Again - its really not hard - it takes just a bit of fore sight in planning and attention to detail. Then there are various ways to test to see if your site is compliant or not.

This isnt like putting in an elevator in a 2 story building - or making sure that a 10 foot wide wheel chair can get around. It really is just using proper markup in the code and designing with a bit of fore thought.

The other bonus is that it should look the same no matter what browser you use. Thank GOD after the browser wars and the 5.0 browsers started to come out - they started to adhear to standards. In the 3.0 and 4.0 days you just about had to have TWO different sites for some designs.... one for IE one for Netscape.

Quoted: But wait a minute!  This sounds like a problem with the software being used ("Jaws").  So, any company that has a web site is supposed to tailor their site to "Jaws"?   What about other software?  Certainly "Jaws" is not the only such software on the market.

The market isn't very big. Jaws and ZoomText are the two "big" players for visually impaired people.

Jaws, however, stinks. I can't understand how anyone could use it.

And what if tailoring the website to work with Jaws prevents other software from working? Sorry, I just don't get it.

I actually built a computer for a blind guy who was a friend of my website designer. He used Jaws software and I played around with it a bit. Basically it's used to surf the web in the same method that you would use the keyboard (hitting tab, enter and such).....the voice is really tinny- hence the name Jaws........

Anyways, he could access the web, check email and do a lot of other things I wouldn't have imagined possible......

Needless to say- it doesn't take much more then designing a website to not require a mouse to give the blind access... I still don't think companies should be forced to design websites like that though...

Quoted: blind people suck. they are the worst of the cripples. even worse than midgets. ETA: anyone have the "I can't see shit" African pic?

If  you are not joking, you are an asshat

This was an important warning issue on the corp I used to work with (web analysis and that kinda stuff)
I think I remember there was a deadline to comply with this regulations per federal law.

I'll look up my pdf files, I might have something about this saved

A strip club in LA had a shower stall on stage for the girls to strip in.

They were sued for not having handrails in case a disabled stipper wanted to use it...

Is this site designed for blind people.... cause I think I'd like to sue... I won't take cash though... I want Ed Sr. to be my house beotch.. oh wait I'm not blind. Well, I guess if I meet Ed Sr. I run the risk of becoming blind now. Then I'll sue.

Unless I keep looking at internet pr0n... that'll make one go blind, right? Then I can sue.

Quoted: Is this site designed for blind people.... cause I think I'd like to sue... I won't take cash though... I want Ed Sr. to be my house beotch.. oh wait I'm not blind. Well, I guess if I meet Ed Sr. I run the risk of becoming blind now. Then I'll sue. Unless I keep looking at internet pr0n... that'll make one go blind, right? Then I can sue.

actually just from looking at it i think blind people could use this site fairly well :)

I cant see this going very far in the courts.........pardon the pun.

ETA: anyone have the "I can't see shit" African pic?

...you mean Ray Charles, one of the most famous singers of this century? The one called "the only real genius in the industry" by Frank Sinatra? About whom a very well-received movie was made very recently?