when writing to webmers

[Aaron Howell]

Guys, its all very well to bitch on this list about the stupid things webmasters do,
but please keep in mind when you're emailing someone to get something fixed that.
1. They probably aren't doing whatever they're doing deliberately.
Some of those bits of code are inserted automatically by content management software,
and webmasters may not even be aware the are there.
2. Your average webmaster doesn't care that you prefer to use a text based browser than IE, IE is a fine browser for sighted folk, and not too many webmasters share the anti Microsoft sentiment that is so rampent on this list. Slamming IE won't win you any friends.
If you want them to see your point of view,the you need to explain in a rational manner why supporting text based browsers is important. That doesn't mean threatening them with the ADA or your local equivalen thereof.
Nor does it mean hammering them about netscape and friends, none of those browsers show the noframes content anyway, so complaining that they don't appear in the list of browsers you could upgrade to is likely to illicit nothing else than "who cares".
3. Be gentle. Noone likes to have their work criticised, so while telling them they are wrong,constructively, its often helpful to say, but I do like this and this about your site.
(even if you have to look hard for something to like).

While its fine to blow off steam on list, attacking a webmaster for something trivial like  badly worded noframes tag
will either get you labelled as a wingeing blindy, or (if its an international site), a stupid American.
Worse still, if webmasters get complaints about trivial things like noframes tags, which don't affect accessibility at all,
They will begin to see the blind community in general as a bunch of winers,
and will be less likely to assist us when  really do need something fixed.

So if you're going to email someone about a website,
be constructive not destructive,
and save threats of legal or government action until the webmaster has been given a chance to amend the problem first.
While your local discrimination act will probably get the job done, it will do the blind community no good to be known as a group that runs to the law every time they see a problem, without first giving people a chance to fix it nicely.
(Yes, that means you NFB).
Most webmasters are pretty decent people, and usually when contacted, they will not only fix the problem,
but they'll spend time learning at how they can prevent the same thing happening again in the future
You rarely strike a bonehead who won't respond to a nice letter asking them to please review their site,
and thats when you can use threats of legal or government action to assist them in adjusting their attitude.
So, lets all try to make informing webmasters of problems a positive experience.
Regards
Aaron