----- Original Message ----- From: "Peter Korn" <peter.korn@sun.com> To: <sec508@trace.wisc.edu> Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2002 5:54 PM Subject: Re: Fw: income tax online Hi David, Janina, Janina wrote about a problem with an IRS web site that used a particular Java Server Pages idiom that lynx, an open source text-based web browser client was unable to dela with (see the post below). Janina suggested that since lynx doesn't support Java Server Pages, the IRS should not use JSP idioms on their public web sites (as lynx is an important tool used by blind folks in browsing the web). But... lynx is open source. It is a GNU project covered by the GNU General Public License. Anyone can get the source to lynx, compile it, modify it, and redistribute the modified version (or better still, submit those modifcations back to the lynx maintainer so that the maintainer can integrate those changes back into the lynx distribution). Therefore, isn't the better answer to this problem not a restriction of the expresiveness of the IRS website in order to maintain accessibility, but rather some modifications to the open source web browser so that it can work properly with that expressiveness? After all, one of the things we've been saying for a long time is that web sites don't have to be limited in order to be accessible... Perhaps the request to the IRS should be to ask them (and anyone else who uses a web idiom not supported by lynx) to consider investing a bit of resources into making lynx support Java Server Pages. Or perhaps the AFB and/or other disability organizations might invest some resources into lynx improvements... Regards, Peter Korn Sun Accessibility team David Poehlman wrote: > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Janina Sajka" <janina@afb.net> > To: <blinux-list@redhat.com> > Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2002 1:02 PM > Subject: Re: income tax online > > Yes, I think I saw the same problem you ran into. In selecting any one > of the providers they list you are first taken to adisclaimer page that > says, in > far too many words and under far too many navbar links, "you're now > leaving the IRS site." Link #30 is the actual link to continue, labeled > something > like "Yes, I really do want to leave the IRS site." It is written with > jsp syntax, so breaks in lynx. Why did they use jsp? It seems so that > they can > track that you really did mean to leave, itself a disturbing bit of data > collection. When this scriptlet breaks, you get an error page that says > essentially "an error occurred. If this problem persists, please report > it" and offers a link for reporting (also link #30). > > I followed that link and wrote the following: > > >From janina@afb.net Wed Apr 10 12:56:47 2002 > From: janina@afb.net > > Hello: > > Please remove jsp from your redirects. This blocks users with browsers > that do not support jsp, or who do not wish to use it, from the benefits > of the links you provide. Please note that we at the American Foundation > for the Blind would consider this a Section 508 violation, so I would > appreciate a direct and substantive response to this note. > > >From a technical perspective, you don't need jsp to achieve the purpose > of redirecting, so it shouldn't be mandatory. And, it does impede access > by those of us using open source tools on linux. > > Internal Revenue Service The Digital Daily > > [1]Skip past Top Nav Bar [2]Home | [3]Tax Stats | [4]About > IRS | [5]Careers | [6]FOIA | [7]The Newsroom | > [8]Accessibility | > > [9]Site Map | > [10]Español | [11]Help > > > > Search > > [12]______________ [13]Go > > Forms Finder > > [14]______________ [15]Go > > [16]Search Help > > Contents > > [17]Skip past Left Nav Bar > > [18]Individuals > > [19]Businesses > > [20]Charities & Non-Profits > > [21]Government Entities > > [22]Tax Professionals > > [23]Retirement Plans > > Resources > > [24]e-file > > [25]Forms and Publications > > [26]Where to File > > [27]Contact My Local Office > > [28]FAQs > > [29]Taxpayer Advocate > > > > > > > Error Notification > > > > > > An error occurred. Please contact the > [30]site administrator if this error condition persists. > > > > [31]IRS Privacy and > Security Policy | [32]Contact Us | ©2001 IRS.gov > > On Wed, 10 Apr 2002, Cheryl Homiak wrote: > > > Hi Janina. > > Where did you file your section 508 complaint? > > I suspect the answer you will get will partly have to do with the > providers not > > being their responsibility, but the site certainly is. On most of my > tries, I > > got errors just trying to leave the site after reading the irs > disclaimer. > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > Blinux-list@redhat.com > > https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list > > > > -- > > Janina Sajka, Director > Technology Research and Development > Governmental Relations Group > American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) > > Email: janina@afb.net Phone: (202) 408-8175 > > Chair, Accessibility SIG > Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF) > http://www.openebook.org > > _______________________________________________ > > Blinux-list@redhat.com > https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list