Web Standards, Accessibility and Other Stuff

Last week, my wife Carey and I went to a Cirque du Soleil show, KOOZA, in downtown San Jose. I gotta say, it was well worth the $90 per seat we paid! Incredible performances, great stage set, and great music. It’s just so spectacular and entertaining, and the clown acts are hilarious. It was longer than I expected too; about 2 1/2 hours including the 1/2 hour intermission. If you ever get a chance, go see Cirque du Soleil. This year the KOOZA show is coming to Hartford, Philly, Chicago, and Boston.

Got an email a while back from an old friend back home in Michigan. Yes, it was one of those goofy lists, but many of them were funny. I’d modified a few of these for the better.

You know you’re from Michigan when…

• You find 32 degrees “a little chilly.”
• You drink pop and bake with soda.
• You know what a “Yooper” is.
• You go to Canada on your 19th birthday.
• You think owning a Toyota is un-American.
• “Vacation” means going up north on I-75. You measure distance in hours.
• You can drive 65 mph through a feet of snow during a raging blizzard,
  without flinching.
• You design your kid’s Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
• You know it’s possible to live in “the thumb”.

My family shops at Target, you know, the huge American retail store. I really like that store (especially when there’s a Taco Bell or Starbucks inside). But I think their corporate image, at least for me, is in a serious decline. This is mostly due to a couple of lawsuits going on against the company.

In the world wide web industry, we should all be familiar with the NFB vs. Target lawsuit—the biggest case regarding web accessibility in the United States, thus far. Target is actually fighting to keep its web site away from users with disabilities, and technology limitations. This is like a store closing its doors to anyone with a visual, hearing, or motor impairment. How naive and shameful!

In the second lawsuit, the American tennis great (retired) Andre Agassi is seeking an injunction against Target for using his name without permission. Apparently Target is putting Agassi’s name on sandals without permission when they’ve already been asked to stop. How silly.

I performed a web site “tune-up” on my web company’s site, CheckEngine USA. It’s been almost two years since I launched the company and the web site. Because the site already implemented web standards, it took a short amount of time to do the work. What do you think?

So I traded in my beautiful “legend lime” colored Ford Mustang a few weeks ago for a 2-door Ford Focus. It was quite a bummer, but quite necessary financially now that I have two kids, and oh, I recently purchased a new Honda Rebel motorcycle! I get an incredible 70 MPG with that little bike which will save a considerable amount of gas. I commute almost 30 miles to work and the gas bill in the Mustang was hurtin’. No worries now when I drive either the Rebel or the Focus. The Focus gets almost 35 MPG highway when I’m not stuck in a traffic jam.

Every once in a while, one comes across an establishment that is unique and one soon comes to love. I recently discovered one of these places, Barefoot Coffee Roasters.

This coffee shop is unlike all others. First of all, they take pride in great coffee. In their words, Barefoot Coffee is great coffee, coffee as a culinary art and sustainability. The coffee is roasted right on the spot, and the coffee shop has won many awards. And besides coffee, you can purchase something to eat such as an oatmeal & raisin cookie (my favorite).

Just as good as the coffee is the atmosphere. There are always many “interesting” and “creative” individuals hanging out. Local art decorates the walls, and even some of the furniture is art. Even the walls of the bathroom are blackboards with chalk writings and drawings. The music is unique, hip, and no matter how diverse, always seems to mesh well with the atmosphere. In the outdoor seating, enjoy a smoke and/or listen to the guy with the acoustic guitar. Free Wifi is provided, which is essential, and the prices are reasonable.

If you’re in the South Bay area, make a visit to the Barefoot Coffee Roasters.

Just released the 2-year anniversary podcast for Web Axe, my podcast and blog on web accessibility. It’s been a lot of work, but a lot of fun too…