Web Standards, Accessibility and Other Stuff

Playoff basketball and hockey is here again. And I’m liking it.

I like many NBA teams, but the team from my hometown is my favorite–the Detroit Pistons. They’re up 2-0 on the Orlando Magic, and playing game 3 this evening. Also, today, Pistons guard Chauncey Billups won the Kennedy Award (for sportsmanship).

I’m not as much a hockey fan, but I usually get playoff Red Wings fever. They’re starting the next playoff series against Dallas tomorrow after destroying Colorado last week. The Red Wings will be well rested, hopefully not too rusty.

Go Pistons and Red Wings!

Chauncey Billups of the Detroit Pistons

I’m a tennis fan, and I’ve sure been enjoying the Australian Open this year. Incredible matches; the level of play has been remarkable. Unfortunately, not many Americans made it to far into the tournament.

Yesterday, Novak Djokovic crushed world number one Roger Federer in the semi-finals. Glad for this as Federer just wins too much! And my favorite two players on the women’s side are in the finals, Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic.

Ana Ivanovic

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.

Yesterday was a fun day. It was Cinco de Mayo, and my wife and I got away from the kids and had a great Tex-Mex meal at Don Pablo’s. Of course, had to wash it down with a Corona and a Margarita on the rocks. But more importantly, the Detroit sports teams all won! All games were at home.
The Detroit Pistons won big over the Chicago Bulls in the first game of the second round of the NBA playoffs. Take that, Ben Wallace!

The Detroit Red Wings won pretty convincingly over the tough San Jose sharks in the NHL playoffs. Not a huge hockey fan, but will always watch the Wings when I can.

The Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals. Gotta get to the very nice Comerica Park before I leave for California. Damn Comerica. They put their name on the nice baseball stadium downtown, and now I hear they’re leave the city…

This is a great time of year for sports fans. The NHL playoffs are entering the second round (go Red Wings!); the NBA playoffs just started (go Pistons!); and baseball is in full swing, (pardon the pun).

I tried going to a Detroit Tigers baseball game last Friday, but the weather was actually nice and there were only standing room tickets left! So my mom, wife and I (don’t laugh at me!) went to Greektown to eat, hit the Casino for a few, and even made it to the Old Shillelagh for a brew (yes, another great pub!).

The Detroit Pistons NBA basketball team is hot again! After a slow start to the season, they won 8 in a row! They finally lost on the road last night to Charlotte, but the Pistons started 3-5, and now have the 2nd best record in the Eastern Conference. The Pistons’ defense is adjusting to the loss of big-headed Ben Wallace (who shoots a lowly 42% free-throw), but it appears they’re almost there. I like this Nazr Mohammed guy who’s taken his spot. He is a true team player who can play defense and offense.

I have very mixed feelings about Florida playing Ohio State in the NCAA national football championship game in January. I like the Gators, don’t get me wrong. And they had an outstanding season. They did win a very tough SEC conference title and should make it a good game against OSU.

But, there are three reasons why I believe University of Michigan got robbed of a shot at the biggest game of the year:

• U of M’s only loss is to Ohio State, the #1 team, and it was only by 3 points and at Ohio State.
• U of M was ranked number 2 in the last two months of the season, and only went to number 3 because they weren’t scheduled to play any games. Florida was, and they won. Is it Michigan’s fault they didn’t have another game to play to prove themselves? No!
• The real reason why Florida took the #2 rank from Michigan is because many voters didn’t want to see a rematch between OSU and U of M. Is the possibility of a rematch a valid reason to discredit a football team? No! Historically, a team never jumps ahead of another in the polls when the higher ranked team is idle. Michigan got screwed.