"Accessibility"
A poem by Steven McCaffrey
March 2000

We are here to talk of accessibility
As written in 99-3, our policy.
It is not just a job, it is a sacred duty,
For it is about equality for all in our information society.
It is not about HTML tags, or whether to use CSS
But rather about how to universally express
That is what the guidelines really address.
Producers, implementers, and consumers of policy,
Must all work together co-operatively
We must help each other every day to find a still better way.
For those who cannot see, how do we describe information presented visually?
For those without sense auditory, how do we describe something like a symphony?
For those who are perplexed by letters and words we call text,
It does not help to have the word "next" take them to even more text!
So do not get lost in the details of code,
But focus my friends on the access mode.