Re:Slack will never replace email
by JMTQp8lwXL on Monday June 17, 2019 @03:58AM
(#20200827)
They're big enough for this to become a legal issue at some point. It's a shame if it had to come to that, but the broad adoption would create a strong case. Personally, I take pride in developing applications that accessibility-friendly. Because even I don't want to use a mouse sometimes -- it benefits sighted users too, and anybody who wants to work more productively without the mouse.
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Before a case like this would ever go through and have a positive effect, thausands of vision impaired people worldwide have already lost their job or could not begin a new one because of lack of accessibility of these platforms. The damage has already been done / is ongoing. And disable people already have a hard time finding a job. So this damaging to those that already have a hard time to cope in our society. Slack and Discord are actively toxic. And nobody cares / waits for a court ruling. That is why I said I dont see much light here. The tech industry is in the process of selecting out those that have visual disabilities. Not just because of Slack and Discord. The general trend of moving everything ith browser is death by thausand cuts for people with visual disabilities. It doesnt matter if I am forced to use Slack or SharePoint, or your favourite commercial issue tracker. Almost all modern pwb based products reduce my productivity to almost zero.
In the UK, if you use some software internally and it is essential for work, then it has to be accessible or you are breaking discrimination laws.
It's even stricter if you take any type of public funding - and I'm pretty sure it's an EU-wide directive.
Good luck enforcing this and keeping friends at work.
Re:Slack will never replace email
by Wowfunhappy on Monday June 17, 2019 @07:13AM
(#20201769)
Your friends get mad at you for wanting the ability to do your job?
Some “friends”.
No, but realisticly speaking, you are not the most liked person in a company if you had to sue the company for discrimination.
Additionally, I am a tech person, and not a lawyer. Sueing my employer to allow me to work productively doesn't feel like nice way to spend my time.
Re:Slack will never replace email
by JMTQp8lwXL on Monday June 17, 2019 @12:50PM
(#20204865)
You wouldn't be suing your company. You'd be suing the company the makes the software your company uses. There'd be no political risk at your employer.
Re:Slack will never replace email
by Wowfunhappy on Monday June 17, 2019 @08:34AM
(#20202219)
Ah, I was imagining a complaint to management (which admittedly should be private anyway), not a full-on lawsuit.