# ADA vs. AOL **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 2, 2000, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ada-vs-aol/17132 "2000-01-02T03:25:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@The\_Ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ryan)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2000, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ada-vs-aol/17132/1 "2000-01-02T03:25:00Z")
Okay, I know that to many people AOL = devil (and I’m not all that impressed with the value of AOL myself), but that’s not what this is about. Rather, I’d like to discuss the ideals behind a confrontation between these two TLAs, rather than the TLAs themselves. I heard that a suit was filed against AOL under the ADA charging that by failing to provide programs helping the blind access the internet, AOL is guilty of unfair business practices. BTW, I’m definitely not trying to be a troll here. I really don’t have enough information to make an informed decision, and although I’m leaning towards AOL, I’ll do my best to be open to both sides. What I’d like is more information, and also people’s opinions, on this subject. In fact, I’m not even sure if my basic information is correct, so feel to correct me. But the basic question is this: where does a group’s right to not be ignored and marginilized become more important than the freedom of another group? ---
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2000, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ada-vs-aol/17132/2 "2000-01-02T03:31:00Z")
Here’s some more information, including AOL’s response and some discussion: [http://www.observers.net/ubb/Forum11/HTML/000110.html](http://www.observers.net/ubb/Forum11/HTML/000110.html) -David ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2000, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ada-vs-aol/17132/3 "2000-01-02T03:57:00Z")
I assume by “ADA”, you mean the Americans with Disabilities Act, and not the American Dental Association, or the Ada programming language, or Ada Countess of Lovelace after whom the programming language was named. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2000, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ada-vs-aol/17132/4 "2000-01-02T04:06:00Z")
Oh, BTW, SoulFrost – I read a little of the [observers.net](http://observers.net) thread you posted the link to. Um … What’s CL? (The only things that abbreviation makes me think of are Light Cruisers in the Navy, the Microsoft C/C++ command-line compiler, and the “Clear” key on a pocket calculator.) ---
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2000, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ada-vs-aol/17132/5 "2000-01-02T04:14:00Z")
CL = Community Leader (Guides, Hosts, etc) -David ---
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2000, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ada-vs-aol/17132/6 "2000-01-02T09:53:00Z")
Oh, and MTR = Minimum Time Requirement (X number of hours volunteered per week) -David ---
**Author:** ![RoboDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bbe5ce/32.png) [@RoboDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoboDude)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2000, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ada-vs-aol/17132/7 "2000-01-02T22:09:00Z")
* * * ## I heard that a suit was filed against AOL under the ADA charging that by failing to provide programs helping the blind access the internet, AOL is guilty of unfair business practices. Essentialy, AOL is being sued for failing to use something that hasn’t been invented yet. I don’t know much about the the software that allows blind people to use computers, but a system that would allow them to use AOL or surf the internet raises some serious technical questions. ---
**Author:** ![Cooper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@Cooper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cooper)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2000, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ada-vs-aol/17132/8 "2000-01-03T01:15:00Z")
Robodude: it exists, and has for years. There is software that can read everything that appears in a window to the user. We had it at my unversity computer center. It sucks really bad, but it exists. I don’t know what it has to do with AOL - its not specific to any software product or content provider.