reprinted. from a friend.
Apr. 11th, 2001 08:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scottobearAn open letter to browser sniffers. This is directed to all y'all who are using browser-sniffing code to detect if someone's using an older browser, like Netscape 4.*, and either popping up windows urging you to upgrade (one of which I recently encountered actually said "You suck") or even redirecting you to an upgrade page without allowing you to see the site's content at all.
The intentions behind what you're doing are noble. In fact, I too enjoy using cutting edge stuff, too. Your hearts are in the right place, and we do need to get as many people to upgrade to newer, w3.org-standards-compliant browsers. However, please think about people who use the web at work, and whose companies (for whatever dopey, inexplicable reason) forbid them to install newer browsers due to Draconian restrictions against installing anything non-authorized on their machines. Some of us are stuck with older editions of Netscape and IE at work, and telling us that we suck because we're unable to upgrade yet isn't going to do anybody any good. Actually, it could piss some people off.
In fact, one of the sites whose annoying pop-up said that my browser would be unable to handle the code used to generate the site looked fine to me under copy of IE 4.5 I'm stuck with. I'm sure your painstaking designs are lovely, but I'm primarily interested in your words, and I can read your words with Lynx (and often do).
Speaking of which ... your sites are at least reasonably Lynx-friendly, aren't they? Blind and visually-impaired people who use text readers and speech synthesizers can access your site, can't they?
Okay, said my piece. Have a frosty beverage, or something.
The intentions behind what you're doing are noble. In fact, I too enjoy using cutting edge stuff, too. Your hearts are in the right place, and we do need to get as many people to upgrade to newer, w3.org-standards-compliant browsers. However, please think about people who use the web at work, and whose companies (for whatever dopey, inexplicable reason) forbid them to install newer browsers due to Draconian restrictions against installing anything non-authorized on their machines. Some of us are stuck with older editions of Netscape and IE at work, and telling us that we suck because we're unable to upgrade yet isn't going to do anybody any good. Actually, it could piss some people off.
In fact, one of the sites whose annoying pop-up said that my browser would be unable to handle the code used to generate the site looked fine to me under copy of IE 4.5 I'm stuck with. I'm sure your painstaking designs are lovely, but I'm primarily interested in your words, and I can read your words with Lynx (and often do).
Speaking of which ... your sites are at least reasonably Lynx-friendly, aren't they? Blind and visually-impaired people who use text readers and speech synthesizers can access your site, can't they?
Okay, said my piece. Have a frosty beverage, or something.
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no subject
Date: 2001-04-11 05:00 pm (UTC):-)
no subject
Date: 2001-04-11 05:07 pm (UTC)I should know better... I just finished up some freelance work for a company that manufactures braille keyboards and printers.
Do you think this is gonna screw with my karma?
no subject
Date: 2001-04-11 05:20 pm (UTC)Re:
Date: 2001-04-12 02:21 am (UTC)