No IE, No FEMA

[filkertom]

Computer folks, especially programmers and web site developers, often forget that not everyone uses the same stuff they do. And so they code things to their own specs, forgetting to test others. This can cause major grief down the line... or, sometimes, much sooner.

Filk's own Frank Hayes tells us that the FEMA Disaster Aid web site requires Windows, JavaScript enabled, and Internet Explorer 6.

A small thing? Not if you're running a Mac or a Unix/Linux box. Not if you're using Firefox or Opera or IE5.5. Not if you're on the run from a natural disaster and don't have a choice about which computer you might have access to.

(rustyfox says they seem to have fixed the site, but, still. Never should've happened in the first place.)

Thanks to trdsf for pointing this one out.

Comments

[trdsf.livejournal.com]

I just want to know what the Hell, Michigan were they thinking when they set up that system--that Linux, Mac, and Moz users wouldn't survive a natural disaster, that using MS conferred a survival advantage?

I have got to quit thinking that neither Dumb-ya nor Gates can shock me anymore. Every time I think they've gone beyond the pale, they manage to prove that I was a wide-eyed optimist.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

As I said on your thread, for once I don't blame this on anyone's deliberate action. I think it's a blind spot; programmers forget that not everyone has their setup, and (especially with a web page, because "all web browsers work the same", right?) they forget to program for other platforms. It's one of the things that ticks me off about, for instance, media playing windows that don't let you open the streaming file into an external media player or let you select fullscreen so you've got a chance of seeing what that postage stamp-sized movie is supposed to be. Or, the worst offender, having a popup of a fixed size open to a larger screen, and disabling the maximize button. If you're gonna open a window that's supposed to be another instance of the same program as your main browser, just open another copy of the goddamn browser and don't make me suffer through your idea of what my preferences should be.

[tigertoy.livejournal.com]

Your last sentence reminds me of something I want from my web browser: An override that says that no matter what hint the web page it came from offers on how to open a link or new window, open it in a new tab. If I'm holding down the control key when the javascript says open a popup, I get a new tab, not a popup.

[trdsf.livejournal.com]

I suppose had it been just about any other agency, I could see it being a case of programming with your blinders on, but there's no excuse for it from people who are supposed to be all about contingency planning.

I mean, how much effort would it have taken for the FEMA page designer to lean back and say, "Hey, Bob, wanna see if this page opens okay in Moz? Thanks."

Besides, given the Idiot-In-Chief's track record on everything else he and his people have done, and Gates' track record on interoperability, it may as well have been deliberate. This is one of those 'unforeseen results' of Microsoft trying to corrupt a standard system, and certainly a foreseen result of anything done by one of Dumbya's people. Administration people don't get the benefit of the doubt from me. I assume malice and narrow-mindedness.

[awfulhorrid.livejournal.com]

Well, as of right now it seems to be working with Opera 8.02 anyway. Still, I have to agree -- this shouldn't have been a problem in the first place. A site like that should be as basic as possible and I should be able to register if I'm using anything from Lynx on up!

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

Your link to the FEMA disaster site is wrong, BTW. It looks like you left out the http://

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

D'oh! Fixed.

[phillip2637.livejournal.com]

I've worked for commercial organizations that did this kind of thing based on business reasons (cost of QA vs. market share). It annoyed me then because I never feel good about choosing mediocrity...but at least I understood the "logic".

When it's a question of public good rather than business, I go way beyond annoyed.

[sarcasm]
They do say on the site, "(FEMA) is committed to providing access to our web pages for individuals with disabilities" Maybe they think they should provide access only to those with disabilities and that Microsoft users automatically qualify.
[/sarcasm]

[johno.livejournal.com]

All the Fema/IE6 comments I could have made, have been made.

So I'll just offer up this:

frankhayes_feed

Which is a RSS feed of Frank's columns.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Didn't know it was there, and I always forget to check the Computerworld site. Thanks!

[johno.livejournal.com]

I just created it. CW has several RSS feeds of its columns.

Another fun one is: shark_feed

[kayshapero]

Idiots. Not that this is unusual - people WILL keep forgetting not everybody is using exactly the same platform as they are. At least when it's some ditz posting html to usenet it's merely a nuisance. THIS is inexcusable.

(And then there are the twerfs who set the page to a fixed width instead of letting it float with the size of the screen used by the reader. Having to shift scroll bars back and forth to read each line of the text loses, visibly. Petty, I suppose, but hang it all it's so easy to avoid this problem.)

(Anybody out there know where I can pick up a moving gif of an angry cat, ears back, lashing its tail? At, or at least suitable for reduction to 60x60 pixels? I still have room for a third icon, and my attempts at creating one have been less than successful.)