Hello all,
Has anyone else had a peep at the NeLH pilot (www.nhs.uk/nelh)? I find I
can't read any of the small print - its too small. So, although pleased
by its launch, I can't comment on the rest of it.
I'm sure some of you, with older computers, share my frustrations with
websites that are:
Designed on wide screens, so you can only see half the site.
Use the latest versions of various software, such that certain partso f
the site, or full-text documents, are not available via older versions.
When commercial sites do this, I'm not too bothered, but when its done
by NHS sites, or sites aimed at the general public, it seems counter-
productive to me. What is the point of publishing on the web to make
information widely available, and then locking people with older
computers out from that information?
I'm aware that a solution is for us all to buy the latest, wide screen
computers, but I have to live in the real world of the IT-under
resourced NHS. I can't even always just upgrade my software either,
since it slows down the pc too much, or causes other problems. For
example, use of the BMJ website made me upgrade to Internet Explorer 5,
which is all very fancy, but has made my pc twice as slow as before.
It makes me think we need a standard for NHS sites, that allows access
from a minimum level of software. I'm not qualified to state what that
minimum level should be, but (as an illustration) my Trust still runs on
Windows 95 and Office 97 as a standard, and I'm sure this is not
unusual. There must be realistic minimum levels of Internet Explorer,
netscape, adobe, etc, that could be suggested.
The DoH website is useful in offering a text menu, and seems to have got
the levels right, to my mind (i.e. I can access stuff from them).
Comments?
Jim Moore
--
Jim Moore
Goldberg Library
King George Hospital
Barley Lane,
GOODMAYES, Essex
IG3 8JB
Tel: 0181 970 8239
Fax: 0181 970 8237
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
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