On Fri, 12 Jul 2002, Brian Kelly wrote:

>...
>> To address Sally's point, I think that saying that you have
>> to code for version 3 browsers because of disability
>> guidelines actually misses the point.  That's not how the
>> disability guidelines should be interpreted - users do have
>> some responsibility to make sure they have the equipment they
>> need.  If that weren't the case, a blind user could sue you
>> because they didn't have a screen reader set up and you
>> haven't embedded sound files thoughout your site.
>>
>> To take a more extreme example, imagine someone who can't
>> walk but doesn't have a wheechair suing an organisation
>> because they won't provide a member of staff to carry them
>> everywhere, even though the organisation HAS had ramps and
>> lifts installed.
>>
>> Using old browsers is not a disability.
>
>I agree completely.  If a user with disabilities can't access a
>resource, you give them the latest version of a browser with all the
>accessibility features (zoom capabilities, speaking browsers, etc.) and
>apprporiate support (how to configure a personal style sheet to handle
>colour issues, etc.
>
>If you continue to provide HTML 3.2 and avoid use of CSS, then your
>organisation is in a very difficult position.
>
>The important thing is to make sure your data is clean and compliant
>with XHTML and CSS standards.

... oh, and makes sense ... (especially on Fridays)

>
>Brian
>
>
>> Kat
>>
>>
>> ________________________________________
>>
>>   Dr Kat Street
>>   Web Developer - Research
>>   http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~ulzkls/
>>
>>   Room B105, Cripps North
>>   University of Nottingham
>>   University Park, NG7 2RD
>>   Tel: 0115 9513222
>>   Fax: 0115 9513353
>>   E-mail: [log in to unmask]
>> _______________________________________
>>
>> On Fri, 12 Jul 2002, Brian Kelly wrote:
>>
>> | Hi Sheila
>> |    As Kriss and Sally have mentioned, institutions are
>> still running
>> | Netscape 4.  There are resource implications in upgrading browsers,
>> | especially in a distributed environment.
>> |    Interestingly at the Web Managers workshop the need to
>> get rid of
>> | Netscape 4 within the community was mentioned on several occasions,
>> | including the Techies discussion group.
>> |    With the SENDA legislation approaching, this may act as
>> a spur to
>> | get rid of Netscape 4, as this has very poor support for
>> stylesheets,
>> | which are needed to maximise the accessibility of Web pages.
>> |    However this still leaves open the browser which should replace
>> | Netscape 4.  From recent discussions, Netscape 6 is flawed (I think
>> | Kriss mentioned that it can't display Netscape home page properly).
>> | Mozilla 1.0 sounds promising - but so did Netscape 6 when
>> it came out.
>> | Has anyone tested it extensively yet?).
>> |    I've used Opera as my default browser for 6 months or
>> so.  This has
>> | been fine - but there is an ad in the browser which people
>> may not like.
>> |    Discusions about other mainstream browsers tends to be rather
>> | emotive.
>> |    The Web Standards project is probably a good place to
>> look at for
>> | comments on standards-compliant browsers - see
>> | http://www.webstandards.org/act/campaign/buc/
>> |
>> | Brian
>> | ---------------------------------------
>> | Brian Kelly
>> | UK Web Focus
>> | UKOLN
>> | University of Bath
>> | BATH
>> | BA2 7AY
>> | Email: [log in to unmask]
>> | Web: http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/
>> | Phone: 01225 38 3943
>> |
>> | > -----Original Message-----
>> | > From: List for the UK HE community to discuss all aspects of
>> | > managing an institut [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>> | > On Behalf Of Sheila Thomas
>> | > Sent: 12 July 2002 13:38
>> | > To: [log in to unmask]
>> | > Subject: Usage of Netscape 4 and/or MSIE 4
>> | >
>> | >
>> | > A while ago, I recall reading or hearing that a
>> considerable number
>> | > of UK academic users were still using a version 4 browser. Our
>> | > software people are pushing me to stop bothering about making our
>> | > pages suitable for use on such antiquated browsers. Our
>> usage logs
>> | > indicate that we have very few visitors with MSIE 4 or
>> Netscape 4,
>> | > so it is getting harder to resist the pressure.
>> | >
>> | > Can anyone give me an idea whether academic institutions have
>> | > upgraded?
>> | >
>> | > --
>> | > Sheila Thomas        [log in to unmask]
>> | > Web Manager at TWI
>> | > http://www.twi.co.uk
>> | >
>> | >
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