On Tue, May 22, 2001, Shlomi Fish wrote about "Re: SendSMS update":
> On Tue, 22 May 2001, Nadav Har'El wrote:
> Hmmm, Flash.
>
> My ISP's (012.net.il) has a Flash-based site which does not have a
> non-Flash-enabled version. Thus, I cannot view it on Linux because I
> don't have the Flash plug-in installed. Maybe that's their way of saying
> that they don't support Linux, or that they require Flash, but I find it
> annoying.
The strange thing is that I do have a flash plug in, and can see most of
their site, as well as other sites with flash animations. But the specific
flash thing they did to send SMSs doesn't work for me. Perhaps it depends
on some new flash feature-of-the-week that the plugin I have installed doesn't
have... I don't know... Anyway, thanks to Lior Komem who viewed the new site
for me I was able to fix the automation even without being able to use
the site for myself :)
> While Flash looks nice, a site that is written in bare HTML without
> Flash, Java, Javascript, Dynamic HTML and other beasts is much more usable
> IMO. I didn't do too much serious web-design lately, but I try to stick to
> the bare-essentials as well as make the site friendly to the blind. I
>...
Yes, I think that a law should be passed about this issue. Just as public
buildings (not only government-owned buildings, as far as I know) have
rules about being accessible to the handicapped, I think Internet sites of
big companies must be accessible to the blind and dyslexic (and deaf -
before we know it Internet sites may be relying on audio instructions
instead of text, which for some reason or other is considered "passe"
and low-tech).
The annoying thing is that Orange already had a text-only site. Later they
added, stage by stage, cookies, javascripts, flash animation, and other
crap. I don't see why they couldn't have also kept the old interface instead
of making only the new one accesible... None of the things they added are
necessary for the operation or security of the site, and they only add panache
(in my opinion, actually, their original site was more convenient to use,
even if you're not blind or Linux-using or both).
I think it all comes from not understanding the needs of the non-majority
users, and worse - not caring at all about them. It's similar to the way
some (stupid) architects put a very short staircase in the entrance to a
building, suposedly a nice architectural element but a real nuisance to
people in wheelchairs (or carrying a baby stroller, etc.)
Anybody up to starting a grassroots Internet accessibility campaign in
Israel, or knows of such an existing organization (not necessarily Israeli)?
--
Nadav Har'El | Tuesday, May 22 2001, 29 Iyyar 5761
[EMAIL PROTECTED] |-----------------------------------------
Phone: +972-53-245868, ICQ 13349191 |If you lost your left arm, your right
http://nadav.harel.org.il |arm would be left.
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