On Dec 6, 2013, at 5:30 AM, Michael[tm] Smith <m...@w3.org> wrote: > [Maybe we should take this discussion off-list or talk about it some time > soon over lunch or something. For now though, here are some comments.] > > "Takayoshi Kochi (河内 隆仁)" <ko...@google.com>, 2013-12-06 19:53 +0900: > >> Just for a data point, lots of Japanese banks still make user type in >> half-width katakana. > > OK, but anecdotally my limited experience as a user with Japanese bank > sites is that the ones I use (Mizuho and Mitsui Sumitomo) don't require > half-width katakana input anywhere. > > Anyway, as I guess you know, bank sites as a class (along with airline > sites) are notorious for doing a lot of stupid things that are really bad > for user experience -- to the point where I think bank sites as a class > should really be considered a counter-example of good design. > >> Here are some random examples: >> >> http://www.tominbank.co.jp/for_kojin/mobile/topics_hankaku-kana.html >>> 「受取人名(半角カナ)」は、半角30字以内で入力してください。 >> >> http://www.shinkin.co.jp/okayama/ibandhib/bizib/02_faq/faq_07.html >>> これらのカナ略語は*全て半角文字で入力*して下さい。 >>> 実際の振込画面から振込先の会社名を入力する際は、*全て半角カナで入力*してください >> >> http://www.yamanashibank.co.jp/anser-web/B-KM-009/help.html >>> 半角30文字以内で入力してください > > I see. So I concede that unfortunately such sites do seem to exist. But > instead of just accepting that, I think we ought to be asking why and doing > some general evangelism to make it clear that's bad practice and also doing > some evangelism with specific sites to try to get them to quit doing that. > > What I would seriously like to see instead is an example of even one single > good thoughtfully-designed site that's actually requiring half-width kana > input for some good reason. Just one.
The problem with banking websites is that they tend to use old mainframe/database that stores data in half-width kana in the backend, and maximum length, etc… are different between full-width and half-width kana characters. e.g. it's hard to explain to the users that ガ is considered as two characters (as it will consist of カ and ゙) when it's visually one character. Unfortunately, I can't think of a good way to convince major banks in Japan to use full-width kana in their databases and inter-bank transactions. - R. Niwa