Re: LYNX-DEV Re: http://www.zdu.com/ (fwd)

[gregory j. rosmaita]

aloha, carl!

in a message to Carl Reimann, Lynne Malchiodi <address@hidden> 
wrote:
> > [ ... ] I will mention, though, that the ZDU site was designed for
> > use with Netscape Navigator 3.0 or Internet Explorer 3.0 and is
> > dependent on security and tracking features available only in those
> > browsers. I'm afraid you won't be able to enroll in the University
> > unless you're using one of them. Sorry. [ ... ]

well, for one, the denial of admission based on browser is a patent
violation of the ADA (americans with disabilities act), which provides for
equal access...

and, given people's fanatical devotion to their browser of choice,
it probably constitutes an abridgement of religious freedom, too...

but, most of all, it is, pure and simple, a not only a stupid, but a
counter-productive approach to distance learning-for-a-fee...

oddly enough, the initial pages of the site are pretty text-friendly--they
even went so far as to alt-tag their, and i quote:

        Thin decorative red bar to separate text

yes, it warms the cockles of my heart when people use alt text to enhance
my understanding of a page, but don't they have a brain in their skulls?
what's wrong with the good old

        ALT="________________________________________"

i have no way of knowing if the <font color="#FF0000"> in front of the IMG
tag and a </font> after it, will produce a thin <em>red</em> bar, but it
<em>will</em> produce a thin bar to separate text...

it's almost as ludicrous as those who use descriptive alt tags for inline
images instead of the good old asterisk...  admittedly, when the color of
the inline image is used to represent the quality or age of the following
object, succint, informative descriptive text is necessary, but not, as at
a site i know of which lists critics and proponents of AI according to
color...  at this particular site, the color of the ball preceding the
link indicates the subject of the link's level of support or criticism for
AI, with the result that the page is replete with philosophers and
scientists with blue and red balls...

gregory.
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