Re: Browser Usage Percentages

big hallelluja on that one! I always have published for the majority, not
the minority. I know that Netscape does not see the same as IE , there are
things I can do to make it better for Netscape, but with 3 sites, I do what
I must (thanks to the neutral setting in FP2000) and get it all in one.
KISS-Keep It Simple Silly!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dennis Lapcewich" <dlapcewich(at)intira.com>
To: <hwg-techniques(at)hwg.org>
Cc: "'Tamara Abbey'" <tamara(at)abbeyink.com>; "Bryce and Kerri"
<brycefields(at)royalrodent.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2000 3:38 PM
Subject: RE: Browser Usage Percentages


| Geez, when one starts being quoted by name on this list, should that be
| taken as a sign of respect or should I now watch my back? :)
|
| Your strongest argument may very well be web accessibility.  Just don't
| assume the obvious is the only argument.
|
| If the Commonwealth of K******* (sorry but they copyrighted the name and I
| refuse to pay royalties!) decides to require coding and use for IE only,
are
| they doing this for internal state employee use, or will these sites be
| available to the taxpayers of the state, too?  I would hate to have a
| taxpayer of the state file a complaint (lawsuit?) that they cannot access
| public documents because their non-IE browser doesn't work.  Would a
private
| company bidding on a state contract now be required to use IE on their
| machines?  If I were said contractor bidding on a state project and
refused
| to installed a Swiss cheese browser on my machines for security purposes
(to
| protect my business), shall I sue the state for discrimination because I
| would be denied equal access to the documents I need to fulfill my state
| contract?
|
| Of course, I am being hardnosed here, but as long as one person in the
state
| has the same ideas I expressed, you've got a problem.  There is a huge
| difference between a private organization using its own money to design
and
| maintain a website as it sees fit, and a public agency using tax dollars
to
| do the same, especially if those same taxpayers will use the site(s) in
| question.  This is akin to designing and building a taxpayer-funded
building
| for able-bodied state employees and failing to meet wheelchair access laws
| just because none of the current employees is in a wheelchair.  The first
| time that some new employee brings their spouse/partner/friend/grandfather
| to visit and they cannot gain entrance with the wheelchair, heads will
roll
| and the taxpayers will be very, very angry because *more* tax dollars will
| be needed to retrofit the entire building (and settle the suit).
|
| It seems to me that the powers that be are not thinking of the very people
| who fund their agencies.  While it may be prudent, cost effective and
| acceptable to require all state-owned computers to use only the required
| software, to carry this further by mandating the information published
must
| only be coded for one type of access mechanism is quite short-sighted.  As
| to its potential accessibility and legal issues, those are best left up to
| the aggrieved taxpayers who will most definitely point out this
| short-sightedness.
|
| Finally, do not believe the published browser statistics as gospel.  It is
| fair to say most government agencies, and large organization sites do not
| release their access statistics.  I would venture to state that if you
| compiled a list of the top 100 most visited sites on the web, most do not
| publish the figures ... but they code for the top browsers.  :)
|
| Dennis
|
|
|
| >
| > http://www.upsdell.com/BrowserNews/index.htm
| >
| > is a good place to start (I'm reasonably certain I received
| > the link from him on one of the HWG lists).
| >
| > Also, since this is a state department/web site -- you might want to
check
|
| > the archives -- Dennis Lapcewich just had a great post about ADA and web
| > accessibility on the basics list.
| >
| > Could be what you need to convince state officials that they /might/
want
| > to look into stuff like compliance, accessibility, etc. . .
| >
| > HTH
| > Tamara
| >
| > At 10:55 AM 12/13/00 -0800, Bryce and Kerri wrote:
| > >Does anyone know where I can find information on what
| > >percentages of people use which browser and version?
| > >I have heard anecdotally that the market usually goes
| > >about 75% IE, 25% NS, w/ other browsers occupying a
| > >small percentage.  But I need to find factual sources
| > >to present to cabinet officials.
| > >
| > >It's a weird situation here in the Natural Resources
| > >Cabinet of Kentucky (isn't it always).  It has been
| > >mandated by the higher ups that the Commonwealth ONLY
| > >uses M$ software, therefore we are(supposedly)ONLY to
| > >design for IE.  We're not even allowed to have
| > >Netscape or Opera installed on our machines.
|
| -- snip --
|

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