Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

I recently posted that I wanted a network clipboard that would let me copy/paste between different machines on my LAN. I've solved part of the problem. I found a Windows-only program that runs on both NT and 95 and uses Alt-Control-C and Alt-Control-V to copy and paste respectively. Alas, it does not work for applications which can only copy/paste using the Edit menu (such as NetTerm, which is either the source or destination about three fourths of the time for me). I found another program which is described as simply cloning anything copied to the Windows clipboard to a network notepad -- if the most-recently-copied item is automagically available for simple paste from the Windows clipboard on other machines, that'll be groovy, except that a) it only claims to run on 95 & 98, and my right-hand machine is running NT; and b) the download link from the page I found it on doesn't work.

In the meantime, I found a configuration option for Exceed that makes it automatically clone the X selection to the Windows clipboard and vice-versa, so now I can at least save a step copying to and from X applications. Hey, I guess that means I don't need to leave those two xterms open all the time any more. (I used them to save a step when copying between Windows apps and command-line Linux.)

On another topic ... on Sunday I got really annoyed at not being able to use the state of Maryland's official web site (http:/maryland.gov. Having a diplomacy deficiency that morning, I wrote a rant to the folks there...

To: MARYLANDGOV@dbm.state.md.us
Subject: JavaScript
Cc: MarylandPortal@dbm.state.md.us

I surfed to www.maryland.gov, and got the don't-have-JavaScript-enabled 
message.

| In order to provide the best experience possible to the
| greatest amount of users, MARYLAND.GOV makes use of Javascript
| throughout the portal. 

"[...] greatest amount [number] of users"?  How does deliberately
choosing a technology that you know full well not everybody uses
make the best experience available to _more_ users than simply
using Lynx-friendly HTML?

What _functional_ (as opposed to cosmetic) enhancements are you
using JavaScript for?  I'm genuinely curious; so far I think
I've seen maybe two web sites that actually used JavaScript to
_do_ something other than make things more complicated, and both
of those could still have been implemented using straight HTML.

Every time I've bothered to check the source code of a page that
requires JavaScript, I've found things that would have been
_easier_to_implement_ using straight HTML or possible PHP (which
would present normal HTML to the browser, so the viewer would
have no way of knowing PHP were used unless there were a ".php"
extension on the URL), as well as being accessible to a greater
number of people and bypassing most issues of browser incompatibility 
quirks.  Code it right, and it'll even be accessible to
WML-enabled cell phones!  *That* is how you provide the best
experience to the Greatest Number Of Users -- code to what
everyone can use.

(For what it's worth, my personal web site uses PHP to automate
maintenance issues so that I don't have to maintain the
relationships between pages by hand in the stock page-header and
page-footer code, for example, but it's all done batch-mode so
that the scripts only run when I change and upload pages.  That
is, there is _no_ additional CPU load on the server for the
tricks I use to save myself coding effort.)

| You appear to have Javascript disabled
| in your browser.  Therefore, your experience at MARYLAND.GOV
| may be less than optimal.  

This statement is misleading.  It's intellectually dishonest
though technically accurate (since 0 is indeed less than any
positive number).  I can't even use the little menu-and-"go"-button 
to SEE the rest of the site, much less use or "experience" it!

Likewise the things that looked like normal links (but aren't)
underneath the little logo on the right side of the screen.

(Note:  these methods do appear to _take_me_ someplace because
the location in the URL bar of my browser changes.  But since
each of the pages I can get to appears to has the same useless
text as a substitute for a proper NOSCRIPT section, I might as
well be looking at the same page over and over and over and...)


If you want to add dancing bears with JavaScript, fine:  include
NOSCRIPT sections (that actually present page content, not thumb
their noses) for people without scripting.  If you want to
implement some computation (I dunno, maybe a benefits calculator
or something) using JavaScript, fine:  mark that feature as
requiring JavaScript but make the rest of the site accessible
without it.  But to require scripting for BASIC FUNCTIONALITY is
utter stupidity.  It is pointless, it is exclusionary, it does
_not_ make the best experience possible for the greatest number
of people (rhetoric won't make it so), and if you this were a
federal site instead of a state one, it would be _illegal_.

| We recommend enabling Javascript
| before proceeding.  

And if you're going to do the stupid thing anyhow, you might
as well come right out and _say_, "you need JavaScript to
continue" instead of letting me waste my time trying several
links because I thought JavaScript was merely "recommended".

| If you have turned Javascript off because
| you are using assistive browsing technology, please refer to
| the "Web Accessibility Policy" link at the bottom of this
| page.  

Which does not provide non-JavaScript interfaces for things, but
merely claims that "This website has been designed with
consideration for those who use web accessibility assistive
technology."  It most certainly has not.  The fix for this is
not rhetoric, but recoding the site to Section 508 and W3C
guidelines.

| This will provide you with more information about this
| technology and ways you can access the information contained
| on this site.  

It's 2:38 AM.  Gee, I can pick up a phone, huh?  How _convenient_.  
And since I'm doing basic "what's there" research for my problem
and am not at the "know what questions to ask" stage yet, I'll
be tying up an operator's time for goodness knows how long on
y'all's end (probably having him or her read web pages to me),
and taking notes until my hands cramp, when I could be simply
bookmarking the relevant bits when I find them.  How much do
your telephone resources (personell and phone lines) cost per
hour compared to having done the web site correctly in the first
place?  This taxpayer is not impressed with how the state's
money has been spent.  (Yes, the phone resources have to be
there for people who don't have computers at all, but they
wouldn't be wasting their time reading stuff to people like me.)



When a corporation screws up their web site this badly, I am
annoyed and frustrated.  When my government does so, I am
shocked as well.

The point of this diatribe is to get you to do the right thing
and fix the web site.  If you need help determining what needs
to be done, I'm sure you'll find my rates reasonable (my resume
is at www.radix.net/~dglenn/me/resume.html), but I expect
that your current web designer can probably figure it out
without my help after suitable application of a clue-by-four.  
A copy of this message and an official command to Fix It ought
to be enough for them to understand what needs to be done.

Do the right thing.  Fix the site.

At the _very_least_, drop the Orwellian newspeak from the
current NOSCRIPT text and be honest about how you've _limited_
the number of people who can get the Best Experience (*any*
experience) of the site.

Sincerely,

D. Glenn Arthur Jr.
dglenn@radix.net

I don't really expect a reply, but it'd be nice if they at least acknowledged reading the complaint. Even nicer if they fix it, of course, but also less likely still. (My thanks to xpioti for pointing out the <lj-cut> tag to me.)

My office has cooled off a bit since sundown. It's now down to 305 Kelvins. Still way too hot for clothing. The foil on the window at the base of the back stair does seem to help a lot. I've been meaning to buy more foil for several days now, but I haven't had the energy to get out to the grocery store. Since I'm currently out of garlic (and bread, and milk, and almost out of oj), I really need to take care of that fairly soon.