After my post on Banking and Open Source in South Africa I’ve been made aware of the Defending the Fox site, which lists non standards-compliant offenders. It’s an awful design (they say they’re changing it soon), but I like the principle, especially the ability to contact the owner. Hopefully they’ll take the criticism constructively.
Here’s an example of a reply I got from my complaint about the Government Retail Bonds website not working. All quite polite, but clear they’re not going to fix their site:
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Dear Mr Ian Gilfillan
Thank you for the query that you forwarded. The National Treasury appreciate the interest in this secure and safe investment.
Kindly note that the recommended software and hardware requirements as recommended by our Privacy and Security Policy document is clearly stated as follows:
“We recommend that Users use:
* At least Internet Explorer Version 5.5. or higher.
* Device/computer with a screen resolution of at least 1024 by 768.”
Should a potential investor not have this recommended software and hardware required , the other options available are to:
* Call the National Treasury at 012 31 55 888 for an application form
* Apply at the Post Office closer to you
etc etc
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So Firefox 0.10.1 is not higher than IE 5.5? Maybe they’re right, it’s not higher, it’s on a different plane!