Europe beta open for registrations

Post by **Ayana** » Wed May 30, 2007 6:48 pm

Post by **Xest** » Wed May 30, 2007 9:45 pm

I figured I'd sign up for euro beta seeing this because there's nothing to lose and well, it's a good chance to see if GOA really has changed like they claim.

The first thing I encounter upon clicking the link is ignorance of 2 fundamental rules of web design, namely - don't build your entire site with Flash and don't have your site take longer than 3 seconds to display. There is no no-flash option, without flash enabled it just says "Get Flash now". If you have Javascript disabled, you essentially get just a black screen. Here's a hint GOA, learn to use the <noscript> tag.

It's not looking good so far, the very first impression GOA can put across to a user and they've failed miserably.

Good luck using the site if your have poor eye sight, there doesn't even seem to be any option for changing font size, of course this is just a side effect of using Flash. Perhaps more worrying is I'm not sure where GOA stand legally, check point 3 here:

http://alistapart.com/articles/accessuk

Of course GOA is based in France so it'll be a grey area, however as they are selling the service to UK customers I'd imagine they need to comply. In the UK if you're providing a service online you can't flagrantly ignore accessibility without risking being sued by a user with even mild disabilities (i.e. needing a slightly larger font size to read the site) having problems using your site. In comparison, the US site is accessible even when you have Javascript, Flash and even images disabled.

Not a good start really for a company insisting they'll be more professional and mimic the US experience for WAR more closely is it?

Sharkith · Post by **Sharkith** » Wed May 30, 2007 9:56 pm

Xest wrote: Of course GOA is based in France so it'll be a grey area, however as they are selling the service to UK customers I'd imagine they need to comply. In the UK if you're providing a service online you can't flagrantly ignore accessibility without risking being sued by a user with even mild disabilities (i.e. needing a slightly larger font size to read the site) having problems using your site. In comparison, the US site is accessible even when you have Javascript, Flash and even images disabled.

Xest,

am I right in thinking that the disability rights legislation is actually enshrined in European law?

Then again we know French attitudes to Europe... Take what you can and ignore the bits that don't fit. I always felt that was a sensible approach even if it leads to resentment elsewhere.

Sharkith

Post by **Xest** » Wed May 30, 2007 10:05 pm

Sharkith wrote:Xest,

am I right in thinking that the disability rights legislation is actually enshrined in European law?

Then again we know French attitudes to Europe... Take what you can and ignore the bits that don't fit. I always felt that was a sensible approach even if it leads to resentment elsewhere.

Sharkith

Well that's what I'm not sure, I'm only really aware of the UK laws and some non-European laws on it. I know Australia for example has similar legislation and I think the US and Canada are the same also so even if it's not part of European law I'd imagine it will be eventually.

Sharkith · Post by **Sharkith** » Wed May 30, 2007 10:09 pm

aye I am not sure either but I did think it was a European thing.

It matters not. Your signing up to a GOA Beta - its a slippery slope!

I will not be doing so I can certainly tell you that much!

Post by **Xest** » Wed May 30, 2007 10:15 pm

You can't even sign up for beta if you don't have Flash/Javascript enabled though

Many people disable Javascript because it's been the main source of browser security flaws in the last 10 years or so.

Sharkith · Post by **Sharkith** » Wed May 30, 2007 10:17 pm

Xest wrote: Many people disable Javascript because it's been the main source of browser security flaws in the last 10 years or so.

woot? <scrambles to disable javascript>

The good thing is that if I disable it I cannot fall into the black hole of WAR Europe...

Post by **Xest** » Wed May 30, 2007 10:34 pm

If you use Firefox download the web developer extension as it lets you enabled and disable Javascript on the fly from the toolbar, that's what I use then you can turn it on easy if you need it for sites you trust.

Luz · Post by **Luz** » Thu May 31, 2007 6:47 am

I signed up and my PC is still intact.

Well lucky that I dont give a crap about homepages and care more about the game!

Takitothemacs · Post by **Takitothemacs** » Thu May 31, 2007 8:24 am

Luz wrote:I signed up and my PC is still intact.

Well lucky that I dont give a crap about homepages and care more about the game!

perhaps... but it shows they haven't listened to a thing thats been said to date about what people like and dislike... now take that on board and assess if they havent learned from the simple lessons... are they likely to have learned from the more complex ones... database corruption thanks to CPU overheating?

Doubtful.