[LINK] Bad government web sites

[Ivan Trundle]

On 20/08/2007, at 7:13 AM, Richard Chirgwin wrote:

> Ivan Trundle wrote:
>> Might have responded more quickly if you'd written 'http:// 
>> cas.gov.au', but never mind (the difference between a clickable  
>> link or just a string of characters in my mail browser).
>>
>> It opens in Safari on Mac, but it's ugly, and the content isn't  
>> well placed - a dud style sheet, for starters. In fact, no cross- 
>> browser testing, by the look of it (different in Firefox and IE7).
>>
>> The site generates an internal server error at  http:// 
>> validator.w3.org/
>>
>> It's a miracle that it parses at all for some browsers. Just goes  
>> to show how tolerant browsers have to be.
> Since you mention browser tolerance, Ivan, I decided to test some  
> of the "problem" sites that I often can't get open.
>
> www.smh.com.au: Failed validation, 263 errors.
> www.domain.com.au: Failed validation, 97 errors.
> www.telstra.com.au: Failed validation, 132 errors.

True enough, but validation is not an end to itself. There was a time  
when I believed that validation was the key to making good websites,  
but it merely expresses the notion that the code is proper, not that  
the site works: and I'll ignore content for a moment.

Difficulties still persist in how an errant quote mark (as an  
example) is likely to be interpreted by all browsers, and there is  
little contemporary research to show how browsers are likely to  
handle bad code - it's a case of letting the users discover this for  
themselves.

My main point, here, is that I am full of admiration for the  
developers who code browser software, and what they do to allow  
browser applications render poor websites.

>
> As you say...
>> Overall, it's simply sloppy work all round, and whilst others  
>> might declare that the site is fine and dandy from their  
>> perspective, one look under the bonnet tells me that it's a Mickey  
>> Mouse (TM) job, with a mishmash of coding from what looks like at  
>> least two different people.
> All too common!

The worst part of this (and it's pretty clear that more than one  
person has coded the site in question) is that no policies exist to  
ensure that code is at least uniform, or built using the same tools.  
This can only lead to bigger problems down the track.

iT

>
> RC
>>
>> iT
>>
>>
>> On 19/08/2007, at 8:09 PM, Howard Lowndes wrote:
>>
>>> Could someone please test csa.gov.au   I tried to go there with  
>>> Firefox 1.5.0.12 under Linux and I get a minimal response and a  
>>> hangup.  I have the script blocker off.
>>>

--
Ivan Trundle
http://globallearning.com.au ivan at globallearning.com.au
ph: +61 (0)2 6249 1344 mb: +61 (0)418 244 259
skype: callto://ivanovitchk