Re: lynx-dev When I tell a Webmaster about Lynx ...pointers?

[Heather]

> 
> Non-list subscriber, tho' I read on occasion.  
> 
> I use Lynx via Netcom's shell account (2.8.1 as of today); not a
> developer or programmer.

'bout time they upgraded... or you're using the NUGLOPS version, perhaps.
(Last time I was on netcom, they were two years behind on the Lynx version,
maybe longer.)

> Often I send mail to webmasters pointing out pages where tab-enter doesn't
> work ("on mouseover" in the source....).  I've been asked "what's Lynx?"
> and "can you send me a copy?" fairly often recently.
> 
> Prize remark thus far:  
>    I am not a "techie" and do not understand what
>    you mean by a "text browser" but if you just
>    click the red button on the left side of the screen
>    you will see .....
> 
> I'm wondering -- is there a pointer I should use, or an evangelist to whom
> I can send these youngsters, beter than what I"ve been doing so far?

For reasons why to either not, or be careful when they do, optimize their
pages so they don't exclude browsers,
        "This page optimized for ..." - arguing with customers
        http://goodpractices.com/opti.html

If the only world they know is Windows, pointing them directly at
        Lynx for DOS 386+ or Win32
        http://www.fdisk.com/doslynx/lynxport.htm

...will (1) show a screen shot so they know what you're talking about,
and (2) they can get a binary version (since they're so "non-techie"
they need a ditionary for the word "text", "compiler" is gonna be waaaaaay
beyond them).  Of course it also points at Doug Kaufman's and some of
the other ports.

Assuming you win them over, or perhaps if they're waffling, they can view
their own pages via the CGI at
        What does your HTML look like without graphics?
        http://www.slcc.edu/webguide/lynxit.html

...without downloading and setting up a local copy of lynx, and it will
show them what their pages look like in 2.8.  It's not quite as useful
as knowing what hotlinks stopped working, but it can be very informative
anyway.

(BTW, if anyone still has any power there, on Subir's "see lynx for 
yourself" page one of the links seems dead.)  

> I have been pointing them to    www.lynx-browser.org, telling them that
> they are using some competition-hostile page building tool that refuses to
> recognize Lynx ("you are not using a frames-capable browser..."), but that
> Lynx is HTML4.0 compliant and should be easy to support.
> 
> And that supporting Lynx helps low- and no-vision users of text-to-speech
> apps, which for a US company helps them be ADA-compliant.

There are also big stacks of links about government desires in this area,
forums to argue the subject, etc, at:
        Designing More Usable Web Sites
        http://trace.wisc.edu/world/web/

> (No, nobody has asked why they should be compliant with such an obsolete
> programming language (grin) but some do ask who writes this ADA spec and
> what it's for.)
> 
> Any advice welcome, emailed or pointers to sources.  

I hope the above is some help.  Of course, I'm a consultant, so if some
of these non-techie sorts would like some technical help, it's available
at the right price.

> If a lynx-users list (for us nonprogrammers) or digest comes along, 
> I'll gladly participate more.

Users of varying levels of ability, testers, and developers all live here
on one list so lynx will be better.  Admitted, the patches are a bit dry
sometimes, but the fact some plain folk are here too reminds them to 
document all the cool stuff they're adding in.

(Could we convince a digest to strip the patches? Hmm...)

  * Heather Stern * address@hidden * Starshine Technical Services *