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in A Web Designer's View
Summerfest...... why?
400-summerfestlogo

34467 By arks00
Community Blogger

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Reader submitted blog Published Feb. 23, 2008 at 12:24 p.m.
Category: Arts & Entertainment

Why oh why did you design a website straight out of 1990? 

I have a choice of an all Flash site, or an "alternate" site built with a massive amount of tables...

This upsets me. One of Milwaukee's largest events of the year, one of the largest Music events in the nation... has one of the most unusable websites I have ever seen. Another blow to the modern web... I wonder who got to design it?

This site screams "I'm not accesible". 

  • A screenreader cant read any of the flash site, and will have one heck of a time swimming through the messy table code of the other site.  If you are blind, forget about finding any information on this website.
  • There is so much text on the alternate site's front page... I have no idea where to start to find any information. 

My favorite here is a quote from the "alternate" site:

"On this alternate website you will find all the same content as the Summerfest main site without the requirement of the Flash 9 plugin. This site will remain available for all users until the Flash 9 plugin becomes a worldwide standard. If you would like to view the Flash 9 based main site you must have the plugin."

WOW. Thats a nice way to say we dont cater to everyone. Good way to stop newcomers from finding any info on your site. I guess I cant use my iphone to look for anything on summerfest's website.. it doesnt support flash(and rightfully so, its not a web standard).

I could go on and on...

The point of this post...

By having to build THREE different websites:

one in flash,

one in messy table HTML,

and one "mobile" mesy table version;

Summerfest spent 3 times the amount of money and time than they should have. If they would have simply built a modern web site that gradually degrades based on the device the user is using to access the site, they could have saved alot of time and money.

 

 



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