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Re: [LUG] NHS Choose and Book - regrettably only available for a restricted subset of browser aplications and their users

 

people wrote:
>>> Why not rally LUGs country-wide to write to them? I'll compose a 
>>> letter if you like. Or perhaps a petition?
>>> This breaks accessibility laws and discriminates against those with a 
>>> choice to use non-crap. Or perhaps it prevents choice by forcing us to 
>>> use crap. Over to you on this, Neil W :)
>>>
>>> -- 
>>> Ben Goodger
>>>       
>
>
>   
I've seen less conciliatory responses from official systems you know...

"We are sorry, but the web browser you are using is not compatible with
the online Choose and Book service.

We apologise unconditionally for any inconvenience caused by this
problem and can assure you that we are working to make sure that future
versions of the Choose and Book online service work in as many types of
browser as possible.

You can still book over the phone by calling 0845 60 88 8 88 (Textphone:
0845 8 50 22 50)."


You might consider responding to it along the lines of being pleased
that they have taken note that not everyone wishes to and some are not
able to use a specific browser, that they have declared their intention
to extend it etc, and with the suggestion that one of the relatively
early ones to work out should be Firefox on Linux since a solution to
that will probably carry over to Firefox on Windows, and to the two main
browsers on the Macintosh, and may even turn out to work in Lynx when
that is used as the basis for screen-readers etc for the partially sighted.


That approach does not work worse than the first proposed one, either to
developers and programmers, or to contracting companies and NHS managers
whether IT or vanilla.

  It ties in with what Theo was remarking earlier, and is one of those
things that irritates committed Linux users and FLOSS proselytisers who
have amassed experience of a) making the real world work, and b) banging
their heads against bits of it.

-- 
A (the other one, whose C&B might work if the chip card hadn't broken
before the appliation was made workable and lacks a replacement 6 months
later.)


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