Don't Tell Me What To Do
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Friday, 11th July 2008
Here's a really short blog that tells you exactly how it is...
If you EVER find yourself writing any of the following statements, then you're doing something inherently wrong:
- This page is best viewed in [Internet Explorer], [1024x768] with [JavaScript] enabled.
- You need [Flash] to view this page.
- You must have [Cookies] enabled to view this page.
All of these statements actually mean the same thing, so if you've used anything even remotely like this, please bear in mind that this is what you are actually writing:
- I can't write proper web pages.
Now, I will accept that there are specific instances where you can say things and depend on something existing to supply content, but these are very specific situations, not site-wide or page-wide statements of incompetence. Therefore, I will excuse the following:
- Where rich media content is supplied, some form of player is needed (until they devise something more open to replace this!)
- Where "funky" content is available, but not a player - a notice is supplied to inform people that, while they can still get all the same information, it does look better with the add-in.
- Where something is needed for security, like a cookie that deals with logging someone into a site.
Stop telling people to install stuff and start writing graceful, tidy web sites!