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RE: The value of knowledge (was: repetitive navigation)

for

From: John Foliot - bytown internet
Date: Feb 20, 2003 8:02AM


> John, on the other hand, has not paid for JAWS but has FREE access
> to it via
> his friend which places him at an unfair advantage compared with Philip. I
> too am a part-time web developer and just recently, I submitted a 10 month
> invoice for about $1500 USD of which, $900 could have been spent on JAWS
> leaving me with only $600 USD out of which internet access and other
> expenses would have to be taken before feeding my family. Of
> course, for me,
> purchasing JAWS is not a current reality and if my sites don't
> work in JAWS,
> then so be it - I can't afford to test them in JAWS.

While it is true that I have access to a JAWs tester through personal
association/friendship, as I pointed out there are many people on this list
(and similar lists) who will gladly do a spot check on a page or a couple of
pages upon request. I also did take the plunge and aquired IBM HPR for my
lab, which I use for general, first run testing.

I also agree that as developers (part-time, full-time, hobbyist) that
testing in multiple browsers is a good thing; I have 8 different browsers
installed on my machine for that very purpose (and am saving for the
purchase of a Macintosh to extend that capability). But I also accept that
the "display" in each of the eight may be a bit different.

My bottom line is that if the code being served is valid then it is up to
the rendering agents to interpret it correctly... I no longer, as a matter
of course, support NN4.x unless the client wants to pay the extra freight.
I explain why, back up my reasoning with, among other things, personal
server logs which show that for the majority of my clients NN4 represents
less than 2% of the market and is shrinking daily, etc. However, I am
personally of the opinion that if more developers stopped supporting
non-compliant browsers they would disappear from the market place at an even
faster rate. Somebody needs to blink first, and so I will...

I appreciate that Philip wants to do due diligence in his testing, I am not
criticizing him for that (au contraire). I take exception with the concept
that because he wants to do this testing that a for-profit company should
give away their resources "...because"; that somehow this will benefit
Freedom Scientific or IBM. It won't. It will benefit Philip.

Yes, JAWs is expensive, and even I cannot justify the expense right now,
although perhaps in the future I might. But it does not stop me from
continuing to build, test and ask questions via this forum and others. I
accept the fact that I cannot do it all, and I trust the opinions and
comments from valued associations and associates. I do not however rant on
about why a piece of software should be free.

I will leave it at that, this forum is not for flame-fests or rants. This
is my opinion - that's all.

JF



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