I had to shout out loud on this one, though ZDNET also wrote a nice article about it. Believe it or not, IE’s latest update (went through roughly 10 days ago) has created havoc on the web, for both web designers and end-users. As I type, anyone using Internet Explorer now has to “activate” any flash or active-x element related to their website (EOLAS 521 millions lawsuit anyone?). This means that accessibility wise, our industry is now suffering greatly. Microsoft is very displeased with the decision (duh!) although they probably saw it coming a century ago.
For my part, I’m kinda concerned that very little discussions have been made about this tremendous blow to web design in general. I mean, do I need to call all of my customers which I managed their websites (like 60++) and tell them: “you know, there was that patch because of that lawsuit against Microsoft, and since you use Flash/active elements, it would cost you X$ for the quick fix”. I mean, things like that happen, but I hate the fact that most of the “non-tekkie” users are the ones on the line. We can switch easily to other browsers, and some web designers will do it for their customers, but many won’t and even with IE7 out, some will still have IE6. Most of my friends and customers I’ve been talking to recently were somehow annoyed in the last 2 weeks, having to double-click any flash element on any site they surf or visit. What does this all means? It means Microsoft got caught using someone else “free but don’t commercialize please” technology, and it means the end-user (again) is paying for that.
If you are still using IE for browsing and want to avoid the double-click for active elements, consider Firefox and do share your thoughts on this ridiculous accessibility issue.
p.s. I made this post in French, too for anyone who’s interested.
(edited by Rand –> thanks, and by the way, flag my major English flaws!)
