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Web standards and accessibility are abstractions that the majority of internet users probably know nothing about, but for those that do it can become a passionate debate and crusade. We are talking cross-browser compatibility – where websites function correctly on all browsers on all computer platforms. And it is actually very easy to achieve – all it takes is a simple decision before the design starts that this is a goal.
Ten years ago when Microsoft’s appalling and non-standard Internet Explorer ruled the roost there was perhaps an excuse but that has long passed and even Microsoft has made some small headway into compatibility and standards – although they still attempt to lock people into their platform.
One company that seems almost proud to flout standards and by so doing, disenfranchise a potential market for their service, is Tesco. We have the letter to prove it and I quote:
 We don’t support either Mozilla or Opera browsers.
Signed by one Eve Hughes, Customer Services Manager.
So, if you are a user of the Apple Macintosh, you cannot do your on-line shopping with Tesco. If you are a user of a Linux platform you cannot do your shopping with Tesco. And if you are one of the growing army of people who have finally realised that Internet Explorer is just more trouble that it is worth, is a security black-hole and non-standards compliant, then you too cannot do your on-line shopping with Tesco either.
Which is why we are about to check out Sainsbury.
I am quite shocked by that. A company the size of Tesco should have either an entire team of passionate professional web designers to push the cause or an external agency of some repute (Not that that counts for much sometimes).
Jolly Bad Show!
I have to say I was not that surprised. Nor really, am I that impressed with many ‘professionals’. There is still a lot of ‘old school’ thinking and of course in this case, ‘old school’ was not really that long ago! We come across quite a number of sites from reputable companies – some of them leading edge in their field – who are still not adopting open and compatible standards.
It’s actually quite easy as I have found out myself, the design has to incorporate a few changes and sometimes some IE hacks to boot. That being said, companies have to understand the need for cross-browser standards compliance and in cases redo their sites in order to accomodate the growing number of non-ie users, as well as safegaurd against the future ie and ff versions
Hear hear. Well said. Yes – it is really easy… perhaps the most difficult parts are making the decision and employing the proper people.
There is method in the madness shown by Tesco.
They operate the biggest personal information database in the world, bigger than the NSA, bigger than the National Information Register will be when its finished.
They do this in league with MS.
http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,3604,1573821,00.html
http://thejournal.parker-joseph.co.uk/blog/_archives/2006/12/27/2598897.html
Be very wary of Tesco, they are getting into some very shady businesses, using very questionable methods.
The Tesco site works on a Mac, my brother uses one and shops with them but finds it hard to book flights and insurance from leading names. We run FireFox here and shop there without problems but I agree that there are too many companies who think a website that works on their browser of choice is acceptable.
What people fail to see is that by having an inaccessible site they’re in breach of Disability Discrimination regulations and failing to live up the reputation of a ‘caring corporate’ that they strive so hard for. If it fails the user on FireFox you can be certain it will fail anyone on screen reading devices or those with disabilities who try to use their site.
Another big problem I have with a lot of big names online is their lack of a presence for mobile devices. So very few big names online take mobile seriously yet there are four internet enabled mobile phones sold for every PC. One third of the planet is online with a phone.
Who can afford to turn these users away when the numbers stack up like that?
All the principles of mobile site design meet web accessibility guidelines, my mobile plugin for WordPress was developed for mobile devices but I checked it against Section 508 and WCAG 12&3 to see it passed the automatic tests.
Going mobile and accessible on all platforms, isn’t hard it just takes focus and commitment and the rewards will be worth it:
Accessible to all regardless of browser, visual impairment or disabilites
Accessible anywhere, no need to be in front of a PC to view a site
This amounts to millions and millions of users, I can’t grasp why the folks working in analytics haven’t put two and two together to see they have the perfect opportunity to send conversion rates through the roof.
I may have a temporary fix for Firefox.
In about:config, right click, then select new, then string, set the preference name as “general.useragent.override” (no quotes), then set the value to MSIE.
I’m half way through an order using that method, with no problems, yet.
It doesn’t work when visiting your site tho’ – 403 permission error – so you’ll need to reset the preference straight after leaving the Tesco site. To do that, find the preference you created, right click on it, and select reset.
I’m quite surprised that works actually. The problems that occur when using Firefox normally, suggest to me that it’s more the fault of IE’s document type sniffing, rather than the Tesco site being solely designed for IE. Apparently not though!
I presume my last comment went into moderation, anyway, the method I suggested does work for Tesco. I just completed my shop, using Firefox, with none of the usual errors.
So, if like me, Sainsbury’s don’t deliver to your area and you’re stuck with Tesco, there is a way to make their sorry excuse for a website, work with the mighty ‘Fox.
Doubly handy if you’re on a Linux box, like me.
I can see this working but what a nuisance. Fortunately for us we DO have an alternative and that is Waitrose…
But this is a useful method for testing other things and I’ll give it a try. Thanks for the tip.
There’s a user agent switcher extension for Firefox too – https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/59
That should achieve the same effect, albeit a lot easier.
I get “Sorry, we do not yet deliver to your area.” from Waitrose too, I guess living near Plymouth is as good as living on the North Pole when it comes to grocery deliveries!
As a Mac/Firefox user, Tesco online shopping can be troblesome (opening ‘my favourites’ usually), but often works fine. On the days that it does not, Mac’s own Safari seems to work perfectly well.
In the end, Tesce will find that they’re losing customers. Maybe the team doesn’t have the right people on board as yet. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Nice spam there, Gina. Straight to a Tesco affiliate link page.
*unsubscribes from this topic*
As an alternative to Tesco I shop at Iceland and let them bag it all up and deliver it to my home – minimum spend is £30 or so.