Barnes and Noble snubs Lynx users

[Robert J Tiess]

Elisabeth Roche  wrote:
>So the people in NYC can go to the bookstore if they want to give Barnes
>and Noble their business.
>
>Or they can frequent bookstores on the web that are built for browsing
by
>them.
>
>I don't see why anyone should have to persude Barnes and Noble to sell
>their books to us. It isn't as if they were denying access to C-Span
>channels, or taking Letterman off the air, although they are denying
>braille readers their page information, but that is their loss. They are
>not the sole source of books for sale on the WWW.
>
>If they don't want the lynx browsers business, then lynx browsers should
>use the alternatives. 
>
>Of course, telling them about the problem they have was a good idea. But
a
>campaign to urge a company to add diverse browsing compatibility for
>selling to more people seems silly (if it is the consumers doing the
urging.) 
>
>If my job was marketing for Barnes and Noble, I would be campaigning to
>expand browsing markets, you know:)
>
>Elisabeth Roche  eroche at opus1.com
>serendipity RULES!

Just to clear things up, that was Mr. Kuntz's quote concerning B&N, not
mine,
Elisabeth.

Secondly, I think it's not merely the fact we want B&N to "sell their
books
to us."  That there are sufficient sites on the net to meet this demand
is
evident.  We're dealing with a larger issue here: information access via
Lynx.
My point is that much of the HTML being written today, whether webmasters
know it or not, is shutting out entire populations of users.  B&N is a
commercial example, but I am certain there are other examples of sites
out
there users cannot access because they're using Lynx, or some browser
lesser than Navigator or IExplorer.  Tying this into the ALA's call for
quasi-universal information access, at least for as many users/patrons
out
there as possible, I believe webmasters, particular library webmasters,
should
set standards by designing sites that admit the most users into their
site.
Once again, what good is there in providing content if only a few people
can
access it?  IMHO, there are more than enough barriers to information at
the
moment to discourage any further access-limiting practices.  If elitism
is
allowed to enter upon the Information Age, only those privileged with the
most current software will be able to access potentially critical
information.
That's just plain wrong, and it doesn't have to be that way.

				Robert J. Tiess
				Middletown, New York
				rjtiess at juno.com