On 2005-04-02 07:08:00, BuzzKill wrote:
"I don't have any trouble opening the docs. I did once get that same message, but using a different server fixed the problem, and now it opens fine with either one.
You know, that's just super that it works for you, but what about some parent, whose only resource is to find the info about an abusive school through others? What if they don't know what "using a different server" even means, and instead just go ahead and send their kid to a program because the information wasn't readily available?
I'd venture a guess the reason they don't "Just provide links" is that news articles links usually don't remain fixed. The newspaper and magazine folks don't keep the article available indefinitely. There are exceptions, but they are rare.
I was not talking about hot linking to the article directly. I know those don?t stay up permanently. I'm saying, create the website in a way that it is user friendly to everyone. Make copies of the articles and documents and create webpage links to the articles, not using Acrobat Reader!
You can't even copy a sentence from
http://www.isaccorp.org! The way they have it set up, if you right click to copy, you get a message saying, "Thank you for visiting!" Thanks but no thanks. I could also criticize Wes Fagar's site because most of the links on his site don't load right now, and the music is a waste and turns people away because it takes forever to load. Especially those computer users who have no idea why the page won't load because with the music on it takes too long. How do they know to wait? They just think it doesn?t work! I do have a friend who does web design, and their opinion is that music on a webpage is a sure way to lose the interest of others. You know, there are still ignorant parents and others who either still use dial up, or have never touched a computer in their life! What about them? Just screw ?em? Not to mention the text has become so small on Fager?s site that you have to have perfect vision to even see it, and it?s all so jumbled together that you can?t find anything, not to mention the search engine doesn?t work well either. I cannot tell you how many times I?ve given people
http://www.thestraight.com as a resource for info, just to have them come back and tell me they didn?t give it the time of day because the web design layout was indecipherable and confusing. You can?t find any thing! It?s completely unorganized! Isaccorp is organized, but not user friendly or copy/paste friendly. Changes need to be made or people simply won?t listen. Don't we want to be heard?
I am once again amazed at people wanting to bitch about ISAC. If you have an idea for a better resource - go build it. "They" will come. But go build it anyway.
ISAC has bragged over the years as being the "# 1 SOURCE FOR INFO!" But does that really amout to a hill o' beans if you can't spread the word? I do activism work, but it's not in the form of web design. I'm giving constructive criticism on an issue that really should be revamped so that their site is user-friendly to
ALL. If it's not, then what's the point? So they get all the credit for research, even though their info isn't even available to be helpful?
