[CLUE-Tech] Is this true?

[BOF]

Thanks to all of you who took time to reply. I suspected some of the 
points in your replies, but wanted to confirm my opinions before sending 
the site a comment. Here is what I sent the CEO and CIS officer of the 
site in question

    Hello,

    I recently visited your web site (www.msaa.com) and found the
    following under a drop-down menu "Mac/Netscape Users" at the right
    side of the menus on the main page:

        Assistance for Macintosh and Netscape Users

        Some Macintosh and most Netscape users experience problems when
        accessing our pages. This is mostly due to Netscape no longer
        supporting basic code used to run our menuing system.

        In order to assist you, we have to alter all of our pages in
        order to make everything compatible. This is a long and detailed
        process for which we neither have the manhours or funds to
        complete. We will make the effort to support the various web
        browsers, but we do not know when that will be completed.

        Until then, our hearts are with you. 

        If you wish to upgrade to Microsoft's Internet Explorer, please
        click icon.

    The excuse that "Netscape no longer supporting basic code used to
    run the menuing system" is quite simply not true. I suspect that
    whoever designed the page did it with a Microsoft tool and included
    MS proprietary code,  Javascript, or ActiveX components  --- which
    would make the site a non-standard site. There is no reason for the
    designer to patronize the reader with a long false tale of woe about
    having to alter the pages for other browsers, for I believe that, if
    they had done a better job,  i.e., one that complied with published
    open code standards for web pages, the site would be open to all
    browsers to begin with.

    As far as the message of assistance directed at MacIntosh users, I
    do not understand it at all. While the operating system has nothing
    to do with the display of a web page, it may determine which browser
    can be run. In fact, Mac users cannot run Internet Explorer because
    IE is a Intel-based operating system browser. So why direct them to
    upgrade to a browser when they cannot run it to begin with? Such
    statements only further my opinion about the level of professional
    competence of the designer of the page.

    If it is MSAA's decision not support browsers other than IE, then
    the site should simply state that it is optimized for IE. There is
    no reason to insult those who come to visit by degrading their
    choice of browser and operating system or telling them they need to
    "please click icon" [sic] to get Internet Explorer.

    P. S. BTW, when the designer finished the page, did they proof it? I
    believe that in the MSAA logo, the word should be spelled
    "Association" and not "Assoctation".

Let's see how long it takes them to correct the spelling error. <g>

BOF