The Copyright Office wants to implement an IE only pre-registration system (via Slashdot). From the original notice:
it is not entirely clear whether the system will be compatible with web browsers other than Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 5.1 and higher. Filers of preregistration applications will be able to employ these Internet Explorer browsers successfully. Support for Netscape 7.2, Firefox 1.0.3, and Mozilla 1.7.7 is planned but will not be available when preregistration goes into effect. Present users of these browsers may experience problems when filing claims.
This of course means that support for Netscape, FF and Moz might never be implemented. Let’s face it – when was the last time you saw anything being implemented when there was no set deadlines?
All I can say to this is – Section 508. As far as I know, federal websites cannot (or at least should not) publish websites that are inaccessible to blind or sight impaired people. And since such accessibility is best achieved by adhering to w3c standards, making IE only website should not be very legal. And if it is ok for Copyright office to make a half assed website, then why do we even have that section 508.
Come on people! Is it really that hard to use this?
I ran a few USG website through the Cynthia Says tester at http://www.contentquality.com/ and got a nice list of some important sites that fail to adhere to 508 standards:
copyright.gov (U.S. Copyright Office)
ready.gov (DHS public service campaign to educate Americans about responding to terrorism, natural disasters, and other emergencies)
whitehouse.gov (the White House)
travel.state.gov (Dept. of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs)
To their credit, a number of USG site do adhere to Section 508, but these errors in critical web sites ought to be fixed.