(Mis)Uses of Technology

(Mis)Uses of Technology

by Mike Masnick




Amazon Lite... Not So Good

from the oh-well,-nice-try dept

Some people will never be satisfied. Two weeks ago we wrote about the "Lite" version of Amazon's site which is designed to be used by people with impaired vision using browser reader software. The simple site was apparently designed to make it easier for those readers to interpret the page and read it quickly. As I said at the time, I like it - and think it's useful for just anyone, since it's much faster than Amazon. However, not everyone agrees. Many experts are screaming mad at Amazon saying that (1) the site obviously wasn't designed for the visually impaired since it doesn't include the most basic things like alternative text for images (2) it looks more like a site they designed for a wireless device instead of a software reader and (3) a good website should be designed to have it's regular site work well with software readers anyway. I still don't see what the big deal is. The alt text problem is easily fixed, and I think it's good that at least Amazon is offering this as an option. Some people just enjoy complaining too much.

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