I was just randomly wandering around the net and I found a site which had an introduction that said something like this:
This site is only compatible with IE 5.0 + 5.5. IT WILL NOT WORK WITH IE 6.0 OR NETSCAPE.That same site had a layout that, since it was designed in a 1024x768 screen resolution, was unusable for me even if I went in fullscreen mode in IE.
Now, excuse me, but what the FUCK is that shit? That is not designing. It's not webdesigning when you alienate a good part of your visitors. Not everybody has a computer with the same specs (browser & screen resolution, in the specific) that you designed your site with. >.< Grr. Things like that irk the hell out of me. Especially the extremely restricted compatibility thing. Oh, whoops, what if people already upgraded to IE 6.0? Well that's too bad, isn't it? :P Good thing I still have IE 5.0... NOT, since I am not going to stay one minute longer on that site.
Speaking of which, do you want to know why I still use IE 5.0? No? Well, I'll tell you anyway. :p Well, first of all, I wouldn't use IE at ALL if it wasn't for some sites that will not work with Netscape. (Come on, it's not that hard to design a site so that it will work in Netscape too. I don't want it to look pretty. I want it to be readable and navigable. Is it that hard? If you find it hard, well sorry, you're not a "webdesigner", you're a lazy little shit. :p) *cough* Anyway, I'm digressing... back to the IE 5.0 argument. The main reason I still haven't upgraded is, IE 5.0 doesn't show colored scrollbars. Which is just as well, since there's this habit some "designers" have of making their scrollbars one solid color, the same as the background color, making me effectively unable to see the scrollbar. Ugh. And what's with the scrollbar on the left trend? Scrollbars aren't made to look pretty. They're made to be functional. They're made to scroll the text. No, scrollbars do not clash with layouts. Normal colored scrollbars on the right side of the screen have been there since day one. Everybody's always dealt with them, yes? Yes. Then stop whining and let me SEE and USE the damn scrollbars. And before you object, no, not everybody has a mouse with a scrollwheel they can use for scrolling instead of the scrollbar. I, for one, didn't until I got one for Christmas.
Oh, and hey, btw, if your text is so small that I have to squint at the screen to read it in 800x600, screw you and your site too, I'm outta here. I don't want to lose my eyes.
And if I go to a site, and I see something like "image 1 of 95 (or some other ridiculous number) loaded", well, I do have to wonder if you really have to cut up your image in so many tiny ickle bits. Especially since too many images on a page make my computer choke. (Have I mentioned I have a crappy computer?) And for that matter, if the total weight of said images is more than 500K, or, worse, hasn't loaded after two minutes (I'm on ADSL for crying out loud, not on a bloody 56K connection), I'm out. Guh. THINK, people.
Oh, and I do not appreciate being forced to click all over a layout to see where links are, because you've messed with the link colors so the links are not underlined and the same color as the text, or you're using a navigation which requires me to click on random bits of images, which are not labelled as navigation, to move around the page. And if you've messed with the cursor points, making the cursor stay the same when moving over a link and when it's on normal text, I HATE YOU. It should be IMMEDIATELY CLEAR how to navigate a site. I should NOT have to guess and random-click until I get it. If you're using a peculiar navigation, SAY SO somewhere on the page. "You have to click on that and that and that to navigate." Is it that bloody hard to do?
Not everybody has a state-of-the-art computer with a huge screen that can go to extremely high resolutions, a l33t mouse with scrollwheel and all that shit, a fast CPU that can support the newest versions of browsers (the computers in my university's computer room choke on three IE windows, dammit), or a fast connection that can download 500K+ of images extremely fast. Not everybody has a computer with IE on it, for that matter. HELLO, university computers with only Netscape or some obscure browser on them. Yes, I've seen some. Don't be a goddamn elitist. You have a computer with all the bells and whistles? Good for you. Not everybody does. Adjust for people who are less lucky than you.
That means, don't use more than 100K worth of images unless absolutely necessary (ESPECIALLY NOT ON A SITE THAT'S SUPPOSED TO BE INFORMATIVE, DUMMY), make your layouts work in bloody 800x600 and at least NAVIGABLE and READABLE in some browser other than IE (at least Netscape), don't hide the goddamn scrollbars, etc. etc. etc.
Too hard for your little l33t w3bd3s1gn3r sk1llz? Make a text-only version. I said, I do not care if the site looks pretty or not. I want it to be bloody readable and navigable. Is that too much to ask?