On Jan 25, 2009, at 5:06 PM, s wrote:
So I just went to write our new US administration my first e-mail
from whitehouse.gov. Ready and eager for that much-touted new open
line of communication into our government! I filled out all my info.
on the contact form, wrote a title in the message box stating
(pleading), "PLEASE MAKE WALL STREET ACCOUNTABLE!" then hit the
paragraph return button.
1) Use of all caps for a message title is considered a bannable
offense on most community forums these days. Regardless of your
problems sending the message, I would consider it well within reason
for the recipients of your message to simply filter it to the junk
pile bin given that you basically yelled at them.
2) There is no such thing as the "paragraph return" button. There are
Return and Enter keys on the keyboard, which are general "enter"
functions that work based on context of whatever is in focus.
3) The behavior of the Return and Enter keys in modern web browsers is
to act as a Submit function when a submit button exists on a form and
when the cursor is not inside of a text area form field. As such, it
sounds like you hit the Return key with the focus still inside a
normal input field and therefore got the correct behavior. Had you
wanted to move to the next field instead of submitting the form, you
should have pressed the Tab key on your keyboard.
4) This set of behaviors have been like this since at least the early
1980s and the introduction of graphical user interfaces. Web browsers
finally caught up with standard conventions from the past which made
the web browser more accessible and keyboard driven to those that need
accessibility. Changing these behaviors would effectively change
convention already learned by an entire generation of computer users
while simultaneously breaking accessibility at this point in time.
5) Whitehouse.gov is extremely well designed, from a variety of
measures that include aesthetic, information, interaction and content.
It's always boggled my mind why the gov't doesn't put UX advocates
(including designers, researchers, coders, QA) front and center in
the design of citizen-technology interfaces. Don't even get me
started on voting.
I'll restate: Whitehouse.gov is very well designed.
To claim your experience is somehow indicative of some larger
perceived problem based on your opinion is imprecise, especially
considering your presentation of the issue is both misinformed and not
seemingly based on an understanding of basic interactions and
conventions that have a long, well documented past.
Does anyone have any experience/ evidence... HOPE?? to the contrary?
I have plenty. I'm not sure why anyone would consider the new
whitehouse.gov design to be anything other than a massive step forward
for our government.
--
Andrei Herasimchuk
Principal, Involution Studios
innovating the digital world
e. [email protected]
c. +1 408 306 6422
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