Peter Schoenster wrote:
Re: DHTML, Java, Javascript (and I might add CSS)
> Does anyone say
> "
> If you do this then you will lose 3% of visitors.
> If you do this then you will lose 8% of visitors.
> If you do this then you will lose 12% of visitors.
> I just think that X number of people surf with java turned off. I
> wonder what that percentage is. I also bet that java just simply
> won't work properly on all browsers and all computers. I wonder what
> percentage of people will not be able to use this ... AND THIS IS
> YOUR NAVIGATION system. I just wonder what those numbers are. Has
> anyone pursued this and then said .. " yeah, we are quite willing to
> lose 11% of visitors to use this nifty java program".
I agree with Brent, Mike and Barry on all points...and especially like the
test that Mike inflicted on his unwitting "webmaster" job seekers:
> i also saw a whole bunch of blank expressions, which told me that the
> person in question had never stopped to think about the page being
> viewed under any conditions but the ones on their machine at home.
I haven't seen any stats on how many people turn off Java. I myself don't
have it turned off...I use IE4 on NT and it seems to handle most Java stuff
pretty well. I can't say that for NS4 on the same platform, though. If I
used NS as my main browser, I'd probably turn Java off, but leave Javascript
on.
Judging from the way my clients seem to use their browsers, very few people
know enough to even consider turning off any of the stuff that can be turned
off (Java, Javascript, cookies, images). My guess is that if they get a page
with a Java app that crashes their browser they probably wouldn't realize
that the cause was an errant Java app. I could see them returning to the
page to try it again, and maybe then, if they get a crash, never returning
to the site again.
For all the work that I've done, I have never used any Java app for
navigation. I think the amount of people that could be lost to a java-caused
browser crash + the amount of people that either have Java turned off or
have browsers that don't support Java is reason enough not to rely on it for
anything as critical as navigation.
Getting this point across to your customer may be as easy as doing what Mike
said:
> my personal suggestion would be to shut off Java in your web browser,
> and ask the client to take you to the page which has the spiffy wotsit
> they like so much. from what you've described, i'd imagine the
> experience of seeing the magic fail to work would have more impact
> than a list of facts and figures.
If that doesn't work, maybe a 2x4 across the cranium. If I were your
customer I would not want to lose ANY visitors to my site, especially due to
some self-stimming geegaw that could be done without. If they want to do
business on the net, they should try to reach as many people as possible.
10% of 100 is a lot of people. Even 3% of 100. Depending on their business
(if they are Java developers, things may be different), I would say they
should cater to all of their potential customers by using technology that
will allow all of those people to do business with them. To do otherwise,
and to know better, is just plain arrogant. They probably have in their own
"Mission statement", written or unwritten something like "the customer comes
first". I'd recommend that they adhere to it.
Also, they have hired you to do a job, therefore they should know when to
listen to you. If they want to call the shots, based on the knowledge they
have acquired during casual surfing (and not over years of developing
sites), then perhaps they would be better off working with a novice
developer or a "yes man", then come back to you after they get their lumps.
Then again, maybe they will realize that they hired you to do a job and
they'll put their confidence in your hard-earned knowledge, end up wiser and
go out the door with a better product.
...I'll cross my fingers that they aren't surfing a lot with a v4 browser
and poking you in the eye repeatedly with "can you do this and can you do
that" stuff that'll only work in the browser they use. Grievous.
Jack
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