This story gives no information about whether the person referred to can or cannot use a browser 'efficiently'. To do her job she presumably needs to use the web, but there's no reason to believe that she needs to know that the user agent she uses to do that is called a browser, let alone that it's called Internet Explorer. The lack of a common vocabulary makes it difficult to troubleshoot, but there are no grounds for believing that she can't do her job effectively.
Very few people get comprehensive training in the software they use in their day-to-day work (and I say that as an ex-IT trainer in a large government department). Most get enough training - formally or informally - to get by. Once they have found a way of completing a particular task, they are unlikely to take the time to look for other, more efficient, ways of doing it. In many cases, investing that time would pay off many times over, but the fact remains that it means taking time away from the stuff that they're being paid to do right now. Even though my children's generation - today's young adults - have grown up with the web, most of them still find one way of doing something, and then stick to it, rather than exploring alternatives. In any event, there is little to be gained by designing websites based on what you think your users ought to know, if it doesn't match what they actually do know. Back to the original question: should a link to a different website open in a new window or not? If you force the new page to open in a new window (or tab), you are taking control of the user experience. Obviously, this will suit some of your users, but it will irritate those who know how to open a new window but don't want to, and confuse those who don't recognise what you've done. Jakob Neilsen has argued for more than a decade that opening new windows confuses the user and breaks the most commonly recognised browser feature: the back button. A SitePoint article making several of these points is here: http://www.sitepoint.com/beware-opening-links-new-window/ Elizabeth Spiegel Web editing 0409 986 158 GPO Box 729, Hobart TAS 7001 www.spiegelweb.com.au -----Original Message----- From: li...@webstandardsgroup.org [mailto:li...@webstandardsgroup.org] On Behalf Of Tom Ditmars Sent: Friday, 30 December 2011 6:32 AM To: wsg@webstandardsgroup.org Subject: Re: [WSG] Expected behaviour of links to external websites On 12/29/2011 01:02 PM, coder wrote: > I had an awful job getting her to understand what [a browser was], > but eventually she explained : "I use my e". This was subsequently > clarified by the explanation that she meant the small blue thing at > the bottom of the screen. Let me add that this lady sits in front of > her PC, at work, using the internet 5 days a week, all day, and has > done for 10 years that I know of. That is the failure of either her employer for failing to train her properly or herself for failing seeking the appropriate training to do her job. Web developers should not and cannot be expected to cater to users who "use the [Web] 5 days a week ... for 10 years" and refuse to learn to use it efficiently. I would dare to venture that the world has reached a point where knowing about things like "tabs" or "right-clicking" should be expected. The World Wide Web has existed for nearly 20 years. ******************************************************************* List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: memberh...@webstandardsgroup.org ******************************************************************* ******************************************************************* List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: memberh...@webstandardsgroup.org *******************************************************************
