Re: More on SVG within HTML pages

Boris Zbarsky wrote:
> Shelley Powers wrote:
>> If the page does not show correctly, most people send an email to the 
>> page author, or ignore it.
>
> If they're using the browser they've been using for years, yes.
>
> If they are using a new browser or new version of a browser and a page 
> does not show correctly they conclude that the browser is broken and 
> go back to whatever they were using before.  Especially if this is a 
> page they need to look at often.
>

I can understand if a page they need access to is broken in the new 
browser, but chances are they also report the problem to the web site. 
Or they use multiple browsers, new and old. I currently use about 7 
different browsers myself.

>> I doubt that many people will surf the web, come upon a single page 
>> that isn't working and make an assumption that the browser is broken. 
>
> You can doubt, but based on what I see in user feedback, that's 
> precisely what happens: people try a new browser, browse around for a 
> few hours, if they see any pages broken they conclude the browser is 
> broken and stop using it.  Chances of them trying that browser again 
> are low.
>

Do you have citations that you can give that most uses when faced with 
one broken page after using a new browser, assume the browser is broken 
and never come back to it?


>> We have to operate under the assumption that most people act reasonably. 
>
> They do, actually.  If you try a new piece of software that claims to 
> do X and it doesn't do it as well as your old software, you go back to 
> your old software.  Pretty reasonable, all things considered, if you 
> have no idea what X involves or why the behavior might be different 
> through no fault of the new software.
>
> -Boris
>

If it doesn't do well for all of your needs, true. But if I'm trying a 
new browser, and most pages work fine, and only one is broken, I give 
the browser a benefit of a doubt.

Now, if most pages were broken, then I would most likely point the 
problem out to the browser company.

Again, though, most people who try a brand new browser are not the type 
to be dissuaded from one broken page. The people who are, are the ones 
still using IE6 and Netscape 4.


And this is getting off topic again. This thread is about SVG and how to 
gracefully handle the namespaced elements that are validly in the SVG.

Shelley

Received on Tuesday, 8 September 2009 14:49:02 UTC