RE: Single Browser Intranets (was: Web Accessibility Myths)

I found I could get directly into AltaVista's category pages with Lynx if 
and only if I knew the direct URL:
http://dir.altavista.com/Computers/Usenet.shtml

To a point, I could navigate the tree too:
http://dir.altavista.com/Computers/

Works okay, but
http://dir.altavista.com/

just gets you back to the main home page (which, with Lynx, does not make 
the categories available).

So if one routinely uses Lynx with AltaVista to search the usenet, this can 
get bookmarked.

How one finds those categories in the first place -- or notices when new 
categories are added -- is beyond me.

P.S.  Raman, Congratulations on your new job!  When did you leave Adobe? 
 Do you feel free to be less discrete now regarding the virtues of PDF?


On Tuesday, October 26, 1999 1:36 PM, T. V. Raman [SMTP:tvraman@us.ibm.com] 
wrote:
> (I'm redirecting  this to the PF group because this is a good instance
> of the server using the user-agent field to make a draconian
> decision as to what you deserve to get ...)
>
> As an another example
> of the same problem (one I mentioned to Daniel last week
> check out broadcast.yahoo.com)
>
> The story about Altavista gets worse adn worse
> I'm giving up and switching to google --but it may be
> worthwhile as part of the  wai/PF/gl activities to run a few
> experiments.
>
> Here is what I found:
> (using Netscape, Lynx and W3)
>
> 1) They always send lynx directly to the text only page.
> 2) When they do so, search results in lynx come out right
> --I think they serve the right HTML
> 3) However, the lynx user does not get a shot at doing a
> usenet search etc.
> --All those are on the graphcis only page which does view
> with Emacs/W3.
>
> 4) Emacs/W3 by default gets served up some weird html
>    results when it goes to the textonly page--
> --this is how I got the results all wrapped in <PRE>...</PRE>
> however if you go through the graphics page, then it gets
>    served the right result.
> 5) You can get to the usenet and news searches from Emacs/W3
>    through the graphics page, but it wont do you much good, because they 
check the browser
>    before serving you the answer, and throw you out if
>    you're not IE or Netscape.
> The page comes up saying "go get a frames capable browser"
> --emacs/W3 is frames capable though they dont acknowledge this.
>
> Topic for PF:
> We need to get a list of capability strings passed in the
> http headers
> --rather than the age old kluge of the server looking at the
> user-agent string.
> This issue is bigger than access, Daniel, could you pass it
> to whoever you are liasing with in HTTP-NG land?
>
> --
> Best Regards,
> --raman

Received on Tuesday, 26 October 1999 17:58:41 UTC