Re: Just a moment... W3C Validator nolonger works in Any Browser -- a Nu incompatibility

Hi Jens, hi all,

At Z+0000=2024-08-12Mon10:23:07, Jens Oliver Meiert sent:
> Just a bystander question, that is, you're using a text browser to access the validator at https://validator.w3.org/,

    Yes; Text User Interface browser W3M.

> and that used to work but doesn't anymore?

    That used to /always/ work but /sometimes/ doesn't anymore -- it very much depends on the site being validated.  New sites that are directed to the Nu version of the Validator do not work at all in any of the 4 browsers that I use.  Everything else still works completely fine in all of the 4 browsers that I use.

    Here are some examples...

==== AnyBrowser.org ====
 -> https://validator.w3.org/nu/?doc=http%3A%2F%2Fanybrowser.org%2F 

>> [Just a moment...]
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>    1:Refresh (390 sec)
>>    2:Enable JavaScript and cookies to continue  

    Excluding other tabs and the status bar, this is what I see in W3M (line numbers added by W3M; only 2 lines); Lynx and Links would show exactly the same but presented slightly differently; Uzbl just shows a blank white page, with the window titled as "Just a moment...".


==== JSfree.org ====
 -> https://validator.w3.org/nu/?doc=https%3A%2F%2Fjsfree.org%2F 

>> [Just a moment...]
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>    1:Refresh (390 sec)
>>    2:Enable JavaScript and cookies to continue  

    Same again.  Excluding other tabs and the status bar, this is what I see in W3M (line numbers added by W3M; only 2 lines); Lynx and Links would show exactly the same but presented slightly differently; Uzbl just shows a blank white page, with the window titled as "Just a moment...".


==== DWheeler.com ====
    How about one of the oldest sites that I know from one of the earliest computer scientists?...

 -> https://validator.w3.org/check?uri=DWheeler.com&charset=%28detect+automatically%29&doctype=Inline&group=0 

    Yes, this still gets directed to the working version of the Validator; in any browser, I get an actual page showing a list of validation errors. :-)

>> [[Invalid]]
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>    1:W3C Markup Validation Service
>>    2:
>>    3:Check the markup (HTML, XHTML, …) of Web documents
>>    4:
>> [...]
>>    8:Errors found while checking this document as HTML 4.01 Transitional!
>>    9:
>>   10:   Result:    35 Errors
>> [...]
>>   26:Validation Output: 35 Errors
>>   27:
>>   28: 1. Error Line 163, Column 4: document type does not allow element "LI" here
>>   29:
>> [...]

    Excluding other tabs and the status bar, this is some of what I see in W3M (line numbers added by W3M; 453 lines in total).  Also works fine in Uzbl.


==== FrogFind.com ====
    How about this new HTML 2.0 search engine that aims to support vintage hardware?...

 -> https://validator.w3.org/check?uri=FrogFind.com&charset=%28detect+automatically%29&doctype=Inline&group=0 

    Yep, this also gets directed to the Validator version that works fine in all 4 of my browsers that I use. :-)

>> [[Invalid]]
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>    1:W3C Markup Validation Service
>>    2:
>>    3:Check the markup (HTML, XHTML, …) of Web documents
>>    4:
>> [...]
>>    9:Errors found while checking this document as -//W3C//DTD HTML 2.0//EN!
>>   10:
>>   11:   Result:    10 Errors, 1 warning(s)
>> [...]
>>   25:Notes and Potential Issues
>>   26:
>>   27:The following notes and warnings highlight missing or conflicting information which caused the validator to perform some guesswork prior to validation, or other things affecting the output below. If the guess or fallback is incorrect, it could make
>>   28:validation results entirely incoherent. It is highly recommended to check these potential issues, and, if necessary, fix them and re-validate the document.
>>   29:
>>   30: 1. Warning Unable to Determine Parse Mode!
>>   31:
>> [...]

    Excluding other tabs and the status bar, this is some of what I see in W3M (line numbers added by W3M; 170 lines in total).  Also works fine in Uzbl.

    So, the problem is confined to the Nu version of the Validator, which unfortunately an increasing number of sites are being directed to.  And it is these new sites as well that I am having trouble campaigning about support for TUI browsers, do it does not help at all that the Nu version of the Validator undermines my efforts here in campaigning for wider browser support.

Kind regards,
James.
P.s.: Sorry, I meant to send my previous email from +ML.W3C.Validator subaddress, but I seem to have accidentally only corrected the typo in my BCC to myself, not across all fields that the typo propagated to.
-- 
Sent from Debian with Claws Mail, using email subaddressing as an alternative to error-prone heuristical spam filtering.