[gui-talk] Unable to Access Target.com web Site Using IE 8 With XP

Tue Nov 13 16:29:51 UTC 2012

Gerald,

It was my understanding that the problem with accessing target last January was solved by Target at some point.  The fact that you 
are currently having a problem indicates that it was either not solved or that they have a recurring problem.  Since some people 
seem to still be able to use Internet Explorer 8, it seems likely that that this is some sort of bug rather than a policy that is 
aimed at IE 8, and the fact that you can use FireFox 3.6 would seem to back up my assertion.  Is there an on-going discussion of 
this problem on the other list you mention, and are you finding that you are unable to access the full site?  In other words, is 
this an error message or a warning message?  It sounds very much like the little Google promotion for Chrome which is displayed on 
some of their sites even though the sites still work.  Do you know if using another screen reader with the same version of 
Internet Explorer has an effect?  

I was some involved in working with Target when we had the original problem, and Target is still making an effort to keep their 
site accessible, so there are places that we can probably raise this, but the problem needs to be understood completely.  While it 
probably isn't relevent here, you are going to have to upgrade your screen reader at some point.  JFW 9 is getting pretty old.  In 
actual fact, I agree with you that the market is way too loose about requiring people to upgrade and not concerned enough with 
backward compatibility.  I think the market is also way too loose about releasing things with bugs in it.  Unfortunately, what I 
think or feel doesn't change how the market is, so I have to just deal with it as I can.

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson

On Tue, 13 Nov 2012 07:21:39 -0500, Gerald Levy wrote:

>Wait a day?  I was referred to a discussion of this issue on a 
>Microsoft-sponsored forum by someone on another list, and the inability of 
>some IE 8 users to access the Target.com site was reported back in January, 
>so it is a long-standing problem.  Unfortunately, the solution provided, 
>which involves tweaking the registry, offerd no guarantee of success.  For 
>the record, I am able to access the Target site using Firefox 3.6, which is 
>certainly "outdated" by Firefox standards.  And I discovered that I can 
>access the mobile version of the Target site at http://m.target.com/mHome 
>without difficulty using IE 8.  But if the inability to access the main 
>Target site by some IE 8 users is a problem at their end, then  in the wake 
>of the NFB lawsuit , they have a responsibility to ensure that their primary 
>site continues to remain accessible to all consumers, regardless of their 
>browser preference and OS configuration.

>Gerald

>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "Steve Jacobson" <steve.jacobson at visi.com>
>To: "Discussion of the Graphical User Interface, GUI Talk Mailing List" 
><gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
>Sent: Monday, November 12, 2012 10:16 PM
>Subject: Re: [gui-talk] Unable to Access Target.com web Site Using IE 8 With 
>XP

>> This happened before within the past year or so and it turned out to be an 
>> error on their site.  I'd give it a day or two to see if it stays that 
>> way.  However,
>> Google Groups are saying that they won't support IE 8 long, either.  Of 
>> course they tell you to switch to Google Chrome, but it is possible that 
>> FireFox might
>> also work.
>>
>> I think if the Target web site were to stop supporting IE 8 that it would 
>> be a mistake as there are a lot of customers out there who likely still 
>> use it.  For
>> example, my employer requires that we do not upgrade to a later version. 
>> However, it might be difficult to make a case that this is an 
>> accessibility issue
>> even if their position is not smart.  However, as I say, wait a day.
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Steve Jacobson
>>
>> On Mon, 12 Nov 2012 17:31:44 -0500, Gerald Levy wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I want to get a head start on my holiday shopping.  But using Internet 
>>>Explorer 8 with XP Pro and JAWS 9, I get the following message when I try 
>>>to
>> access the Target.com home page at www.target.com:
>>
>>>Problems viewing Target.com ?
>>
>>>Target Home Page
>>
>>>Problems viewing Target.com ?
>>>It's because your browser isn't supported. Upgrade to one of the latest 
>>>versions listed below to get the most out of your Target.com experience.
>>>list of 3 items
>>>Click here to download Internet Explorer
>>>Click here to download Mozilla Firefox
>>>Click here to download Google Chrome
>>>list end
>>
>>>According to Microsoft, IE 8 is the latest version of IE that is supported 
>>>by XP; it does not support IE 9, which is only supported by Windows 7 and 
>>>8.
>> Contrary to popular belief, XP is alive and well and still used by 
>> millions of people worldwide, blind and sighted alike.  A few years ago, 
>> the NFB
>> successfully sued Target to force them to make its web site more blind 
>> friendly.  But now, apparently, thousands of blind computer users who 
>> still rely on
>> XP and IE 8 may not be able to access the Target.com site any longer 
>> unless they upgrade to IE 9 with Windows 7 or 8, or install Firefox, which 
>> has a lot
>> of compatibility problems with JAWS, or Google Chrome, which is still 
>> totally inaccessible with JAWS.  Is the NFB aware of this situation?  It 
>> seems to me
>> that they have a responsibility to ensure that the Target site remains 
>> accessible to all blind computer users, regardless of which browser they 
>> are using,
>> because they were the ones who made such a big stink over this issue in 
>> the first place.
>>
>>>        Gerald
>>
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>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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