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

[David Andrews]

Gerald, I certainly acknowledge that this is a problem, but I don't 
think it is NFB's problem.  Our concerns had and has to do with 
accessibility for blind and visually impaired persons using assistive 
technology.  We have no obligation to take on browser compatibility.

Dave

At 06:21 AM 11/13/2012, you 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is certainly "outdated" by Firefox standards.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.