Opinion: By not writing to standards, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has created an unnecessary hurdle for many hurricane victims seeking aid who have already endured too much.I know I'm a big nag when it comes to standards support. I often rail against vendors that don't adhere to standards or Web site developers who build sites that work on only one browser. As far as I'm concerned, standards rule.
But a surprising number of people respond to my missives against non-compliance with a "Who cares?" attitude. If Web developers want to build sites that only work with Internet Explorer, so what? If people don't want to use Internet Explorer or are using a non-Windows operating system, they don't have to do business with that Web site. I mean, come on, it's not like it's some kind of life-or-death emergency.
But what if it is a life-or-death emergency?
What if some family has lost everything to a horrible disaster—say, Hurricane Katrina? And what if that family needs to ask for aid from a government entity—say, the Federal Emergency Management Agency? And what if that family doesn't have access to a phone to call FEMA, or has phone access but can't get through the lines that the FEMA Web site refers to as "quite congested"?
If the phone is not an option—and it's not for many of these displaced people—maybe that family in need of aid would be able to find Internet access somewhere, either at the home of a friend or at one of the kiosk systems that volunteer agencies have been providing for those affected by Katrina. And maybe that family would then find out that the FEMA Web site offers a form to apply for aid, which is great because using an Internet-based application is much quicker than waiting on the phone.
But the family members would not be able to use the form if the machine they were using to access the Internet was a Macintosh or a Linux-based system, or one that, for whatever reason, didn't have Internet Explorer 6.0 installed.
Evan Schuman warns Katrina donors to beware of scams. Click here to read more.
At the time I am writing this column, about two weeks after the hurricane hit, the FEMA form at www.fema.gov/register.shtm requires IE 6.0 or better to work. This means that a family that is sitting at a Linux-based kiosk that was donated to help people get online, contact loved ones and access needed online services is on its own when it comes to getting help from FEMA.
Read the full story on TKTK: FEMA's IE-Only Form: Just What Katrina Victims Don't Need
Web Design 
