So…I started a write up on CodeIgniter (my favorite PHP Framework) earlier this week, but I haven’t gotten around to finishing it just yet. I’ll look to get that pushed out soon. Yesterday though, I had a run in with a rather frustrating web accessibility issue that I thought I’d share. Not necessarily because it’s uber important, but more because it’s something that frustrated me, and that I’ll surely be keeping an eye on now. 
As a web developer, and a pretty recent advocate of the standards movement, I find myself giving more and more thought to web accessibility over various mediums. As I build a site, I’m always thinking about who could be visiting the site, and how they’re viewing it. My two most common thoughts are - what will this look like on a mobile device, and how will this look to a search engine. There are obviously plenty more to consider (screen readers, low resolution monitors, etc) but I’ll save those for another conversation.
A back story as always…I’ve been contemplating switching from my Palm Treo to the iPhone for a little time now. While I really feel like the iPhone kind of goes against my open source beliefs, I realize that it would be incredibly helpful in making me more efficient. Until I can get Android up and running on a phone, it’s probably the most cutting edge phone out there. But I digress.
So, I’m driving home after work yesterday, and I wanted to check with Verizon to see when my contract expires. If I’m gonna make the switch to the iPhone, I’d rather not pay the contract cancellation fee. I’m sitting in traffic, so I pull out my Treo and fire up the browser to look up their number. I realize it’s a little slow to load, but that’s no big deal. When the site finally comes up, I’m kind of excited to see the “skip to content” link at the top of the page. Sweet, maybe this isn’t going to be a painful process. I’m not gonna have to trek through a ton of navigation images to get to the information I need. I find the link to the contact us page, and click on it. After another short wait, the contact us page comes up. Again…I click on the “skip to content” link and realize they’re asking me for my zip code. To begin with, this is something that always frustrates me with the Verizon website. WTF? I just want a way to call you - what on earth do you need my zip code for? Oh well, lucky for me I’m pretty comfortable on the Treo keyboard. I type in my zip code, and I start navigating to find the submit button. hmm…I don’t see it. I look around for a couple minutes and it’s nowhere to be found. What the…I can’t give you my zip code, which in turn means I can’t get a number to call you. All because your website wasn’t prepared for a user like me? I think that’s kind of shoddy. As much as you guys charge me for my phone bill each month, you’d figure you’d have someone somewhere QA’ing your website and making sure that everyone can get to the information they need. Verizon Wireless - I think you’ve failed.
Point of the story…don’t always assume that everyone will have a full featured browser when they’re looking at your site. More and more people are turning to their cellphones to find information online. If they can’t get the information they want, it’s likely that they’ll get pretty frustrated.
I do realize that this could be a plot to keep me from ever switching my service to another provider, but I’d like to think it’s just an oversight on Verizon’s part.