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by Lee Bryant

This is a Headshift blog post by Lee Bryant, written on July 13, 2004. It has (4) comments, the latest of which was on January 21, 2006.

Some marketing departments prefer inaccessibility to uncontrolled experience

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Did you ever consider going to an Odeon cinema in the UK? Well, ... their main web site does not work at all (quite literally) with the two main Apple Mac browers Safari and Firefox, which is quite an achievement considering they are more standards compliant than, for example, Microsoft Internet Explorer. Also, given the many security exploits that MSIE is vulnerable to, many people are switching away from it to more secure browser versions.

So, when a public-spirited accessibility hacker came along and built an accessible, easy-to-use and legal front end to the Odeon site (their site is so poor it contravenes the Disability Discrimimation Act), you would think they would show some gratitude. But no, Odeon's Marketing Director Luke Vetere would prefer a significant percentage of his potential customer base seeing nothing at all rather than an accessible version of his Web site that they do not control.

Further info:

Boing Boing: Accessibility hacker facing lawsuit for improving Odeon's site

Tomski: Matthew Somerville : my man of the week

Inaccessible Odeon (Phil Gyford: Writing)

4 Comments

By Tom Raggett on July 13, 2004 4:16 PM
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This story has to just blow over, surely? I use the accessible rail timetables on Matthew Somerville's site as a preference over network rail - heaven forfend that they get caught up in this as well.

Also, it's not just about the 15% - the accessible versions of Odeon, rail, Hutton, etc are just more usable, improving my customer experience with all of these services.

So I'm sure Odeon will back off once they get some feedback. Let's hope they buy the design!

By Lee Bryant on July 13, 2004 4:37 PM
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Well, you would think so wouldn't you? Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth!!

You're right, of course, that it is not just about those of us who can't access the site at all - everybody gets a better experience with the accessible sites.

What I can't believe is that Odeon didn't just call their web team on the day Matthew's site went up say "Oi - you've got 48 hours to support Safari and Firefox" - how hard can that be, for goodness sake....

By anu on July 15, 2004 7:03 AM
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Yup, I can't believe how heavy-handed Odeon are being here.

I can't believe they didn't just talk to Matthew and make him an offer - 1 day later and they would have: "Click here for an accessible version...."

I don't know whether it makes any difference, but Odeon are being hawked around the markets for a potential buyer - the web site is visible and I can imagine it making some lawyers nervous - not that that's an excuse.

Ah - it all takes me back - I used to work for the company that supplied ticketing software to all the big chains, and then I switched over to Warner Bros and was heavily involved in their original ticketing web site. We never viewed the Odeon one as competition as for most of its life it was completely broken - I heard that the original site actually converted your ticket order into tones that were played into the call centre IVR system. May just be a rumour, but it certainly explains why it never worked ;-)

By Pete Gibson-Black on January 21, 2006 7:49 PM
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I would like to say that as a graphic designer and someone hwo has used mac systems for nearly 20 years, I have never found the Odeon site easy to navigate for basic information. It really is a case of style (or lack of) over content. It's booking system has never worked for me and my family. We have been forced to telephone a ticket order through every time at the last hurdle. It's about time Odeon woke up and realised that the whole site needs a re-think. As others have stated in the posts I have read, the odeon have an obligation to the potential customer/public to make the site accessible to anyone with an internet connection (regardless of the operating system and browser used and possible impairment). Do they understand what accessibility means??
This website has not been DESIGNED! If it had, we would not be posting messages! It's time the corporate hawks woke up and realised that not everyone on the planet (yet) uses a PC running windows with an easy to breach browser!
Sort it out Odeon and get with the program (no pun intended).

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