How x-browser incompatibility ruins lives
April 21st, 2009I logged on to my university’s site today to confirm that I did, indeed, only have one class left to complete my degree in computer science. It has been years since my last class, so I wanted to make sure that the curriculum I had taken was still valid. So I opened up my trusty Firefox 3 browser and logged in to view my transcript. I checked my curriculum year and major—yup, still good—and clicked the Submit button. Oh, but wait, what’s this??
SORRY! NO AUDITING INFORMATION FOR THIS DEGREE.
I’m sorry, what was that? I clicked on the Degree Audit link again.
SORRY! NO AUDITING INFORMATION FOR THIS DEGREE.
WHAT!? No. NO. NOOOOOO!!!! Maybe it was the larger, bold red type of the second error message, or possibly the thought that the four years I spent working 80 hours a week and going to school full time has been completely wiped away by some click-happy DBA screwing around the database that brought me into full panic mode. My heart began to race. I began to sweat. Who am I going to call? Who am i going to SUE?? The mere thought of having to return to the nightmare that was college made me want to curl up into fetal position in a corner somewhere. Good god, no!
It couldn’t be. If there was really, truly, a god in heaven, this would not be happening to me. I had to double-check. In desperation, I opened up IE7. I logged into the site, confirmed my curriculum year, hit the Submit button, and held my breath…
STUDENT NAME: Buenviaje,Rensise B
Degree Program: BS:CS-CS (following 2003 degree requirements)
AUDITING RUNNING AT: 04/21/09 - 21:41
There it was! My transcript in all its glory! There is a god! Some of my old course numbers had even been translated into the new course numbers. Oh, thank goodness. I saved my degree audit report and vowed never to return to that site again. As much as I am thankful to IE7 for delivering such crucial information, I also now loathe my alma mater for having made such a critical error.
Moral: Cross-browser compatibility is still so incredibly important. As much as we designers all want to side with some browser or another, it just can’t happen when more and more people rely on the web to deliver important personal information. I don’t like you, IE, but gosh darn it, I will design for you. Considering I kinda sorta maybe owe you one now.
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