[SC.LUG] [Fwd: UK Gov draft web guidelines support Linux]

[Richard Smedley]

Interesting...

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The Register reports [1] that the UK Govt Central Office of Information
[2] (an Orwellian sounding thing that I hadn't heard of until today) has
published a draft document [3] with recommendations on which browsers
govt websites should be tested with.

They suggest that browsers with <2% market share be ignored - thus
leaving Opera and Google's Chrome out but Firefox in.

The good news is that they are supporting Linux:

==============
Support Linux

32. To ensure support for an open source operating system, the Linux
operating system must be supported even if less than 2% of your users
are using it.

33. There are many versions, or distributions, of Linux. Each
distribution has its own strengths and weaknesses, being better suited
to some tasks than others. Distributions also vary in terms of
licensing, cost and complexity of use, with some being better suited to
new users and others towards experienced administrators. Therefore,
choosing the distribution to test is difficult.

34. At the time of writing, the most popular versions of Linux are
Ubuntu, openSUSE, and Fedora. However, Ubuntu is recommended for the
following reasons:
* According to the Page Hit Ranking statistics it is the most popular
version of all distributions.
* The graphical install and management process makes it easier to learn.
==============

The document is only 15 pages long and an easy read. The consultation
ends on October 17th.

They have covered the design and accessibility issues in their related
document "Delivering Inclusive Websites" [4].
[snip]

[1] http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/09/uk_gvt_browser_guidelines/

[2] http://www.coi.gov.uk

[3] http://www.coi.gov.uk/guidance.php?page=200

[4] http://www.coi.gov.uk/guidance.php?page=129