Not too long ago I put up a post about my personal [possibly OCD] tendancy to prejudge a company based on whether or not they used CSS as the foundation for their html markup.
I received some interesting responses. One really caught my attention and I thought I’d share it with you here:
Dear Jason Dowdell,
I just finished reading your article on Accessibility Branding Strategy in DesignNewz and felt that you were a bit harsh on anyone that uses tables in web sites.
Since you are a widely read purveyor of information and people take what you say very seriously, you are responsible for taking into consideration the real world situation that we all have to deal with along with the perfect world scenario that you seem to live in.
Only IE supports all of the .css attributes and most of us still need to address the rest of the market share that uses non-IE browsers, especially since FireFox is coming on so strong.
I believe in using .css as much as possible and strongly encourage everyone to convert to .css, but berating people for using tables is just plain wrong and creating a negative image for those companies is damaging. There are legitimate business reasons for using tables and although the ideals you present are wonderful to strive for, reality should be part of your article as well.
As for you using that as criteria to purchase their products or not well everyone has to show their silly side from time-to-time.
It’s a good thing that I and the rest of your readers don’t judge a writer by one off article, like you judge people/companies that use tables in web sites, or you wouldn’t have any more readers.
Sincerely,
Ramona Anderton
www.ServicingSoftware.com
Here was my response…
Thanks for providing your feedback regarding the article. Your points are the exact reason I wrote the article. I wanted people to begin to think about the bigger picture of marketing, beyond the “what I say my product is about” and more into the “what I really believe about my product” perspective. In order to bend people’s thinking you have to “go overboard” from time to time and the majority of my posts have my kooky sense of reality.
I’m willing to share anything, good or bad, about my thoughts on any topics related to marketing and technology if I feel they’re important or may be important. That’s what blogs are about. Sharing opinions, good, bad, indifferent because the opinions and thoughts of people you’re interested in matter to you but may not mean squat to anyone else…
Best Regards,
Jason
See, I read my email and I actually care about what I’m putting out there. Some things more than others but your opinions [if well formed and appropriate] actually matter.
Comment on Jason’s article here …
Jason Dowdell is a technology entrepreneur and operates the Marketing Shift blog.
