23 Musings

Dr Martens (makes of those famous steel capped bovver boots) have launched a new website which is Flash only with no alternative format for those incumbered by lack of plugins or issues with accessibility of Flash based sites. You would think after all the press surrounding River Islands inaccessible site (and then I discovered Diesel had done the same) that both business owners and design agencies would be wise to the possible bad PR this can bring.

But no, designed by Saatchi Interactive (and very nicely designed too) this site throws caution to the wind and gives no thought to those with disabilities or issues accessing Flash based sites.

The question is; is it the agency pushing to use the best looking tech they can, or is the business owner pushing for the most groundbreaking site thats to blame? Or alternatively is it a lack of understanding at both parties...

Note: not only is the DM site not good both usability and accessibility wise, it also appears to be flawed as I cannot sign up, the overlays don't always close and some of the areas with actions don't do anything!