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Write Your Congressman -- If You Use IE

Posted by timothy on from the beholden-beholden dept.

inonit writes "Well, geez -- after all this US election talk, I got inspired to write my congresswoman. But as a good Slashdotter, imagine my irritation when I found the following note in the "Contact" section: 'In order to send an e-mail to Congresswoman Tubbs-Jones, please complete this form using the Internet Explorer browser. If the Internet Explorer browser is not available, please mail your correspondence to the listed postal mailing address above.' I don't really have the time to check all 435 Congressional sites to see if this is widespread, but it gives me some insight into why all those <sarcasm>foreigners</sarcasm> are complaining about having their governments be beholden to U.S. technology companies. Can someone running IE write my congressperson and ask her to let me write her? Does she only accept phone calls from AT&T customers?" I just tried filling out the form with Mozilla, and ended up at a page notifying me of a search error. (Huh?)

12 of 115 comments (clear)

  1. From the page source by jholder · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Which you CAN read with Mozilla"

    --
    -- John
  2. a new form of slashdoting by ealar+dlanvuli · · Score: 5, Funny

    a million teenagers calling her offices at 3pm...

    I feel for the receptionist

    --
    I live in a giant bucket.
  3. and here's the kicker... by Derek · · Score: 5, Funny
    ...quoted from the top of her "contact" page

    **NOTICE: Due to recent anthrax cases, mail delivery to the Washington office has stopped indefinitely. Please utilize e-mail, fax, and phone when possible to ensure timely receipt and response.

    So, I guess snailmail isn't even an option!!

    -Derek
  4. mal-formed html by HyperbolicParabaloid · · Score: 5, Informative

    Submitting the form in Mozilla fails because there is a Search form earlier in the page, but that form is never closed. The submit button at the bottom of the email form is in a different form, but since the first one was never closed, the browser submits the FIRST form.
    If the form were closed properly, I bet this would work fine in ANY browser.

    --


    -------------------------
    A person of moderate zeal
    1. Re:mal-formed html by clonebarkins · · Score: 5, Interesting

      It doesn't work in IE either. So much for the extraneous marketing attempt.

      --

      "The evil of the world is made possible by nothing but the sanction you give it." -- Ayn Rand

  5. at least you can get her address by qengho · · Score: 4, Informative

    My rep (Wolf/Virginia) says this on his contact page:

    I participate in the "Write Your Representative" program of the House of Representatives so that I can more effectively respond to the needs and concerns of the people of the 10th District. A public e-mail address does not provide a way to ensure that 10th District residents get priority in reaching me over the Internet. Please click on the icon below to e-mail me through the "Write Your Representative" program.

    Whatever. He has a link to a generic form that seems browser-agnostic and uses a numeric code instead of an email address in the hidden fields.

  6. They can't even go by their own laws... by reaper20 · · Score: 4, Informative
    Section 508:

    (n) When electronic forms are designed to be completed on-line, the form shall allow people using assistive technology to access the information, field elements, and functionality required for completion and submission of the form, including all directions and cues.


    Who wants to bet this page won't pass this requirement? I'm wondering if the user's assistive technology warns them to use IE. :)

    It's been a law for a few years now, for government pages.
  7. Try Opera by reddog1 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Opera IMO works better then mozilla and has an option to identify itself as MSIE. Normally when I find a site that requires IE I flip opera to identify as IE and it all works :-) Awesome Browser

  8. Of course not... by ThinkingGuy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Many federal laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Civil Rights Act, the OSHA laws, to name a few, explicitly exempt the US congress and their staff.
    Congress doesn't have to follow that law... because Congress passed a law that says so :)

  9. In the pockets of US tech companies? Surely not! by 0x0d0a · · Score: 5, Funny

    Why, *every* self-respecting contituient downloads WINE, installs it, downloads IE, installs that in WINE (doing whatever hacking is necessary to get it to work), and then uses that to contact their representative. They aren't forcing you to buy the products of the (by far) largest donor of government funds from the tech industry at all! They certainly aren't trying to quell the voices of the people that oppose it.

    --
    May we never see th
  10. Re:Well, I wrote her with IE... by Penguin · · Score: 5, Funny

    My message was thus: "It is pathetic that you require Internet Explorer to submit e-mail messages. Aren't you aware the Microsoft is a convicted monopolist? The Internet runs on open protocols. Your eMail should be the same."

    What did (s)he reply? -1, Flamebait?

    (for thousands of years smileys haven't been necessary for the written media - if we just in a couple of years have lost our ability to understand irony, we have a proof of the Net making people stupid)

    --
    - Peter Brodersen; professional nerd
  11. One stop representative shop by bignendian · · Score: 4, Informative

    Http://www.congress.org allows you to use one form to send email to all of your senators and representatives and the president. They seem to have worked their way into the webforms too.