Pop-up menu uses sloppy IE Javascript. Won't work in Mozilla or Safari. Sent an email to the webmaster a while back but never recieved a reply.

Finally received a reply: Sorry for not replying, we are very busy. From your memo, you sound like a very browser savy person. And you probably already know that you can download Internet Explorer for free. At this time, we are able to reach 90%+ of the public with the Internet Explorer browser and we have much more pressing issues such as, "How do we reach the Spanish speaking community?" Thanks for the offer of free programming; however, since we are in the middle of an upgrade project I must decline this offer. Thanks, Steve Weatherford Webmaster - Public Health Department

I wonder if they could be seen as having violated their statement of non-discrimination with such an ugly Javascript hack... I mean, the least they could do is offer a plain, non-Javascript-based navigation page!

That kind of attitude really gets me. Their entire left navigation bar is inaccessible in lynx. I suppose since the disabled are less than 10% of their population, they can ignore them too. http://healthweb.nashville.org/statement_of_non_discrimination.asp states they do not discriminate against people with disabilities http://healthweb.nashville.org/Web%20Docs/adm_ada_notice.html lists ADA accomodations http://www.ittatc.org/laws/state_prototype.cfm?state=Tennessee guidelines for TN. Although I can't access it at the moment. You might want to call the Metro Public Health Department of Nashville/Davidson County: John Dunn 311 23rd Avenue North Nashville, TN 37203-1511 Phone: (615) 340-2219 FAX: (615) 340-2105 Then of course there is the state government, http://www.tennesseeanytime.org/tnanytime/accessibility.html Perhaps if they outsourced their web development they might be able to accomplish a reasonable web design.

I sent the following email to the webmasters and John Dunn today: I find it ironic that the Metro Health Department has one of the only websites run by Metro that doesn't meet basic handicapped accessibility guidelines. Due to your use of non-standard Javascript, the navigation links on your site don't even register as links in a screen reader, and since no alternative navigation is provided, 90% of the content of your site is completely inaccessible to the visually impaired (or anyone not using Internet Explorer). If you are not willing to fix the Javascript which generates your site's menubar, I urge you to at least provide some type of alternative navigation such as a site map or text menubar at the bottom of the page. If you would like to see how your site will render to a screen reader, here's an example: http://www.delorie.com/web/lynxview.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthweb.nashville.org Not very usable is it? Thanks again for your time and attention. Sincerely, Ryan Kaldari

Sent a follow-up email today to webmasters.health@nashville.gov, john.dunn@nashville.gov, and contactADA@nashville.gov. Also cced the mayor's office.

Recieved the following reply from the webmaster: Have you tried downloading the "IE Tab" plug-in from Firefox? It corrects the inability of Firefox to use menu systems like the one on the Health Dept website.

They finally replaced their website with a new, standards-compliant site. Yay!