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Previous: Deleting folders in Windows XP | Main | Next: Wireless mouse
January 19, 2005 12:40 AM
Broken: (Just a comment...) National Theater booking
Chris Worth writes:
For an arts organisation funded by Tony Blair's egalitarian government, the honorifics pulldown for Britain's National Theatre bookings site displays a remarkable tendency towards the upper classes. (The attached GIF is edited only to show the full menu.)
I think the third one from the top describes me best.
[Not necessarily broken, but worth a "hmmmmmm"... -mh]
I used to work for BT, and a not-dissimilar set of entries appear in the mainframe. As many titles are very long, there is a whole section in the manual on how to correctly abbreviate them all. In some cases this could flag you out for special treatment (eg a doctor may be on call). In the Opera's case, I suspect the special treatment is being politely asked for a large donation.
I see Dr and Mrs, but no Dr and Mr... I suppose it is not all that common but neither are the rest of those.
Another broken thing (as well as the "Invalid Attribute Index") is that "Make a selection" is in the middle of the list, not at the top or bottom.
Well, not exactly Ciaran, though it's probably accidental. It takes half the time to reach the endpoints of the list (top an bottom) when starting in the middle, than it would take to reach the end if you started at the top.
"Make a selection" is not in the middle, it's at the top. The appearance here is due to the editing to show the complete menu that Chris mentions. See for yourself at https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/?lid=6191.
This is nothing compared to the list on the British Airways frequent flyer registration -
https://www.britishairways.com/travel/inet/public/en_?eld=103001
The titles there include several that apply to rather specific individuals (His Holiness, Her Majesty)
The real trouble is the shocking sexism displayed. There is "Dr and Mrs" but no "Dr and Mr". There is "Prof and Mrs" but no "Prof and Mr". The message is clear that married women Doctors and Professors are not welcome!
But what is the difference between M&Mr and Mr&m ?
Ha Anonymous, you are right, British Airways has them all beat! I will copying that list to my websites' registration forms right away so no one will feel left out!
Actually, if you go to the site, there is a "Dr and Mr". Maybe the web designer has been reading this site :)
I wonder whether you refer to an Invalid Attribute Index by first or last names. Perhaps it should have a built-in one-off error, and so you refer to the person by middle name. "The IAI Fitzgerald" perhaps. :-)
I was going to point out the British Airways one too. Not only is there a remarkable surfeit of titles, it's highly amusing that they do include "His Holiness" - a title that only the Pope is entitled to. It's nice that they're looking to accomodate him, but I'm guessing he probably won't sign up online.
I agree with andrew.why would you want to use IE. with firefox you can choose your own theme for it.
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Previous: Deleting folders in Windows XP | Main | Next: Wireless mouse
What really strikes me as odd about that is how many darn entries there are. Wouldn't it be easier just to enter your own title?
Posted by: Matt at January 19, 2005 02:27 AM