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September 07, 2005
Technology Usability Fails Us Again
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has not exactly won hearts and minds with its ability to manage an emergency. The agency, and its boss Michael Brown, has been widely slated for its handling of the post-Katrina disaster in the Southern US.
Although its latest failing hardly compares to the litany of incompetence already exhibited but it does manage to make the situation slightly worse for some people. FEMA's website can only be accessed by people using a PC which has Internet Explorer 6. Some of it is viewable using Firefox but anyone trying to apply for Disaster Assistance needs to use IE 6.0 or higher. There is a workaround for Mac that is available.
The alternative is a phone number on which you can apply for a postal application - not terribly practical for people still in emergency accomodation or waiting for a boat-borne postal worker.
Posted by keefner at September 7, 2005 02:04 PM
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