Web sites that donit adhere to open standards and thus are unusable by Mac owners are nothing new, but sometimes such non-compliance can hamper peopleis livelihoods. CNET reporter Ina Fried on Thursday published an article that explains how reliance on BrassRingis software by American Express and other companies leaves job seekers out in the cold because it doesnit support Mac Web browsers.
Ms. Fried noted that American Expressi Web site simply tells applicants to access the online job application process on a PC, but she did relate that "some people reported being able to file an application online using Safari or Internet Explorer, while others encountered glitches." The Mac Observer attempted the process in Safari 1.3.1 on Mac OS X v10.3.9 and found that the browser shut down immediately. However, Internet Explorer 5.2.3 seemed to work fine.
Ms. Fried also spoke with BrassRing spokesman Doug Jensen, who told her that the companyis software will add Mac support with the release of BrassRing Enterprise 8 in December. He said that it will be Firefox-compatible.
Sears and Target also rely on the software. Neither they nor American Express responded to request for comments from Ms. Fried.