Does Your Winery Website Actually Work?

You would think the answer is "Of course!"  After all, you pay good money to smart designers to make sure it does.

So, I was nearly incredulous when I discovered that the Clos du Val website didn't work properly in either Chrome or Firefox.

It works fine in Internet Explorer (IE), though.  

Here are the screen shots (click the thumbnail to see full size).

Chrome (menu is visually busted, although it does "work"):

Firefox (menu is not visible at all, which means you can't navigate):

Internet Explorer 8 (why do people think there's a problem?):

Nowadays, it's quite easy to install all three browsers on your system (unlike the old days, when IE seemed to go out of its way to make other browsers malfunction), so even if your web designer says everything works, you can (and should) check for yourself.

The moral of the story is "trust but verify."  I'm sure Clos du Val has been happily thinking that everything is fine with their website.  In reality, somewhere between 20 and 50 percent of their visitors aren't able to access it as intended.

(Note: I use Chrome on a day-to-day basis.)

Comments

[john gavin]

I agree that there is a problem in Chrome but the site works fine for me in FireFox 3.6 and also in Safari. Perhaps you have JavaScript disabled. The site uses a JavaScript drop-down menu called Deluxe-Menu that's in fairly wide use, but the version is a couple years old and needs to be updated, assuming they have dealt with the Chrome problem.

[Mike Duffy]

John is correct - I was running FireFox 3.6.10 with Javascript disabled. This still represents about 5% of Web users who are unaware that they aren't seeing any navigation, and wonder why Clos Du Val doesn't have much content.

I don't have a problem with requiring Javascript be enabled, but at very least, the site should be explicit (as in "this site won't work") about its requirement for Javascript. That's why God invented the tag :).

And someone (e.g. their Webmaster) should have checking browser compatibility on a monthly checklist.

Yes, it's asking a lot. And no, their Web site probably isn't generating enough revenue for it to be worthwhile to keep it up to date.

I'll be outside, tilting at windmills. :)

[James Marshall Berry]

Add to the fact that they have Stags Leap in the title and no SEO whatsoever.. but you're right.. the bean counters probably think it's not worth fixing..

[Larry Chandler]

A website developer should check this as a site is being built, and many developers do check.

But building a website is expensive. It is time-consuming to check every detail of a website in all browsers (and don't forget the various iterations of browsers; what works in IE8 may not work in IE6 or even IE7). Many wineries just don't care enough to invest in a proper website or don't realize that you get what you pay for.

A winery doesn't necessarily know how many sales it has lost because a customer got frustrated with the site and just went elsewhere. If a site isn't generating sufficient revenue, perhaps that's the reason.

[Jenny]

A good tip overall. Also good to check your mobile versions too.

[john gavin]

"Add to the fact that they have Stags Leap in the title and no SEO whatsoever."

Interesting comment. Title tags are useful for SEO and in this case if you Google "Stags Leap Wine", which is obviously a search term they want placement for, Clos du Val comes up on the first page of results.

Mike, you're running Flash in FF but not JavaScript? Reminds me of my wife locking the slider but leaving the front door wide open.

[El Jefe]

It's easy to install all three browsers, unless you have a Mac...;) Fortunately for CdV the site also works correctly in Safari. The fact that Chrome is becoming more popular would suggest that something should be done...

(Of course, I'm one to talk. My site is a bit broken for any visitors using a Flash blocker - at least until they allow the Flash to display.)

[Ron]

It would seem that CSS is a better choice for the navigation menu, as they would work if JavaScript is disabled. Since CSS menus are usually implemented as a list of links, it also improves the search engines' ability to find all the pages.