state.gov does not allow Firefox for DS-156

[[KS]]

Hi,

I had to fill up the DS-156 form for a US non-immigrant visa interview.
On visiting the website http://evisaforms.state.gov I got a warning that
my browser (Firefox 2.0.0.3) did not fulfill the requirements (i.e. does
not support 128bit encryption or have acrobat plugin installed).
Technically both requirements are fulfilled by my installation. But it
is the sniffing code which is quite antiquated and does not test for the
presence of modern browsers.

I only have Linux installed on my computer and after fighting the
website for about a couple of hours (filled the form twice to try) I had
to borrow someone's laptop running Windows and use IE(I did wash my
hands after that) to fill the form and get a print! Windows users have a
way out i.e. IE, but Firefox just doesn't work on any of the platforms
(Linux, Windows, Mac)!

Can something be done about this? Being able to get the website work for
Firefox, Opera and Safari users would be perfect.

Thanks,
/KS

[David E. Ross]

The same thing happens with SeaMonkey 1.1.2 on a PC with WindowsXP.
They are also in violation of Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act
of 1986 (as amended in 1998), which requires federal government Web
pages to be accessible by the handicapped.

I submitted a complaint to the State Department via their "Contact" Web
page. I'll let someone else submit a Mozilla bug report.

--

David E. Ross
<http://www.rossde.com/>.

Anyone who thinks government owns a monopoly on inefficient, obstructive
bureaucracy has obviously never worked for a large corporation. © 1997

[Rick Merrill]

What happens when you use a user-agent to change the id of the browser?