It seems like I may be in imminent need of a passport, and the Canadian government is reporting significant delays thanks to new U.S. Travel Regulations.

Using the online system to complete an application is now recommended, as it ensures that applications are properly complete.

Unfortunately, the online application system doesn’t work with the Macintosh.

I’m long since used to what is often called Mac marginalization — the reality that online content often doesn’t work with the Mac.

Why does this upset me more than most?

First, this is a government service that shoudl be as universally accessible as possible. It’s been translated into French at significant cost, and it’s been promoted as the best method. Despite this, it remains unavaialble to a significant portion of the population.

Second, the application reportedly works with Mozilla on the Windows platform. Since Mozilla for Windows and Mac share a common code base, there’s no compelling reason why it shouldn’t work on the Mac.

Third, the application doesn’t even let me try to use it. There’s a browser check that kicks me out before I even see a page — it may well work on Mozilla, but I have no effective way of finding out. I could change my browser agent, but I’ve got no way to ensure that my information is received.

Fourth, the general usability of the Government’s web sites is horrible and this is just symptomatic of a larger problem. If the government’s agenda is to increase accessibility to services, they’ve got a long way to go. Navigation is a nightmare.

Unfortunately, I don’t see this changing anytime soon.

It’s off to the passport office for me. Soon.

Posted by skooter at 7:24 PM This entry is filed under Canada.
This entry is tagged: Information Architecture, Usability