Ask HN: If you could change one thing on the Web, what would it be?

#1

Post by smashing_mag » Fri, Jul 08, 2011, 12:49 AM UTC

We often find ourselves in a situation where we notice that things just aren't right. For instance, we believe that CAPTCHAs should not exist on the Web. HTML Newsletters are nasty and ugly, but at the moment we just have to work with them because of the popular email clients out there. What would you change on the Web if you could make a difference?

What would it be and how would you change it?

Re: Ask HN: If you could change one thing on the Web, what would it be?

#2

Post by renegademaniac » Fri, Jul 08, 2011, 12:53 AM UTC

Only one, Webkit powered browser by Google.

Re: Ask HN: If you could change one thing on the Web, what would it be?

#3

Post by canistr » Fri, Jul 08, 2011, 12:57 AM UTC

Make all buttons, particularly "next" buttons in photo albums or forums, much much bigger. Every forum, photo album, multi-page news article, and website has a habit of making tiny links/buttons to get to the next page. This makes it incredibly difficult to click on anything but a mouse. Trackpads aren't accurate and trying to press these tiny buttons on a touchscreen is futile.

To UI Designers: MAKE YOUR BUTTONS BIGGER!

Re: Ask HN: If you could change one thing on the Web, what would it be?

#4

Post by athst » Fri, Jul 08, 2011, 12:57 AM UTC

I would kill all mailto: links. In the age of gmail, how many people does this actually apply to? I always accidentally click these links, and it opens up some default email program that came with my OS that I've never touched before.

Re: Ask HN: If you could change one thing on the Web, what would it be?

#5

Post by cstefanovici » Fri, Jul 08, 2011, 12:58 AM UTC

I'd make data with a meaning like on listered.com, structured data,searchable and sortable not static text

Re: Ask HN: If you could change one thing on the Web, what would it be?

#6

Post by brianwillis » Fri, Jul 08, 2011, 1:00 AM UTC

athst wrote: post #4

I would kill all mailto: links. In the age of gmail, how many people does this actually apply to? I always accidentally click these links, and it opens up some default email program that came with my OS that I've never touched before.

Depending on what browser you're using, extensions are available to make those mailto links work with Gmail.

Some instructions to get you started here: http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=10966

Re: Ask HN: If you could change one thing on the Web, what would it be?

#7

Post by mhd » Fri, Jul 08, 2011, 1:02 AM UTC

No more JavaScript. I don't think some transparent bytecode would ever make it, but a simple lisp- or stack-based programming language would be sufficient for a lot of normal tasks and a better target for more advanced systems to compile to.

(That's the "one thing" approach. In an ideal world, I'd replace the whole arcane HTML/CSS/JS/SVG/etc shebang with an improved version/variation of DPS)

Re: Ask HN: If you could change one thing on the Web, what would it be?

#8

Post by don_m » Fri, Jul 08, 2011, 1:10 AM UTC

I envision a world where all browsers have the same CSS capabilities.

Re: Ask HN: If you could change one thing on the Web, what would it be?

#9

Post by melling » Fri, Jul 08, 2011, 1:17 AM UTC

How about a realistic one that developers could actually do? Take the Google approach and remind/nag everyone to upgrade their browser if it's more than 2 versions old.

Re: Ask HN: If you could change one thing on the Web, what would it be?

#10

Post by frou_dh » Fri, Jul 08, 2011, 1:20 AM UTC

There would be a (mostly) standard keyboard scheme to efficiently navigate and use all sites.