Media, be it online or offline, should be accessible if readership and advertisers are to be maintained.
Unfortunately some online media ventures are badly thought out and alienate portions of their readership by insisting on platform specific software and plugins.
If a Mac user wants to read your publication why would you tell them to use Windows?
The WHIR is one of the better respected webhosting industry information sites. Apart from their online features they also offer a print magazine which is sent to thousands of subscribers worldwide. The content of the magazine may not be of interest to some readers of this blog, but what should be of interest is the new online version of the magazine
Some online magazines rely on PDFs with a few screenshots which although usable to a point isn’t the most interactive.
Other publications, including some of the Irish Sunday papers, insist on providing the user with a “full” experience – just as long as the user is running Internet Explorer on Windows with a combination of specific plugins etc., etc.
The WHIR, on the other hand, have used technology to bring their magazine online without interrupting the end user’s experience. I haven’t tested it on linux yet, but it works seamlessly in Firefox on Windows.
Alan says
This in my mind is a great implementation of the magazine format for the web. http://www.magwerk.com/mag.php?magazine=encore&language=en
Works as you expect a magazine should and leverages the technology to add a bit extra to pull in the reader.