Technology impedes signing for health excahnge?

[question everything]

This was published in the Minneapolis StarTribune

http://www.startribune.com/opinion/letters/236467571.html

Site needs technology that all people can use

Like countless others, I’ve had trouble with the MNsure site. I’ve just figured out why. One of three messages rotating on the homepage directs users to find out which browsers work best with account and application features. Here is what MNsure recommends:

Browsers that work best with the application and enrollment part of the site are:

•?Firefox 17- 22 & 24

•?Google Chrome 30

•?Internet Explorer (IE) 9

•?Safari 6.0.5 on an Apple

Optimize your visit by downloading one of the following:

•?Firefox

•?Google Chrome


I use an iMac. It is eight years old. I cannot run any of the browsers listed, not even Apple’s Safari. So, of course, the MNsure site never works.

We live in a world where new versions of high-tech gadgetry drop every eight months, but just because they are out there doesn’t mean that all of us are running out to purchase them. I don’t because I am not interested and it’s all very expensive.

So I wonder how many other people, PC and Mac users alike, are having the same problem with access to a federally mandated program because the designers did not create a site that accommodates real-world users?

[rudyb]

1. Library?

Most libraries have PC for public use. The prices for personal systems have dropped dramatically although macs are always expensive. Try a tablet!

[Thor_MN]

2. There are ways that don't involve a computer at all...

Are we so jaded as to expect to be able to do everything instantaneously from our own homes? They managed to get Social Security and MediCare up and running without using computers and the methods that were used are still available today.