RE: [WDSCI-L] Webfacing reactions from users

["Joe Pluta" <joepluta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> From: Kelly Cookson
> 
> Just my opinion...but I don't think Webfacing or *any* web based
interface
> can be as fast as a 5250 green screen when it comes to rapidly keying
in a
> lot of data. Web interfaces have their place.  Heads down keying with
> large volumes of data may not be one of them.

Yes and no, in my opinion.  Yes, there are certain things the web just
doesn't do well.  The biggest one is type-ahead; web pages don't
typically handle type-ahead very well.  But then neither does the 5250 -
it's only EMULATED 5250 sessions that support type-ahead.

As to other things, you need certain capabilities such as auto-field
advance (when you fill a field, the cursor jumps to the next field),
lower-to-upper translation and function key support.  If you've got
those, you can handle quite a bit of the heads-down data entry (except,
as I said, the type ahead from one screen to the next).

Cursor positioning using the arrow keys is difficult, and you often have
to train users around it.  Note that it can be emulated, but for a
price.

Finally, if you can get sub-second response time, you can get around the
type-ahead problem.  As long as your clerks aren't waiting for screen
refreshes, they won't complain about the type-ahead.  This is a
combination of the application and the interface.

So, in the end, no I don't think you necessarily have to keep anything
green screen.  Some clerks may grumble a little bit, but if you have a
good "green screen in a browser" emulator they won't complain.

Joe