RT Update

I wrote a few weeks ago about how Rotten Tomatoes did a redesign of their site that broke my primary use case. Since then, they have done an update that makes things a lot better for me, though it’s still not as convenient as the original design. Right now, if you hover over any of the tabs for different groups of ratings, you get a popup that tells you that group’s percentage of positive reviews. In my case, I’m interested in the Top Critics group:

While this does allow you to compare the percentages much more easily, it’s not quite perfect. On the plus side, it displays both percentages at the same time and it’s quite easy to discover. Anyone who is interested in the Top Critics information will move to click on the tab header, and when they move the pointer over it, they’ll see the popup.

On the downside, it does require fairly precise mousing (and holding the mouse still) for the whole time you want to read the number. This makes it much less accessible to those who have trouble acquiring small targets and keeping the pointer still, such as the elderly or disabled using a mouse. Additionally, you have to use the pointer to see it, which makes it inaccessible to those navigating with just the keyboard.