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A knock at the door this morning saw me meeting my local Census 2006 representative to drop off a census pack. Early on in the conversation she mentioned that you were able to complete the census online, on or in advance of the 7th March census day. Of course as I closed the door after hearing all this, I suddenly thought “But do they support Mac users?”. Do they what! The Census 2006 site is a shining example of a Mac Friendly website that becomes an instant "Hall of Fame-er".

RATING - HALL OF FAME

I was impressed with how well organised the census delivery is, particularly if I decide to complete the online form. As I've decided to do this, the Census collector will receive a text message saying that I've completed the online form and that there is no need to come and collect any forms from me.

As you visit the Census site, the first of the Help pages comments on computer requirements, with the Macintosh clearly mentioned and even a Mac-specific browser (Safari) listed...

http://www.stats.census2006.govt.nz/help/e/help/general-help/default.htm

Does my browser meet the minimum requirements?
To meet security requirements your browser needs to support 128 bit SSL (Secure Socket Layer).

All completed census forms are transmitted to Statistics New Zealand using 128 bit encryption to ensure that your information is protected by a high level of security.

These browsers support 128 bit SSL:

• Internet Explorer v4.0 and above, excluding Macintosh platforms
• Netscape Navigator v6.0 and above
• Mozilla v1.0 and above, including Firefox
• Safari v1.2 and above
• Opera v7.0 and above

If you use another browser, you will need to upgrade to 128 bit encryption before you can complete your census form‹s› on the Internet.

Taking a look at their more specific technical page not only shows that Mac users are well catered for, they've gone to extraordinary length to cater and provide detail for users on different platforms...

http://www.stats.census2006.govt.nz/help/e/help/technical-help/default.htm

There's far too much detail there to list, but with no fewer than 5 different browser types supported, tremendous detail shows just how many of these browsers come with support for Mac users (even OS 9 users) as well as details of any settings you need to apply to your browsers if you experience issues.

This is a superb effort by Statistics New Zealand. OK you might argue it's needed considering the intention of a census, but the fact remains that many systems around New Zealand continue to deny Mac users access. Even worse, some systems try to hide their failure to support Macs or simply don't acknowledge them at all. At least a system that doesn't support Mac users should tell Mac users just that.

I've just completed the online census and was very impressed by its ease of use, lack of technical issues and the way in which the census is delivered online (features such as the "greying out" of irrelevant questions is a nice feature).

So well done Statistics New Zealand (Census 2006 section) - Welcome to the NZMac.com Mac Friendly Hall of Fame.

[Update 1]
Someone involved in the development of the site reports one (possible) slight niggle but adds they were unable to be a part of final testing...

There is one little niggle with Opera and I'm not sure if this happens on Windows. But if you are using Opera turn OFF caps-lock as it stops you from entering the registration properly. For some reason it sends an incorrect code back to the server and it will bring up an error box. Caps-Lock off will work and will automatically change the letters to capitals.