Wired News: Changing the Face of Web Surfing

Wired News: Changing the Face of Web Surfing: "Oxford University math graduate Matthew Somerville was only trying to do fellow movie fans a favor when, flummoxed by the 'highly inaccessible' website for Britain's Odeon cinema chain, he decided to redesign the service himself.

Out went the JavaScript, cookies and confusing menus that had muddled many visitors looking for movie times. Somerville hosted a slimmed-down, simplified imitation on his own server, which garnered praise from many users.

The cinema chain, currently for sale in an auction that has seen bids reach 380 million pounds (about $710 million), even fixed bugs on its site after being alerted by Somerville -- then served him with a terse cease and desist, claiming he was breaching copyright and data laws. Under legal pressure, he reluctantly killed off his unauthorized Accessible Odeon Website this week, counterclaiming that the official site breaks disability discrimination law."

Brilliant article. And he's not the only one, apparently there are several instances recently of users giving usability overhauls to the sites they use!