Back Button Disabling

Trapped to use other options to exit site

[camweh]

I'd like to ask what thoughts spring to the minds of those of you with lots of experience when you find your back button disabled on a website. Would you think evil of the webmaster? Or are there legitimate reasons for such a thing occurring?

[BertieB]

As a webmaster, I'd be slightly annoyed, but ultimately I would just close the tab or window I had open and move on.

Thinking as an average user (or trying to!), I'm fairly sure people would be more annoyed because they may need to close their main browser window. They may also be less likely to return. Ultimately 'disabling' or 'breaking' the back button is not what the users expect, and for most users familiar == good. However, if a user is pleased with a site, they are more likely to return, tell friends about it, etc etc.

As for legitimate reasons, I guess there may well be, although I have never had the need to do it. IMO if you are considering disabling the back button, do it on a page you expect closed.

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

I find that I immediately start to bristle against the site when I find my back button disabled. The Internet puts the user very much in the driving seat with regard to what happens on their screens and anything that affects this is annoying. Other examples are Flash and pop ups.

It's a bit like finding that someone you don't know has disabled the reverse gear in your car and you have to get out and push the car backwards ;)

[Tropical Island]

What possible legitimate reason could there be?

[camweh]

Reason for asking is that I couldn't get out of a competitor's page today as the back button was disabled.

Just wondered if I should tell them - or am I being nieve. Is there a reason other than by their own hand that it's disabled?

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

As I understand it you cannot disable the back button but you can make it do something different to what it is meant to do so it is likely that this is what your competitor has done.

Some stupid people think that "trapping" people in their pages they will force them to stay/read/buy or whatever.

[physics]

Don't tell your competitor. Let their users decide they don't like your competitor's site because they 'hijacked thier browser' and head to yours ;)

[kaled]

Are you sure the back button has really been disabled? My guess is that it is simply going back to a page with a redirect on it. That's just bad implementation.

Kaled.