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RE: Coding for Standards--comments please

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From: Keith Patton
Date: Mar 17, 2004 8:47AM

Hi,
Yep, it's a trade off.

I try and do things in 2 stages...

1. code to web standards (XHTML 1/HTML 4)
2. employ hacks/workarounds for backwards-compatibility and/or to overcome
inconsistent implementation of standards in target browsers

So you have future-proof code with some messiness in your style sheets to
cater for the messiness of some browsers standards implementations of lack
thereof!

Keith Patton

Ethical Media
www.ethicalmedia.com




-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Stenhouse [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
Sent: 17 March 2004 15:25
To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Subject: RE: Coding for Standards--comments please


Hi Bryce

<snip>
And before anyone thinks this is a rant against a particular visual
browser manufacturer, it's not. The question came to me while
researching aural browsers and screen readers. Is it our fault their
technology is substandard?
</snip>

As I see it, our job as developers is to produce web sites that people
can use. The standards are a means to that end, not an end in
themselves. The idea is that if we code to standards, new browsers of
all kinds will have the same specification to build from and so will be
able to use our sites. [I know that's a bit idealistic but I'll wait to
be proved wrong.]

So web standards are the future but we still have to cater for the
present to the best of our ability, hence the time spent building
support for sub-standard browsers. Besides, the WAI and RNIB guidelines
don't require you to support specific screenreader browsers (for
example), but rather the standards that give screenreaders the best shot
at interpreting your web pages.

It's not our fault that the technology is sub-standard but if it
bothered me too much I'd be a carpenter!

Cheers

Mike
Web developer/designer
www.donotremove.co.uk



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