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Re: Table headers not behaving

for

From: ::kevination::
Date: Sep 10, 2002 11:00AM

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John Foliot - bytown internet wrote:
>
> Developing complex tables is work enough to ensure accessibility, do we need
> to also work around software bugs? Everybody has their role to play,
> including Freedom Scientific. While not everybody agreed with the WaSP
> stance (http://www.webstandards.org/) when they first emerged, two years
> later we have (generally) compliant browsers. So who was right?
>

Pro: No one get's left behind
By recognizing and accommodating the failings of various User
Agents(UA) we allow more people to access in the short-term. After-all
it's pretty damn hard to blame someone you don't even know for a buying
a non-standards compliant or buggy browser.

Con: Hacks are time-bombs
By coding hacks into our code we risk that some updated UA is going to
interpret the hack incorrectly. Essentially we are leaving a time-bomb
in the code and daring UA developers to trigger it. In the long-term
this may reduce the number of people able to access your information.

The answer for me is to never use hacks.

I don't always succeed. If I do end up using a hack I try to educate the
client on the consequences. I may also apologize for not recognizing the
problem before I hit development. I also include a clear explanation of
the hack in the code. My hope is that when the hack does explode,
another developer will understand my comment and be able to develop a
new fix quickly.

The real answer may lie in linking Accessibility compliance with
software quality liability legislation. Such a solution may also cause
more problems than it would solve.

- --
- ---
kevin D. white
email, <EMAIL REMOVED>
im, simplecypher
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