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RE: Section 508 Question and Scripting languages

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From: Austin, Darrel
Date: Jan 9, 2006 2:20PM

> > Coupled with this is the phenomenal growth of Web 2.0 elements like
> > RSS Feeds which show us that the content, and the ability to manage
> > and control it is more important to the user than the presentation.
>
> As John indicates the days of the Browser could be numbered
> or at least, its monopoly as the preferred method for users
> to access content.

I gave a presentation a few years ago talking about that very issue. In
fact, it's been going on for some time.

> We already have such a diverse range of
> PDA's, and other mobile devices that the ability to
> effectively manage this content (going forward) hangs on that
> content being "structured".

Absolutely! The list of common non-desktop-browsing devices that access
web data is getting rather long:

- newsreaders
- PDAs
- cell phones
- compact laptops
- Apple's Sherlock
- Apple's iTunes
- Apple's Widgets
- Yahoo's Widgets (Konfabulator)
- (and I'm sure there are more...suggestions?)

> Perhaps as the alternative user agents flourish these scripts
> will be expanded to cover additional agents. However, we need
> to recognize that the "web of the future" may be engaged on
> the side of a toaster or microwave oven or on devices that
> haven't been invented yet.

LG already has the internet fridge:

- http://www.lginternetfamily.co.uk/fridge.asp

> I suppose the thrust of my post is that I am curious about
> the place that scripting languages have in the "Brave New Now".

I think AJAX is truly amazing when used as a 'bonus' layer. You often
see it used as THE layer to interact with the data, though, and that's a
risky proposition, IMHO.

-Darrel