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Browsers

My journey to Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and no tables for defining layout.

I have, over the last twelve months, moved from a design based on tables for positioning to using a standards approved method of CSS. It takes a little while to convert but the benefits are great. Change one file and the whole site has a new look. I have also added a choice of looks by using alternate stylesheets, let the viewer choose! Of course you run up against the problems of IE not sticking to the standards (do they ever?) and I have yet to go to the next step, provide different media support. I would like to add a style set for hand helds for example.

image of a happy browser.

I have tried to embrace the idea of fluid design - I hate the multitude of websites that use a fixed part of the screen. When nearly 40% of users have screen sizes over 800 pixels width why do so many sites set that as their fixed width? I intend to explicitly tackle accessibility.

I know from my professional life that website viewers come in all shapes and sizes. The operating systems vary, the screen sizes vary, the colour depth varies, personal preferences vary and none of these should affect a website's ability to display its content. So no fixed font sizes, stick to websafe colours on icons, provide alt text and think fluid.

WASP logo.

I do think it is time for site builders to make more of an effort to educate themselves on ways to take advantage of the gains that have been made in web standards. The Web Standards Project helps site builders learn more about using standards intelligently and in a more inclusive manner. Please support them.

And, yes, I am aware some of my pages are not fully compliant but I am working on them! Again the problems of browsers not being fully compliant looms.

Your choice of software may be out of your hands. However, if you do have control over what software you are using you should consider using an up-to-date browser. Doing so will improve your web experience, enabling you to use and view sites as their creators intended.

The following browsers support numerous web standards including CSS, XHTML, and the DOM (a universal means of controlling the behaviour of web pages):

  1. Netscape v7 or higher (all platforms), Mozilla Firebird (Windows), Camino (Mac OS X), Galeon (Linux GNOME Desktop) or other browser stemming from the Mozilla.org project.
  2. Opera v7 or higher (Windows, Linux, mobiles)
  3. Apple's Safari (Mac OS X)
  4. Konqueror (Linux KDE Desktop)
  5. Microsoft Internet Explorer v6 (Windows) or v5+ (Macintosh)

Please support Web Standards however you can.