More Important than Standards.

I'm leaving this whole two foot long message attached to the bottom of this
for a purpose.

That purpose is to prove the following quoted statement (feel free to use
it freely!) it is one you have herd from this particular web-flunky (me) a
few times. And to reiterate some information I believe you (and I) should
make a conscious effort to utilize on a regular basis. It is passed along
graciously by Dennis Lapcewich.

"Know Thy Audience And Design Accordingly".

Even as much spouting and venting and grumping and grumbling you hear out
of me about standards compliance, this is even more important than that.

The art in what *we* do goes farther than writing the code technically
correct and making great graphics, it is writing the code right - to meet
the customers need ~in the target audience~ to the best of our ability.

That takes research. I have seen no better example of this in the recent
past than Mr. Dennis Lapcewich's observation(s) below. "Newbies" take note!

Get half that good at it, and the web will be a happier place for us all!

I've been doing this stuff since dirt was new, and do a lot of "public
access" work, and I learned something !!

Happy Easter everyone, I'm goin to sleep.
SeaYa,
Fuzzy.

>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Dennis Lapcewich" <dlapcewich(at)intira.com>
>To: <hwg-basics(at)hwg.org>
>Cc: "'Kate Pollara'" <kpollara(at)home.com>
>Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2000 6:07 PM
>Subject: RE: frames compatibility<OPINION TIME !!>
>
>
>> > Thanks to all for their "frames" observations and opinions.
>> > Fuzzy, can you elaborate on what people do with frames that is so
>> terrible.
>> > I happen to think that frames can be very effective for navigation and
>> > presentation, but would shy away from them on a site that requires the
>> mercy
>> > of search engines.  It is a shame.  Why couldn't the designer designate
>> the
>> > target pages to search?  It seems rather simple.
>> > Kate Pollara
>> >
>>
>> Technical quagmires aside, frames are very user-unfriendly with regard to
>> web accessibility and those page reading devices for impaired users.
>>
>> While you may not have great concerns with this right now, and this is for
>> USA-based sites, the Americans with Disabilities Act (see
>> http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm ) is shown to be increasing used
>by
>> those who feel disenfranchised beyond what many contend what was the
>> original intent of the law.  It is only a matter of time until the ADA is
>> used with respect to the web on a scale larger than it now is used.  My
>> neurons vaguely recall at least a lawsuit or two already in the works
>> against websites which fail the ADA test. :)
>>
>> For non-USA-based sites, you are encouraged to check with your own
>country's
>> laws.  Australia, for example already has similar ADA legislation in
>place,
>> however, its implementation takes a different approach.  The bureacrats
>Down
>> Under are slowly tightening the screws to ensure compliance.  What is not
>> well-known is that the Oz legislation can force immediate compliance
>without
>> warning or the site must be shut down, with limited to no recourse of the
>> site owner(s).  Needless to say, the more high profile a site, the greater
>> potential such a site must address web accessibility. See
>> http://www.acn.net.au/resources/guides/g7/s7.htm for more info.
>>
>> (Of course, you ask, what should the Oz examples have to do with non-Oz
>> websites anyway?  Well, you may be surprised to find that considerable
>> computer hardware, sotware and web development takes place in Australia by
>> USA-based organizations who later introduce them into the mainstream north
>> of the equator.  Quite a few of the well-known tools you have on your
>> computer actually were invented and/or tested among the koalas and
>jumbucks,
>> including internet censorship legislation already pending in the US
>Congress
>> and other government agencies.)
>>
>> While Neilsen's commentary on frames appears to be outdated (see
>> http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9612.html ), it still does not hurt to read
>it
>> to understand and appreciate the useability aspects of frames.
>>
>> Just because it is technically possible to use frames adequately with
>> current mass browsers does not mean it is prudent to do so from a customer
>> service, economic and/or useability standpoint(s).  The KISS principle
>> certainly applies and by the look of the most heavily visited big
>websites,
>> frames are noticeably absent, along with most other bells, whistles and
>> frilly objects.
>>
>> A source for links on this may also be found at
>> http://www.htmlhelp.com/design/frames/ as well as the Web Accessibility
>> Initiative (WAI) found at http://www.w3.org/WAI/ where the discussion on
>> frames calls for much more use of compatability than just framesets,
>target
>> pages, etc.
>>
>> It would be great just to design pages and websites to meet personal and
>> customer needs, but  this is no longer the case, be it for a big,
>well-known
>> website, or a small one-person chop shop.  Choose your level of
>accessibilty
>> wisely with respect to frames, and any other bells and whistles for that
>> matter.  It may not play a significant role in your design department just
>> yet, but with the increasingly tougher legislation and activisim on the
>part
>> of accessibilty advocates, make sure they don't bite you in the butt down
>> the road.
>>
>> <. exits soapbox and returns to playing with web toys ...>
>>
>>
>>
>> Dennis
>
______________________________________________________________
Captain F.M. O'Lary
webmaster(at)canopy.net
Somedays it's just not worth chewing through the restraints...
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