Re: how to deal with inconsistencies of css in netscape

> >Interesting. I take the exact opposite approach and design for browsers
> >that are compliant and render my markup the way the W3 says they are
> >supposed to. Then, and only then, will I create an additional stylesheet
> >(or add browser detection to redirect to another set of pages, depending on
> >the budget) to compensate for obsolete rendering engines.
>
>Well to me this is snobbery and I've had better success with my approach.
>I guess you do what works for you.

I also take the approach of designing to standards.  To me this is common 
sense, not snobbery.  Browsers are getting better and better at conforming 
to standards, and my experience is that designing to standards helps to 
ensure that pages work as expected with all browsers: this saves endless 
time and frustration.  Moreover, I find that focusing on standards 
minimizes any extra work needed to cope with idiosyncrasies of antediluvian 
browsers like NN4.

> >Netscape <6 doesn't work because it is old,
>
>NN6 is brand new....you must mean NN 4.7.9 which is 99% of my audience.

You misread him:  he said "Netscape < 6" doesn't work, not "Netscape 6".

NN4.79 is 99% of your audience?  By all means, then, code for NN4.79.  It 
is common sense for YOU to code for YOUR users.  But few designers have the 
good fortune to be designing for such a restricted audience.

> >I'm also curious as to why you feel NN6 and IE "don't cut it"?
>
>When you have correct code that designates a border as "gold" and IE 6 is
>the only one out of 6 browsers that shows it black, something is wrong.

As I remember there is no colour that is officially - according to the 
specs - named 'gold'.  AFAIK there are only 16 officially named colours: so 
I would not be surprised (though I haven't checked it) if IE6 in strict 
mode MIGHT not recognize it.

> >>I even went to one site, a very
> >>large one I was dealing with that serves the public with dynamic content
> >>information (banking or such) that specifically said DOES NOT WORK IN
> >>NETSCAPE 6, please use Netscape 4.7, or IE.
>
> >This is not a reflection on a particular browser but rather a display of
> >the designers inability to properly craft a site.
>
>Apparently they can't make it work in NN 6...It was a major
>banking/financial institution, can't remember which but I came across it
>while doing some nasty tax research I had to do.

Can't make it work in NN6?  Quite possible:  if the designers had built the 
site with absolutely no concept of standards, I can see how they might have 
a hard time making the site work with a standards-conformant 
browser.  Incompetence can achieve truly astounding things.

> >For some reason many people seem to feel that this is an either/or
> >situation and that a page that validates to a current DTD can't work
> >properly cross browser. In fact, a page that separates content from
> >structure in a semantic manner will prove much more portable and degrade
> >gracefully.
>
>I've never had a problem. Sometimes the document type declaration can
>cause problems too.

If a problem appears when a DOCTYPE is specified, and not when it is 
omitted, it is highly likely that there is an uncorrected coding error 
lurking about.

>Handicapped people are a small minority ...

As I remember, the current estimate is that about 15% are handicapped in 
some way.  I am, in several ways:  for example, I need glasses to read, and 
have difficulty reading the tiny text that appears on many pages coded with 
points or pixels for font sizes.

Of course, the law may not require that you cater to my particular 
needs:  nor does it require that I buy goods or services from your websites.


-
Chuck Upsdell
Email:     cupsdell(at)upsdell.com
Website:   http://www.upsdell.com/

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