Re: Revisiting standards for a research paper

I was going to reply privately but I guess posting to the list might
generate some debate, so:

>How is your job affected by the differences between
>browsers?

Totally adversely affected. To the degree that Internet Explorer is the only
browser we can develop for.

Unlike most people on this list, I don't class myself as a "web" designer.
The pages I write are distributed to clients to run locally. This mean that
all the "clever" functionality in the pages has to run client-side: there is
no server-side! To cut a long story short, ActiveX components are vital to
these documents functioning properly. This gives us a choice of exactly one
browser: Internet Explorer.

>Are outside standards better than browser makers
>implementing their own ideas and then supporting each other?

Yes. I can't give reasons to back up this answer. It just seems to be a
self-evident truth.

>Do you think the problem (if there is one) has improved
>with newer browsers, or not? Why?

Well each new generation appears to support more "standard" HTML
functionality. I believe that browsers are growing closer together in their
interpretation of the standards. Where the gulf widens between them is in
their implementation of non-standard stuff. If you want to use a browser's
non-standard features you will be sure to break at least one other browser.
But I see that as the fault of the designer, not the browser manufacturer.

>Considering that both Netscape and Microsoft are members
>of the W3C, why aren't their browsers compliant yet?

As I said, I think they are getting closer.

Upgrading a major piece of software is a huge undertaking. For many years,
HTML was a moving goalpost. It seems that browsers have been *trying* to
catch up to the standard.

Also, can you define "compliant"? If I write strict HTML 4.0 with CSS1, I
can guarantee that IE4 will render my pages just as I intend (with a couple
of CSS exceptions that I don't feel the need to use anyway) and Navigator 4
will come pretty close. Isn't that being compliant?

>How do you deal with the differences? Design for one
>browser, or the lowest common elements, or...?

At work, I design for one browser (IE4). I am forced to.

For my personal stuff, I write in strict HTML 4.0 with CSS1 and I have not
yet found a browser that won't render my pages adequately. Strict HTML
degrades very nicely on just about everything.


I hope this was helpful. As always, I stand ready to argue with anyone...
:-)


--
David Meadows [ Technical Writer | Information Developer ]
DNRC Minister for Littorasy * david(at)heroes.force9.co.uk
"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it!
 Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." --Goethe

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