Current ALA: Fixing Your Site With the Right DOCTYPE
24 April 2002 Panic in the streets! Zeldman complains structural purity is hard, says something nice about Flash MX, readers freak.
ol {
list-style: url(/img/logo.gif) disc inside;
}
The “inside” value tells Opera, Mozilla/Netscape 6, and IE5+ where to place the image with respect to the text and the surrounding block level elements. Problem solved.
Mister Zeldman reminds his colleagues that web technologies are not Holy Writ. They are tools intended to deliver content and facilitate interactivity, and like this medium they are in their infancy.
Mister Zeldman acknowledges that he may not be the best vessel for delivering this message. :::
23 April 2002 ol {
list-style: url(/img/logo.gif) disc;
}
In one otherwise fine browser, the images overlap an adjoining DIV or table cell; in another, they’re hidden behind it. The reason is, it’s unclear in the CSS spec how much space should be alloted to these images, how (if at all) they should affect margins, and so on.
Today at Meet the Makers, Jeremy Allaire demo’d a tool that supports XML and most of ECMAscript, interfaces seamlessly with backend technologies, runs compact vector graphics files, is surprisingly accessible and totally cross–platform. It’s called Flash MX. :::
21 April 2002 Not so “smart” quotes...Text-transform is a great little CSS tool that can convert any HTML tag to all–caps, initial caps, and so on. On a site whose content is generated by multiple designers, writers, editors, marketers, and technicians, text-transform can enforce site–wide styles even when contributors forget to honor them.
20 April 2002 Pixhell is back at waferbaby.com. The feature consists of animated films drawn one pixel at a time. Quicktime is required for playback. “Outtakes” is among our favorites in the series. We’re still detoxing from yesterday’s Photoshop Tennis match. Coudal.com welcomes your votes and comments. Looking ahead...Next week’s double issue of A List Apart will examine Flash MX. Also next week, we’ll be at the first Meet the Makers conference in NYC. We hope to see some of you there. We’ll be delivering a keynote address at Web Design World 2002, Seattle. More in World Tour. ::: 
19 April 2002 Once arguably the web’s best-known design portal, K10k has been offline so long there are working web designers who’ve never seen it. Revamped, recoded, and redesigned, the site is slated to relaunch sometime tomorrow. Mozilla 1.0 “Release Candidate” is out. Mozilla is the open source, standards–compliant browser that forms the basis of Netscape 6.
Last night’s Webreference newsletter covers recent XML initiatives announced by Macromedia, Google, and Amazon, and accessibility fiascos on mutual fund sites that use JavaScript–based navigation without providing alternatives. An appalling heat wave settled over NYC earlier this week, turning our studio into a swamp and our home into a center for advanced narcolepsy.
18 April 2002
Under these conditions, IE6 and IE5.5 may display text in a dingbat font instead of the typeface specified by the site’s style sheet. You can “fix” the problem in your own browser by switching to a different default character set. The bug has been spotted on ALA, the NYPL Style Guide, and this site, and has been reported to Microsoft. In other news ...Capital City Home Page, the official site of the City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska, is converting from a frames–based layout to CSS design. “This standard allows us greater freedom with design while increasing the accessibility of the content for our users.” Christopher.org has created a free bookmarklet that lets you look up the definition of any word on a web page. Adobe releases Photoshop 7. Apple exults: “version 7.0 takes full advantage of the underlying strengths of Mac OS X and the PowerPC G4 with Velocity Engine to deliver a generational leap in graphics capabilities—and, by extension, the graphics capabilities of the Macintosh platform itself.” (Photoshop 7 also works in Mac OS 9, Windows XP, etc.) :::
17 April 2002 The book site is finally working in Opera 5/6 and Netscape 6.2. Michael suggested the simple fix: removing the CSS rule that set images to {display: block} by default. This rule, or variations on it, often solves display problems in Mozilla–based browsers and IE6. Just not in this case. Among other things, the proposed U.S. Hollings Bill will make it a crime to burn MP3s of music you’ve purchased. Digital Consumer is fighting to protect fair–use rights in the digital realm. Fill out their form and they’ll fax it to Congress. Richard’s Dish is an understatedly pretty blog. As acknowledged in Source, its layout is loosely based on the ALA style sheet. Fine with us. The About page says: “When I read over my own posts, half the time I think to myself, ‘Get off your high horse! Who is this idiot!’” We can relate. AOL’s Compuserve has released new software with Netscape, not IE, as its default browser, suggesting a similar switch may be in the works for the more widely used America Online service. (Hat tip: Dylan Foley.) :::
16 April 2002 According to this month’s Wired Magazine, Mister Zeldman is a “blogger” and a “guru.” Whatever happened to “malcontent?” Let it be noted with sadness that the redesigned book site is nearly as unusable in Opera 6 for Windows as it is in Opera 5 for Mac. Alas, Netscape 6.2 is just as loused up as Opera. According to CSS1, any HTML element can float. But not according to these browsers. (IE5/Mac and Mozilla 0.9.9 get it perfect; IE5/Win, IE5.5/Win and IE6/Win, nearly so.) Update: See 17 April for the fix. :::
15 April 2002 The Browser is an Ass I: MSIE/Win The Browser is an Ass II: Opera/Mac
No wonder the kids love Flash. Update: See 17 April for the fix (at least, the fix for the primary usability problem). :::
15 April 2002 Netdiver has published the results of its Pay for content? survey, in which visitors were asked if they would willingly pay a small fee to continue enjoying their favorite independent sites. As expected, most wouldn’t. In a related vein, Evolt’s End of the free content ride? comments on the move by large commercial portals to stop giving all their content away for free. A note on the flat mode used in the new ALA forum, and another in response to a recurrent forum user question. Unnoticed by many ALA readers, as of Issue 142 we’ve quit loading external links in a new window, and replaced the fine coffee we normally serve with 11px Georgia. The font change is visible in all recent articles under the default CSS settings. What Do I Know, the daily site of Todd Dominey, has also switched to 11px Georgia. It’s the new orange. Yoh-Chu-Sha (Larva House), a Japanese girl group, makes unusual music that falls somewhere between pop, noise, and techno. You can stream three of their albums at IUMA. Davezilla is not dead, just temporarily obscured by incompetent DNS registrars. Hmm, where have we heard about that before? Harrumph redesigned last week. Still clean, still pretty, still simple and impactful. Also redesigned: Glish, a three–column job done entirely in CSS that manages to work even in Netscape 4. IE5.x/Mac has a problem displaying the right–hand column. No wonder the kids love Flash. Thanks to all who’ve pimped the new Photo Contest or submitted mugshots. Keep ’em coming. As time permits, we’re adding content to the redesigned book site and fixing various browser bugs. (More on the bugs and fixes above.) ::: |
ISSN: 1534-0309
This site may be viewed in any
browser or Internet device, but looks best in one that
complies with
web standards.
The Jakob Nielsen Corner: Buttons above require DOM–compliant browser.
|
||||||||||||
Over
XHTML 1.0 , CSS . Reset bookmarks to www.zeldman.com . Ahead Warp Speed. |
|||||||||||||
