Feature detection and conditional comments

Dear All, 

The situation - evaluating web pages which use feature detection (for example Modernizr) or conditional comments to change the DOM content presented to the user.

When evaluating such web pages I personally think it prudent to ask the developer which browser / device combinations they were targeting so that the DOM content in each combination could be checked - as the content will, and is designed to, change. With responsive design it is seemingly becoming more and more prevalent, but I don't think we cover it in our document. 

Suggestion - We should include a section in the document which specifies additional actions which the evaluator might consider if they meet this situation. For example, asking the developer which browser / device combinations they were targeting so that the combinations could be checked.

In addition, for such pages which are often the more complex (JavaScript heavy) should we not define a default baseline for what browsers / browser capabilities we should be checking with?

Thoughts / comments?

All the best 

Alistair 

Received on Tuesday, 3 December 2013 13:54:06 UTC