RE: Minimal web pages

At 01:05 PM 5/26/2005, Kai Hendry wrote:
>Simple works, yet don't forget about Web practitioners. Well written web 
>pages such as blogs render on the worst XHTML browsers. ...

It is almost, but not quite possible to create web pages which work with, 
and without, CSS on minimal web browsers, mobile devices and normal PCs. I 
suspect we need some enhancements to CSS to make this work well.

This semester my web design students at the Australian National University 
are redesigning a UNESCO Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System web page to 
work on a mobile device. They have to make it work on a QVGA screen with 
XHTML Basic, as well as still look much the same as the original on a 
normal size PC screen 
<http://cs.anu.edu.au/student/comp2410/Documents/comp2410-2005-08.html>.

Specifying XHTML Basic keeps the designer from using an ordinary web tool 
which generates lost of embedded formatting (they are required to use CSS). 
The QVGA screen forces them to think about what is important in the 
content, without making the design task too hard. As an example see my 
demonstration redesign for the Sahana disaster management system 
<http://www.tomw.net.au/2005/wd/sahana.html>.

I had previous classes design for Japanese iMode phones, but have found the 
iMode phones (at least in Australia) now seem to be able to display XHTML 
pages reasonably well <http://www.tomw.net.au/2005/wd/imode.html>.



Tom Worthington FACS HLM tom.worthington@tomw.net.au Ph: 0419 496150
Director, Tomw Communications Pty Ltd            ABN: 17 088 714 309
http://www.tomw.net.au                PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617
Visiting Fellow, Computer Science, Australian National University

Received on Friday, 27 May 2005 08:35:36 UTC