Re: A summary of key points on dynamically generated web pages

Actually there is no need for the document to be generated at request-time:
there are significant benefits in speed from generating a ste from a database
and making it a static collection, even with multiple formats.

The generation of only 2 forms does not avoid the problem of compromising the
accessibility of a page for a person with low vision who requires on both a
structured page and visual cues to the structure (and does not address the
needs of people who have mobility impairments, etc.) In fact to support this
approach multiple combinations are required. The amount of work generating
mulitple combinations from a database is in effect the amount of work to
multply the templates, and the amount of work maintaining consistency across
multiple templates when there is any change required is substantial, and
anecdotal evidence suggests it is not done well.

Charles

On Mon, 22 Nov 1999, Scott Luebking wrote:

  Hi,
  
  I thought it might be helpful to boil down what I sent out last week
  on dynamically generated web pages.
  
  1.  A server generates a web page by basically gathering information from
      one or more data sources like databases, XML documents, real time
      data suppliers, dynamic data generators, etc; analyzing the
      information as appropriate; deciding the format to present the
      information and then creating the web page in the format selected.
  
  2.  Since the document does not exist before the server generates it,
      the server can easily generate the document in multiple forms.  This
      flexibility lets the document be generated in a form which is designed
      for visual users and also a form which is designed for blind users.
  
  3.  The ability to generate a document in multiple forms avoids the
      problem of compromising a desired visual form for the accessibility
      of the page for blind users and the problem of compromising
      accessibility for blind users to achieve a certain desired
      visual presentation.
  
  4.  Allowing the programmer handle the form of a generated web page
      at the software level will be easier and more efficient.  The software
      has to generate the document any way.  Supporting multiple
      forms will probably not be much harder.  Also, it avoids the problem
      that the programmer can run into with version skews, etc,
      for tools like CSS, etc.
  
  
  Is there anything that I'm missing in this technical analysis?
  
  Scott
  

--Charles McCathieNevile            mailto:charles@w3.org
phone: +1 617 258 0992   http://www.w3.org/People/Charles
W3C Web Accessibility Initiative    http://www.w3.org/WAI
MIT/LCS  -  545 Technology sq., Cambridge MA, 02139,  USA

Received on Monday, 22 November 1999 15:48:25 UTC