Great article: A Dao of Web Design

John Allsopp, from Western Civilization Software (makers of StyleMaster and 
maintainers of The House of Style), wrote an excellent article called A Dao 
of Web Design [1].  He looks at web design through "the prism of the Tao" 
and argues that the web is in a similar state as the early days of TV.

In radio, voice-overs are often used to describe what listeners can't 
see.  In the first TV dramas, voice-overs were used to describe what users 
could see.  As TV evolved into its own medium, it adopted many mechanisms 
from radio, but then created several of its own mechanisms.

He analyzes the "designer is controller" philosophy that is popular in 
current Web design.  He thinks this philosophy needs to change:
<blockquote>
Perhaps the inability to "control" a page is a limitation, a bug of the 
web. When we come from the WYSIWYG world, our initial instinct is to think 
so. I admit that it was my first response, and a belief that was a long 
time in going. But I no longer feel that it is a limitation, I see it as a 
strength of a new medium.
...
The control which designers know in the print medium, and often desire in 
the web medium, is simply a function of the limitation of the printed page. 
We should embrace the fact that the web doesn't have the same constraints, 
and design for this flexibility. But first, we must "accept the ebb and 
flow of things".
...
The flexibility I've talked about so far I think of as "adaptability". 
Everything I've said so far could be summarized as: make pages which are 
adaptable.
...
Designing adaptable pages is designing accessible pages. And perhaps the 
great promise of the web, far from fulfilled as yet, is accessibility, 
regardless of difficulties, to information.
</blockquote>

In recent discussions, particularly concerning text in images, we heard 
from designers that they must control presentation across platforms or 
their jobs will be in jeopardy.  It makes me wonder how long it will take 
for the idea of the "adaptable" page to permeate throughout industry into 
the higher ranks.  Or should we be asking "will the higher ranks adopt 
adaptable?" rather than assuming that they will and wondering when it will 
happen.

What role do our guidelines play?

Just some thoughts,
--wendy

[1] http://www.alistapart.com/stories/dao/dao_1.html
--
wendy a chisholm
world wide web consortium
web accessibility initiative
madison, wi usa
tel: +1 608 663 6346
/--

Received on Thursday, 9 November 2000 13:11:30 UTC