Seamless usability and D links.

I want to point out that the impression that 
Liam Quinn is isolated in his opinion is false.

When an author writes a page it should, as Liam said, convey 
the same information to all users and should be rendered 
in an optimal way to the rendering situation.

Concerning D links. They have a problem that Liam 
didn't mention. they reduce usability in all media. If I put D links 
next to my navigation arrows the user may read a description 
of the arrow when he actually wanted to go to where the arrow 
is pointing to.

Seamless usability applies to all users. I write also for 
people who want information (more than 99% of my readers), 
not only for blind graphical designers (Less than 1% of my readers).

For _describing_ images we have longdesc. The user should 
be notified about them only if he explicitly configures his browser to do so.
The default should be that they are not rendered. They are not a part
of the content of the page. They are info _about_ the page.

Putting D links makes as much sense as putting 
a paragraph hidden from stylesheets
users (with display: none) but readable to others 
explaining what fonts I use in my stylesheet.

If a user uses my stylesheet, my fonts should increase 
the usability of the web site. If he can't/doesn't want to use them, 
that's fine too.

I'll put a paragraph explaing my fonts only in 
a special section where I explain my visual design principles,
together with an explanation of my choice of navigation arrows.

D links may be used only when the image is a part of the content of 
the page. The solution in HTML 4.0 for that is the content of an OBJECT. 

Regards,
Nir Dagan                            
Assistant Professor of Economics      
Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Barcelona (Spain)

email: dagan@upf.es
Website: http://www.econ.upf.es/%7Edagan/

Received on Thursday, 21 May 1998 10:35:35 UTC