Re: webwatch-l New Web Standards Advocacy Project

it would have been nice had they used alt tags in their images.


On Sun, 9 Aug 1998, Patrick Burke wrote:

> <fontfamily><param>Times New Roman</param><bigger>Apologies for
> cross-posting.
> 
> 
> http://www.webstandards.org
> 
> 
> They are scheduled to launche officially tomorrow. An article describing
> their goals, focusing on uniform browser implementation of CSS & other
> standards is available at:
> 
> 
> http://www.thestandard.net/articles/news_display/0,1270,1325,00.html
> 
> 
> Patrick
> 
> 
> Here is the text of the article:
> 
> 
> August 06, 1998   
> 
>      Web Designers Protest Microsoft and Netscape
> 
>      Standards Rift 
> 
> 
>      By Alex Lash 
> 
> 
>      A group of high–profile Web designers is forming a
> 
>      coalition to protest the differing standards between
> 
>      Microsoft's and Netscape's browsers. 
> 
> 
>      "We're in danger of getting to the point where the
> 
>      Web is made of fragments, with one browser
> 
>      supporting one fragment and the other browser
> 
>      supporting another, and with no middle ground,"
> 
>      says Glenn Davis, spokesman for the Web
> 
>      Standards Project. 
> 
> 
>      WSP members hope that grassroots developer
> 
>      pressure will influence Microsoft and Netscape as
> 
>      the companies work on their fifth–generation
> 
>      browsers. In the past, both companies have added
> 
>      nonstandard technologies without waiting for
> 
>      approval from the Web standards overseer, the
> 
>      World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Sometimes
> 
>      that approval never materializes, as with
> 
>      Netscape's HTML "layer tag," or Microsoft's
> 
>      Windows–only Active X. 
> 
> 
>      However, Davis says that between the companies'
> 
>      4.0 browsers, Microsoft Internet Explorer is closer
> 
>      to full support of most Web standards, while
> 
>      Netscape's lack of support for the cascading
> 
>      stylesheets standard, which enables designers to
> 
>      display and rearrange information dynamically
> 
>      within the browser, is a major concern. 
> 
> 
>      The debate over diverging browser standards has
> 
>      in part been sparked by Microsoft's decision to
> 
>      merge its browser into the dominant Windows
> 
>      operating system. By developing sites for Internet
> 
>      Explorer, Web designers know that millions of
> 
>      Windows users will be assured of accessing
> 
>      those sites. But Netscape's Navigator remains the
> 
>      more popular browser by a slim margin, and
> 
>      developers are hesitant to throw their lot into only
> 
>      one camp, thus inflating the cost of Web
> 
>      development. 
> 
> 
>      Davis, who runs Web–design firm Project Cool
> 
>      (www.projectcool.com), estimates it costs 25
> 
>      percent more to develop a cutting–edge site that
> 
>      can be fully accessed by both browsers. 
> 
> 
>      Microsoft product manager Mike Nichols said the
> 
>      company is committed to leading support in all
> 
>      industry standards and technologies and will
> 
>      continue to do so with IE 5.0. Netscape was not
> 
>      immediately available for comment. 
> 
> 
>      Microsoft has released a developer–only beta of IE
> 
>      5.0, while Netscape is counting on its decision to
> 
>      free its browser source code to spur innovation for
> 
>      Navigator 5.0. 
> 
> 
>      The Web Standards Project is also concerned
> 
>      with future browsers that will run on non–PC
> 
>      devices, such as palmtops and Web phones.
> 
>      "Lack of standards support is going to hurt that
> 
>      development," said Davis. 
> 
> 
>      Other members of the Web Standards Project
> 
>      include Martin Diekhoff of the Getty Information
> 
>      Institute(www.gii.getty.edu), Ann Navarro of Webgeek 
> Communications
> 
>      (www.webgeek.com), Roger Black of Interactive Bureau (www.iab.com),
> and
> 
>      John Shiple of Squishy Designs (www.squishy.com). The group's Web
> site
> 
>      (www.webstandards.org) will be live on Monday. 
> 
> 
> 
>         Copyright © 1998 The Industry Standard | All rights reserved |
> Webmaster </bigger></fontfamily>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Patrick J. Burke
> 
> burke@ucla.edu
> 
> http://www.dcp.ucla.edu/patrick
> 
> 
> University of California
> 
> Los Angeles
> 
> Disabilities & Computing Program
> 
> 
> Analyzing Usability
> 
> Since 1994
>

Received on Sunday, 9 August 1998 14:42:44 UTC