Re: Using LINK to create consistent navigation icons

Lynx also lets the user follow a LINK - it gives the "rel" value of the link
as link text to whatever the URI is.

Charles McCN

On Sat, 12 Jun 1999, Kynn Bartlett wrote:

  Anne asked:
  > Please describe how use of the LINK attribute would display a common icon
  > in a browser that could be set to such a choice...
  
  The LINK attribute allows you to specify relationships between
  groups of documents, such as "next", "back", and "top of this
  collection" (in layman's terms).  Intelligent browsers can use
  these to construct a top-level button bar for consistent navigation
  among pages, including the creation of context-sensitive help
  pages as well as icons for navigation.
  
  _Are_ there intelligent browsers that do this?  No, not yet, because
  the browser makers are pretty lame.  However, if you have access to
  a macintosh computer, you will want to see iCab (which I believe is
  at http://www.icab.de/ but that's from memory) as a "proof of
  concept".  iCab has a pulldown menu that provides exactly these
  kind of connections using LINK to group pages -- for an example, point
  iCab at Jakob Nielsen's http://www.useit.com/ and pull down the
  menu in the middle of the bar above the content, and you will get a
  list of related sites.
  
  It would be trivial (for a browser maker) to construct a toolbar
  with graphics, based on the HTML 4.0 definitions of LINK values and
  proper use of LINK on the pages.
  
  Also, iCab is pretty good at iconic representation in some cases --
  for example, there is a little happy face/sad face icon in the right
  hand corner.  That is actually a "is this good HTML or bad HTML?",
  meaning valid or invalid, because invalid HTML makes the iCab
  browser sad.
  
  --Kynn, from home this morning so no sig
  
  

--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 Sunday, 13 June 1999 17:17:32 UTC