Re: Minimal Browser Capabilities

>So it's decent at being an HTML-only browser -- for something put 
>together by unpaid people.  Which isn't really high praise even from 
>Lynx's supposed defenders -- although once again I'm not _attacking_ 
>Lynx, so let's not all rush to die on our swords.

Someone's exaggerating. Lynx is merely less bad than was suggested. 
It's actually pretty good.

>I'm simply saying what Lynx does and doesn't do.  Lynx doesn't have 
>good support for HTML 4.01 standards -- it does okay with HTML 3.2.

Actually, Lynx fails to support the HTML 4/XHTML components that the 
graphical browsers tend to fail to support-- unfortunately, it seems 
to to be mostly the accessibility stuff. Other components, like id on 
anything.

>Am I bashing on your favorite web access app?  No, I don't think so,

but you do seem to be flying off that handle. It is pretty common for 
Web developers to run multiple browsers-- even manifestly broken ones 
like Netscape 4. It's just that Lynx isn't even as bad as Netscape 4. 
Another arrow in the quiver, you might say. And you can*not* beat it 
for mailing Web pages to yourself (or anyone else) in stunningly 
readable text-only format.

The really annoying thing is that competing text-only browsers, like 
W3M or whatever it's called, do certain things Lynx has never managed 
(like true table display) while flubbing a whole lot else. I wish 
someone would invent a *really* good text-only browser. I suppose 
that would require someone to pay actual developers to do it.
-- 

   Joe Clark | joeclark@joeclark.org | <http://joeclark.org/access/>
   Accessibility articles, resources, and critiques

Received on Wednesday, 26 December 2001 18:03:14 UTC