RE: [#293] Summary for tables

Jens Meiert wrote:

> By the way, my table post was no solution, but a simple
> suggestion. 

Yes, that's what I percieved it as too.

> What I wanted to express with 'develop for almost all
> user-agents' is the need still to develop for version 4.x
> browsers

Well, as much as I see your point, I don't agree 100% with
you. Both Netscape and Internet Explorer 4.x are outdated
browsers (hey, Even Internet Explorer 6.0 is!), and I
believe that if you get the information -- the text -- to
display properly on those, you should be quite happy.

It is not very healthy for the web community to demand that
web pages looks and feels the same in the 4.x browsers as it
does in 7.0 browsers. What we *can* demand, however, is that
_all_information_is_accessible_ in the same way in both 4.x
and 7.x browsers.

> Maybe this is a decision for each Web developer, but I
> decided not to throw out old browsers, not yet; I'll feel
> 'guilty' if I'd do so.

What do you mean with "throw out"?

> Maybe the W3C (or the WAI WG) should publish timelines when
> to pass on compatibility to older user-agents...!?

That's actually a good idea, imho.

> Otherwise, there'll always be the problem to define the
> moment when to do so (for me that's an important problem
> since there'll be only more user-agents, not less).

I don't think it's a problem to not give purty-looking web
pages to 4.x browsers (which were released some 5+ years ago)
in 2003. But I understand your concern, and maybe think W3C
should adress this somehow.

> Now I'm sorry, but I felt somewhat angry when titled as
> someone 'without knowledge or experience'.

I didn't necessarily mean that you were 'without knowledge
or experience', I just meant using layout tables today might
indicate something in that direction. I don't know anything
about your competence; I can only express myself based on
what you write here.

> I built a huge amount of Web sites until now, and I always
> tried to unite validity, usability, accessibility matters
> in them -- and I guess (or hope), successfully anyhow. 

Good. Great.

-- 
Asbjørn Ulsberg           -=|=-          X-No-Archive: No
"He's a loathsome offensive brute, yet I can't look away"

Received on Monday, 4 August 2003 06:17:08 UTC