Buzz Archives for October 2004
What is a “web standard?”
The grand irony as we debate the importance of validation and what web standards are is this little bugaboo: Web "standards" aren't. The W3C provides specifications and recommendations which have been coined by practitioners as "standards" when they are not precisely standards, but de facto standards. ISO, for ...
By Molly E. Holzschlag | Filed in Web Standards (general)
- Committed to Sincere Progress, Not Perfection
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Last week a standards friendly redesign of the ABCNews site was announced, only to be met with criticism on the homepage of the Web Standards Project site. An obvious conflict emerges from what we see in the redesigned site under discussion, and in the point of the argument made ...
By WaSP Member | Filed in Opinion
- In Search of Validation…
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Last week was great for chatter — not just about history or U.S. politics, though there was plenty of chatter about those things as well. Yes, folks, it’s official: validation is a must-have, as explained with a few friendly caveats in the latest Web Standards Project Opinion. In summary, it appears ...
By Ben Henick | Filed in Web Standards (general)
- Happy 10th Birthday, Netscape
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Netscape is 10 years old, and C|net is celebrating with a special section on the once-mighty brand. Their retrospective on the browser itself is especially good. While you're there, you might also want to read what nice things Netscape founder Marc Andreeson had to say about Firefox's potential to challenge ...
By Chris Kaminski | Filed in Browsers
- All That Glitters
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Mike Davidson, art director behind the now-legendary ESPN.com CSS redesign, announces the redesign of ABC News, touting it as a success of real-world web standards. While the site’s new design successfully incorporates Flash, JavaScript, and CSS into an appealing, well-reasoned layout, I’m not exactly sure what real-world web standards means. ...
By Ethan Marcotte | Filed in CSS, Validation
- Penn State Group
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To address a challenge, How to help others understand and use web standards, individuals at Pennsylvania State University have formed the Penn State Web Standards Users Group. Group membership includes people from various colleges within the university who meet monthly on campus to discuss topics and issues, share knowledge, and ...
By Holly Marie Koltz | Filed in Web Standards (general)
- ASP.Net & Standards Part II
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Wow. My post on ASP.Net and standards seems to have touched a nerve. I received a pile of feedback via email on that one, and with a currently crazed work schedule it's taken me until now to sort through all the good info provided. The upshot: yep, ASP.Net's built-in functions are ...
By Chris Kaminski | Filed in Web Standards (general)
- Google Investor: New Browser War Coming, Google to Sit It Out
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C|net is reporting that Google board member and VC extraordinaire John Doerr said Google won't offer its own browser, contrary to recent speculation. Of course, Doerr also remarked that "that just because he was on the board of Google didn't necessarily mean he knew what they were doing." Doerr does, however, ...
By Chris Kaminski | Filed in Browsers
- It’s a standard world, after all
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Andy Clarke just announced the standards-based redesign of Disney Store UK — and yes, folks, the new site even validates right out of the gate. The site's yet another compelling argument for how easily it is to build a high level of standards compliance and accessibility into a well-established brand. ...
By Ethan Marcotte | Filed in CSS, HTML/XHTML, Web Standards (general)
- Zen of CSS
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WaSP Molly Holzschlag has posted an announcement for her new book, co-authored by fellow WaSP Dave Shea. Just what I need — one more reason to blow my milk money on books. Thanks a lot, Molly. ;-) Update: Dave Shea has added a very complete previewing the book.
By Chris Kaminski | Filed in CSS
- Standard Slideshow System
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Eric Meyer has released a second beta of his web standards-based slideshow system. I haven't mucked about with it yet, but having developed a couple of slideshows myself I'm cognizant of the issues involved. This promises to be a valuable, lightweight alternative to the omnipresent PowerPoint slideshows we all know and ...
By Chris Kaminski | Filed in Web Standards (general)
- Standards Frustration of an ASP.Net Newbie
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As I mentioned in my previous post, my employer has adopted Microsoft's ASP.Net as their server-side technology of choice. For the most part, this decision has only tangential impact on me: I spend most of my time on client-side development, project management, IA and the odd incursion into the worlds ...
By Chris Kaminski | Filed in Web Standards (general)
- C|net Discovers Browser Incompatibilities
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As part of a series on IE, C|net has an article on the problem of browser incompatibilities.
By Chris Kaminski | Filed in Browsers, Web Standards (general)
- The Web as Platform
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In my last post, I observed that the action on the web in the next few years would be its development as a platform for developing and deploying applications. In fact, the fun has already started.
By Chris Kaminski | Filed in Browsers, Web Standards (general)
The Web Standards Project is a grassroots coalition fighting for standards which ensure simple, affordable access to web technologies for all.
Recent Buzz
WCAG 2.0 is a W3C Recommendation
By Matt May | December 11th, 2008
After 9.5 years of work, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 have reached W3C Recommendation status. On behalf of the WaSP Accessibility Task Force, I’d like to welcome WCAG 2 officially into the pantheon of Web standards.
I think this tweet by caledoniaman sums up the level of anticipation:
WCAG 2.0 and a new Guns ‘n’ Roses album in the same year. What’s the world coming to.
Interesting comparison. They’ve each had about as many pre-releases. In any case, I can say, having spent over 8 years with it, that WCAG 2 is not as entertaining as Chinese Democracy. But I do think that it’s better equipped to stand the test of time.
If I had to pick one thing I’m most happy about, I’d say it’s that the HTML- and text-centrism in WCAG 1 is largely gone. In its place is a much more flexible (dare I say robust?) concept of accessibility-supported technology. So when newer technologies can show themselves to be directly accessible, they too can be used in WCAG 2-conformant content.
Over the years, many people have conflated “WCAG-conformant” with “accessible,” and that’s led to people making statements like: “Don’t use JavaScript–it’s inaccessible.” That’s bad for everyone, from users with disabilities who actually can work with JavaScript (which is to say, the vast majority), to Web designers and developers, to policymakers, to those developing new technologies.
With WCAG 2, “Don’t use x” is no longer valid. (Was it ever?) It is now up to you, the developer, to work on the direct accessibility of your content, no matter what technology you choose. I believe we’re about to experience a new wave of accessible design techniques, as a result.
But first, we need to flush “Don’t use x” out of our system. Some are accustomed to saying it about anything they’re not comfortable with. That’s only holding accessible design back. It’s time to learn what’s out there, today, and use it in everyday Web design. It’s time to make everyone’s Web more accessible. Have a look at the WCAG 2.0 Recommendation, and its supporting material. Then, start thinking about what a more accessible Web could be. We still have a lot of work to do.
Filed in Accessibility, Accessibility TF, W3C/Standards Documentation, Web Standards (general) | Comments (8)