Archived posts, December 2009

HTML 5 syntax

HTML 5 does not have the same strict syntax rules that XHTML does, which opens up for problems in teams of developers and makes teaching HTML more difficult.

Posted on December 2, 2009 in HTML 5, Productivity

Use a background image in your CSS? Remember to specify a backup colour.

Whenever you place text on top of a background image, check if the text is readable if the image is missing and specify a background colour if necessary.

Posted on December 3, 2009 in Accessibility, CSS, Usability

Safari, WebKit and alt text for missing images

Safari and most other WebKit-based browsers do not show alt text for missing or broken images unless it fits on a single line within the image’s allocated width.

Posted on December 7, 2009 in Browsers, Usability

That’s a useful feature, but when can I use it?

Need to find out which browsers (and versions) handle a particle web technology? Don’t have time to keep track of it by yourself. Don’t worry. Help is available.

Posted on December 9, 2009 in Browsers, Web Standards

Don’t fear the fold – people do scroll

If a web page is taller than the browser window, people do know how to scroll and will do so if they need to to find what they are looking for.

Posted on December 14, 2009 in Usability

JAWS has a weird way of recognising data tables

The heuristics used by the JAWS screen reader to determine whether a table is used for layout or data are quite strange.

Posted on December 17, 2009 in Accessibility

If you must use a dropdown menu, make sure it’s keyboard friendly

Many dropdown/flyout/DHTML menus are not keyboard friendly. Next time you implement a dropdown menu, make sure it can be used without a mouse.

Posted on December 21, 2009 in Accessibility, Usability