Ted Drake wrote:
Hi John
Sites look similar because the early standards-based web developers were so
influential. CSS-based design is different beast than table hacking and
people feel more comfortable riffing off a successful site than learning a
new technique with a design out of their head.
Yes, the ones who had good design aesthetics did. There were a lot of
early practitioners of standards back in the late nineties, but they did
not have the same design sense to drive this movement. It was only when
the better designers came along that there were examples of standards
implementation that really showed a path to follow.
Also, I don't think that five years ago you could market tableless
designs with any success.
As standards-based design matures, you will see new varieties that table
hacking never dreamed of. Personally, I'm hoping to have some time to begin
exploring CSS3 layouts much more. IE7 isn't that far off in the future and
we can begin using more sophisticated behaviors now with Safari, Opera, and
Firefox.
Yes, I think that standards based designs are going to show marked
better usability than those who stick with the old path. I choose to
live in the countryside, no broadband, it's a good reminder just how
frustrating some sites can be to use on dialup, a frustration rarely
experienced with sites properly implementing standards.
----------------
Geoff Deering
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