Gerry Ott wrote:
> That's the caption of a small article in the SJ Mercury News business
> section today (Saturday). Here's what the article said:
> ---------------------
> (Quote)
> A group of Web designers is urging the top browser makers to make their
> software comply with existing Web standards, which should make Web
> development cheaper and faster. Because the leading browsers behave
> differently, developers must often build several different versions of a
> site so that every visitor can use it. "Web development costs are 25
> percent greater than necessary because of all the different work-arounds
> we've got to build for different browsers," said Glenn Davis, a Web
> developer and member of the coalition. The group's concerns are
> detailed at http://www.webstandards.org .
> (End quote)
> -----------------------
> Comments, anyone?
Well, first thought upon getting to the site: "Hmmm, looks like a Jeffrey
Zeldman site". Sure enough, Zeldman is the site designer. Well, the guy's
got a very good reputation as a leader and innovator in the graphic
design/web design dept.
Found a bad link on a page and emailed [EMAIL PROTECTED] and the
mail bounced back. Hmpf, guess that's not in their standard ;)
Anywho...the steering committee ( http://www.webstandards.org/members.html -
hey, Steve Champeon's on the list, haven't seen him on WC for a while!) is
also a list of well respected folks in the field, which gives this
organization much more respect than it would get if it was created by
relative unknowns.
Now, regarding the wishes of the org:
<quote>
These standards (HTML 4, XML 1, CSS1, CSS2, DOM, ECMAScript (the "official"
Javascript)) were created by W3C (with the exception of ECMAScript) with the
intention of balancing the needs of designers for a sophisticated set of
presentation and interactive features against the desire to make the Web
accessible to the largest possible number of browsers (and other client
devices) and environments.
Each layer of a Web document was designed as part of a whole framework to
achieve this balance. This is why the separation of structural HTML or XML
from the presentation of a document is so important or why having a generic
and predictable object model is critical. And it is also why full support of
these core standards should be the first priority of browser makers before
they attempt add their product-specific innovations."
</quote>
Well, I agree wholeheartedly. Progress and interoperability are obviously
held back by the crap that goes on between MS and NS and their poor
implementations of the standards listed above. I would be delighted if the
next generation of browsers fully supported these standards, truly, truly.
It would allow me to develop and provide much more sophisticated web apps
for my clients. I'd be dancing in the streets (well, I do that anyway,
heh)...and I'd, um, be spending more money at the bookstores<g>.
Interesting statements from:
http://www.thestandard.net/articles/news_display/0,1270,1325,00.html :
<quote>
However, Glenn Davis (webstandards spokesman) says that between the
companies' 4.0 browsers, Microsoft Internet Explorer is closer to full
support of most Web standards.
Microsoft product manager Mike Nichols said the company is committed to
leading support in all industry standards and technologies and will continue
to do so with IE 5.0. Netscape was not immediately available for comment.
Microsoft has released a developer�only beta of IE 5.0, while Netscape is
counting on its decision to free its browser source code to spur innovation
for Navigator 5.0.
</quote>
I wonder if the NS 5 developer community is fully backing the standards
supported by the webstandards org? Anyone know?
I'll be interested in seeing where the Web Standards Org goes. Since this
site just launched, hopefully we'll be hearing more. Thanks for the link.
I'll check it frequently.
Jack
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