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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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