Dean Champeau wrote: > I got back into doing web design work a couple months ago after > having been away from the field for the past few years. Upon coming > back, I decided to embrace CSS wholeheartedly and make a break from > the table-based layouts I used to do. With that as a goal, I started > reading all I could about CSS and its implementation. I learned > about, and started using, the common box hacks and other techniques > to compensate for a major "difference" (polite word) in the way IE5 > interprets the CSS box model. It was a pain, and my joy of learning a > cool, elegant new page-description language was tempered by my > frustration with the fact that Microsoft spoiled the standard (it's > probably simplistic to say that, but that was how I felt). > > Anyway, when I first learned about the box-model problem and its > workarounds, I checked browser statistics with w3schools (a godsend > of a service, as is this one). They indicated that IE5 still had > about 5% market share, so I figured I'd better use the hacks that > others invented or use the divs-within-divs method, in order to be > able allow the IE5 people to properly view my sites. So that's what > I've been doing. However, I recently looked at a bunch of other > browser stats from other sources, and many of them indicate that IE5 > is down to 2% or even less. If it's that low, I thought, maybe it's > time to start ignoring it. > > So in building the basic layout for a new site I'm working on, I > decided to start fresh and not bother with the hacks and the divs- > within-divs. Holy cow, what a difference! All of a sudden, I can > understand my code! My HTML is cleaner, as is my CSS. Plus, it's all > much easier to interpret when I come back to it after a few days > away. This is what CSS site layout should be! > > My question is... am I on the right track? Are most people still > using box-model hacks and workarounds, or is it just those folks who > have a mandate from management or clients to support IE5? Are most > developers ignoring IE5 now? >
I see no need to ignore any browser, unless by "ignore" you mean "don't give it any styling." My site ought to work for all browsers and other devices. I mean, if I care about catering to screen readers (and I do) and that's a very miniscule portion of my audience (if a portion of my audience at all), why not make my site usable to NN4 users too, which I'm certain are more numerous than screen reader users (at least on my sites)? Now, that being said, it doesn't need to look the same in all devices, which is good because it can't. I don't care if a column is narrower than it ought to be in IE5, as long as the site is still usable, just as I don't care that my NN4 users get no styling. They just need to be able to use the site. So yes, I have given up on box model hacks for the most part. But I still check my sites in IE5 and NN4 and those old dinosaurs, just to make sure that those users can still access my site. I'm a big fan of accessibility in the really broad sense. :-) As a side note, I wonder if you are using the original box model hack (with the voice-family stuff)? If so, I understand your frustration with it -- it's quite confusing. I recommend the Tan Hack, or simply conditional comments, instead. Zoe -- Zoe M. Gillenwater Design Services Manager UNC Highway Safety Research Center http://www.hsrc.unc.edu ______________________________________________________________________ css-discuss [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.css-discuss.org/mailman/listinfo/css-d IE7b2 testing hub -- http://css-discuss.incutio.com/?page=IE7 List wiki/FAQ -- http://css-discuss.incutio.com/ Supported by evolt.org -- http://www.evolt.org/help_support_evolt/
