Erik Harris wrote:
> Your advice is _generally_ true, since browsers _generally_ ignore
> stuff they don't understand, but extreme examples like the Acid
> Stress Test show that your advice doesn't _always_ hold. If you get
> fancy enough with standards-compliant code, some browsers won't
> simply "miss features," they'll see something that's broken and
> unusable. Or they'll miss something that's important to
> understanding the page (e.g. a key animation that uses APNG).
So, I would give browsers a complete Acid Stress Test, and hide same
test from weaker browser and provide them with an alternative.
IE/win users may in this context be given a picture of the same test
performed in a better browser, and maybe even a comment about what
they're given - and why.
I'm dealing with reality here and those weaker browsers can't do better
anyway. IE/win users probably won't miss seeing IE/win's broken
rendering, and they're not locked out in any way.
I certainly can't see the point in not giving a strong browser as much
as it can handle, for the sake of "protecting" users of weaker browsers.
Some users of IE/win may not like being informed through facts that they
are using an inferior browser, but if they want something better in
IE/win then they'll have to ask Microsoft for better standard-support.
> Two systems won't show a page in exactly the same manner for various
> reasons (viewport size, browser version, user preferences, etc), but
> that's not what designing to the "lowest common denominator" means.
> It's about designing so that the page looks acceptable on the "lowest
> common denominator" (which, depending on your site's audience, may be
> IE6, IE5, Lynx, or something else).
I'm in total agreement, apart from that then you don't have to _design_
to the "lowest common denominator". Again, you can _design_ for the
top-edge, and "fix things" to make it look acceptable in the weaker ones.
Different use of words..?
I think I prefer a bit of "(dis)graceful degradation" in weak browsers,
so I can make most out of standards and standard-support in the better ones.
At the moment I have some mediaqueries to test out in a couple of
top-edge browsers, and it doesn't look like neither IE nor Firefox can
make much out of that - yet. I won't wait any longer though.
regards
Georg
--
http://www.gunlaug.no
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