Here's some notes for people doing development that you will want to keep in mind:
BROWSER SUPPORT We are committed to supporting Firefox 3+, IE 7+, and the latest version of Safari. We would also LIKE to support the latest version of Opera if possible, but that is a "stretch goal". (I.e., if it takes you an extra 5% of time to make Opera work, do it. If it's more like 50%, don't bother.) Older versions of browsers are not supported. (This is 2009, really, upgrade your browser.) I realize that this will cause some issues with people who do have really old computers and subsequently can't upgrade their browser. But that leads us to the next point... ACCESSIBILITY We said it before, and it's worth repeating: we have an explicit goal of making DW, the site itself and all new features, fully accessible. When you are speccing a feature, designing it, coding it, or whatever else you are doing, please keep this in mind. Someone else is going to come along and write up a Guide to What Being Accessible means, but keep this in mind. Yes, it's a requirement. Yes, it will add development time to your features. But I'd rather have you take an extra week or two to build something so that my friend who uses a screen reader can use DW. :) Accessibility is more than just about people, though. If your computer is old enough and can't run a modern browser, or if you use a terminal, or you use a mobile device, then we still need a "light" version of the site/features/etc. This is another big motivating factor, so keep this in mind. COMMUNITY FOCUS The #1 thing about Dreamwidth is that we are all about the community. Our priorities are going to be based around balancing what the community needs to thrive and what the company needs to survive. We're committed to being better than even Danga was at development, to actually paying attention to what people want and need, and doing our best to develop in that direction. Does this mean that we're going to turn away someone who wants to work on their own project? No! If you want to work on something in particular and it fits in with the community and makes the site a better place, go for it! Ask any questions you might have, or if I've been unclear. Thanks for your time. :) (P.S. Eeeeeeeeeee!) -- Mark Smith / xb95 [email protected] _______________________________________________ dw-discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.dwscoalition.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/dw-discuss
