Since the testimonial is basically a quote, why not use the <q> element?
Then use the presidents name within the <cite> element. This way it is
semantic, and you still get to style the presidents name any way that you
feel fit!
Cheers
Nathan
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Wilson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, October 03, 2005 11:14 AM
Subject: Re: [WSG] Homepage Review: webnetdesignstudios.com
Hi,
I haven't followed this thread completely, but I wanted to comment on this
specific post because some of your comments caught my eye and another view
may come in handy.
However, I think using <strong> to emphasize the author of the
testimonial is perfectly acceptable.
Because it's not going to bring about the total destruction of mankind,
you are more right than not in the world of living and breathing, but in
the world of standards, it's not acceptable and it's wrong. You might as
well use a <hn> to ad visual emphasis. You are attempting to visually draw
the readers eye to the name (e.g. bold), not necessarily add a strong
emphasis. If it is visual, it presentation. If it's presentation, it's not
structure.
To create a rule and use <span> tag is overkill.
I totally agree and, generally, I try not to use spans. Instead I mark up
my document in such a way, limited as they are, the tags are as semantic
as possible, while at the same time, provide me with hooks into my content
without redundancy.
Someone (Josh I suppose) suggested that you use a span for the
testimonial, and while that is allot better (semantically speaking) than
what you are doing now, it wouldn't have been my first choice. I would use
a definition list for this:
<dl id="testimonial">
<dt>Joe Coyle, President, www.coylemedical.com</dt>
<dd>Mr. Cisneros and his team have an extraordinary talent for customer
communication, market vision, and web page design.</dd>
<dl>
And, if you absolutely have to have the commenter's name appear *visually*
beneath their comments, you could use the following (or similar) CSS:
#testimonial * {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
}
#testimonial {
width: 400px;
}
#testimonial dt {
margin-top: 80px;
}
#testimonial dd {
float: left;
margin-top: -80px;
}
Of course, you would have to tweak this (margins) per instance and it's
not thoroughly tested, but should work OK in most browsers.
Additionally, the image is to provide a soft visual touch
There is also nothing stopping you from displaying the little "person"
image as a background on your <dt>, but you certainly shouldn't be using
an inline image as it is purely presentational and adds nothing to the
content. If it were a photograph of the speaker, I would use the image
within an additional <dd>.
Similarly the images in your header could be a replaced <h1>. There are
various methods available to you; most have drawbacks, all are better than
in a non-semantic, inline image.
In terms of how you display an image on the page the rule is simple: If
the is content (as in the speaker photograph in the above example), it
should be in the markup; otherwise, it should not.
I realize the importance of clean, well-written code and content,
but the Internet is also a visual medium.
Ahh, but it is not a visual medium. It is an electronic medium, of which,
some clients such as Web browsers like Firefox and Internet Explorer can
display visual presentation. Not all clients can do so (screen readers for
example) and users can force those that can, to not. Paper is a visual
medium. You can control all of it down to the glossy UV coating, font
size, image placement, and texture. You cannot control my browser:
CSS off, images, off, font size increased:
<http://961media.com/__temp/webnetdesignstudios-1.png>
Images off, font size increased:
<http://961media.com/__temp/webnetdesignstudios-2.png>
I don't agree that every horizontal navbar should be in a list
especially since display:inline isn't supported in IE5, but that's a
personal preference.
There is really no such thing as personal preference when you are dealing
with a standard of any kind. There is the standard and then there is all
the other stuff; follow it or don't. There is allot of gray in the
standard of course, but a list is a list and how IE 5 deals with your
preferred CSS is not a deciding factor.
All of this aside, IE 5 handles horizontal navs derived from lists just
fine:
<http://web-graphics.com/mtarchive/inline-mini-tabs.html>
Most of the advice you will receive here is very sound and if you want to
learn more about standards design, you'd be wise to heed it. It is
difficult at times, but it's worth it. The first step, though, is
unlearning everything you though was acceptable.
--
Best regards,
M. Wilson
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