At 6/22/2009 12:24 AM, matt andrews wrote:
2009/6/22 Mark Harris <w...@tracs.co.nz>
> The biggest cost I have seen in web design since 1996, when I
started, is the perceived need to make the web like the printed
page. That, and the desire to make it pixel-identical in multiple browsers.
>
> Let the control go to the user, focus on getting information out
there. You can't control everything, just make it make sense.
Absolutely. This is probably old hat (where did *that* phrase come
from?) to most on this list, but if you haven't come across it before,
"A Dao of Web Design", a short article by John Allsopp (of Westciv
and Web Directions fame) is a must-read:
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/dao/
With respect, a few points:
- Allsop's article (which, although written in 2000 and out-dated in
some of its specific references to browser development, is completely
relevant today) primarily advises us not to try to control font-size.
With regard to font-family he writes, "With CSS, you can suggest a
number of fonts, and cover as many bases as possible. But don't rely
on a font being available regardless of how common it is." So his
philosophy DOES permit font-family suggestions and advises merely
against RELYING on any particular font being available. To me this is
a far cry from avoiding font-family suggestions in the stylesheet.
- If we don't "rely" on the presence of particular font-families and
let go of the desire to make the web pixel-identical in multiple
browsers, then the philosophical problem goes away, does it not?
- Even if we suggest fonts in the stylesheet, they're just
suggestions. I don't consider this to be "controlling" the user
agent. A suggested font will display if it's on the user's computer
and otherwise default to something that is. The user has ultimate
control in installing fonts of choice and overriding all stylesheets
(including the default stylesheet the comes packaged with the
browser) with their own.
- CSS font-family suggestions are a perfect case of both graceful
degradation and progressive enhancement. The browser ensures that the
text will render if there is at least one font installed on the
client computer, then the stylesheet can suggest a series of families
that more closely approach the designer's ideal. It's a system
guaranteed not to break on even the most rudimentary system, and will
look better and better the more of the desired software (fonts) are installed.
- I submit that suggesting serif and sans-serif in the stylesheet is
exactly as controlling (that is, NOT) as suggesting Georgia or Lucida
Sans. It is 'controlling' in the sense that it's suggesting to the
user agent whether to use a serif font or not, but with no control
whatsoever in determining whether a corresponding font resides on the
user's computer. If I install even one serif font on my computer,
your CSS rule of 'font-family: serif' will invoke that font unless I
override it. If I install only sans-serif fonts on my computer, your
CSS rule will ultimately be ignored and I'll see your "serif" text in
my Helvetica or Univers.
- There is no such thing as a web page without styling. Every browser
comes with its own default stylesheets which will determine things
like font-size, margins, and padding if not overridden by the
author's or the user's own stylesheets. So we're not really living in
a pure universe in which it's possible not to style. If you don't use
a stylesheet at all, you're just asking the browser to apply its own,
so by refusing to control you're not helping to create a situation of
no control, you're simply passing the buck. As a Buddhist you can
refuse to kill animals but as long as you're alive you can't avoid
killing vegetables and microorganisms and you can't prevent the lion
from taking down the antelope nor the spider the fly. Styling
Happens. Get used to it.
- Finally, if your relinquishing of control extends to not even
suggesting font-families, what do you use stylesheets for? Unlike
font-family suggestions, stipulations of color, margins, padding, and
other properties really are commands and will be carried out in most
browsers. {margin-left: 10px;} doesn't say to the browser "if you
feel like it," it says "just do it." If you do use stylesheets at
all, it strikes me as odd that you would take exception to named
font-families, the one aspect of CSS that is the least controlling of all.
Curiously,
Paul
__________________________
Paul Novitski
Juniper Webcraft Ltd.
http://juniperwebcraft.com
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