Walking the Tightrope
by Heather Champ
While determining the flow path of a search function for a site in development a few weeks ago, I was rather chagrined when an e-mail from another developer slid into my inbox. "Have you heard about the bug in the latest version of Internet Explorer for the Mac? Those little pop-up windows don't pop-up!" Since we had decided to incorporate one of those cute little pop-up windows for a floating navigation palette, I wasn't excited to hear of this new "bug," "feature," or "opportunity."The reality is that there is a very small minority of early adopters who would be affected by this bug. There is no easy way to come up with a specific percentage of the Web population who would be affected. Browserwatch has a variety of information regarding different aspects of the browser wars. Information is updated frequently, which will enable a developer to stay on top of all the issues involved in designing and developing sites.
JavaScript implementation inconsistency is not the only issue facing designers. Given the many different flavors of browsers, the number of potential tug-of-wars over what to use or not to use is increasing at an alarming rate. Frames or not? Use plug-ins or not? There is no guarantee that a user will take the time to download what he or she needs before surfing on to less demanding pastures. The plug-in Macromedia Flash was given a boost when MSN embraced it in a redesign of its site. The MSN site uses a number of popular Web elements such as navigation rollover and flashy (pardon the pun) animations all created in Flash.
I always thought that developing sites would become an easier task. Browsers would come to better respect standards, and there would be less individual creation of "isms," tags that are browser specific. The more designers adopt tags or attributes within tags, which are specific only to either Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer, the more difficult it will become to stop the insanity. Both browsers have different tags that do the same thing. To ensure borderless frames a designer ends up with a redundant mix of border="no" frameborder="0" attributes within a frameset.
What are the alternatives? Designing an elastic one-size-fits-all site or a site that will sniff out a user's preference and deliver a compatible version. In many instances, the choice will come down to budgetary issues. It's a much easier task for larger sites that have the resources, both monetary and staff, to fulfill the demands of serving the multitude of sites. This is not to say that a site that strives to work within the boundaries of a stricter standardization is lacking in any way.
It comes down to knowing who your users are. What are their browser preferences? Which versions are they likely to be using? And so on. By determining the typical user, designers and developers can then better serve their needs to create a fulfilling Web experience, which in the long run will generate repeat traffic.
