Question:
Dear Dr. Website:
It's me again, let me rephrase this question... this is an intranet application I need to launch IE from within Netscape Navigator 4.5. I won't even begin to get into the business logic for this :-) but suffice it to say, we have a site which was developed specifically for IE and we have another site which was developed specifically for Netscape.
I need to allow the users to click on a hyperlink within the Netscape site and have the target site come up in IE. Both IE and Netscape are installed on the users station. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Answer:
As I mentioned before, there is no way to open MSIE from within NS, or vice versa, as you're not allowed (by either browser) to execute any application on the user's machine aside from plug-ins such as Adobe Acrobat.
The better solution is to write specific code dynamically based on the browser, rather than forcing the user to use a specific browser for the code. In general, it's a bad practice to force a user to use a specific browser.
The only exception is when the site is on an intranet, where you have control over the user's applications, equipment and which browser(s) they have installed on their system. Even so, you still can't call one browser from another.
Thanks,
--Dr.Website
Question:
Dear Dr. Website:
Hi! I'm loading a .asp webpage into an iframe on
my website and I want to put a print button on the webpage outside the
iframe that will print the contents of the iframe... How do I do this??
Thanks
Answer:
In short Betty, I'm not aware of any method that will allow you to print the contents of the iframe outside of the iframe itself. If there is such a method, I'm sure our readers will point it out to us, and we'll pass it on to you.
--Dr.Website
Question:
Dear Dr. Website:
one of my appication I am showing list of some files. The list includes jpg, gif, html, txt, xls, doc, pdf, zip files. The each file name has hyperlink to the perticular file.
When we click on zip file browser doesn't understand how to handle this file and it asks to download the file to the local machine. But the files like GIF, TXT, browser do understand and opens that file in the same window. I want to download those files also without opening them in to the browser window.
What
should I do?
Answer:
The zip files download instead of being displayed because that is what the MIME type declaration on the server tell it to do. The server and browser both know to display images (.gif, .jpg, etc.) instead of downloading them.
The only way to force a download is to zip the images and place the zip files on your server. Or, tell your readers to right-click on the link, select "Save Target As" in MSIE, "Save Link As" in NS, which will prompt them to save the file on their machine.
Thanks,
--Dr.Website
Question:
Dear Dr. Website:
Recently, I have been taking on the dual task of refreshing my HTML skills (for best usage) as well as researching Accessibility issues (Section 508) in regards to web development. I have had a difficult time locating anything concrete about whether or not to use characters such as parenthesis, quotes, and other forms of punctuation as numeric code (e.g., () or if they are okay to use in plain form within the HTML code itself.
I am interested in the best methods of usage pertaining to this topic, but I am especially interested in how these codes (or lack of codes) impact screen readers or other software/hardware devices used to aid people using the internet.
Thank you for any answers you can provide.
Answer:
We've run several articles on accessibility issues:
http://www.webreference.com/new/020221.html
http://www.webreference.com/new/020122.html
As far as quotes, parenthesis, etc. it is a common practice to use the ascii equivalent of the quote (") whenever possible, though I don't believe it would impact readers if it was not used.
If the ascii equivalent is available for such characters, I would use them. You shouldn't have any problem with numerical characters.
Thanks,
--Dr.Website
Question:
Dear Dr. Website:
I am having a hard time creating text type hyperlinks that are not underlined.... I can change font and color, but I don't want it underlined.... I am using MS Front Page 2000....
Answer:
Front Page adds it own HTML tag , when creating a web page. You should Never, ever, ever remove the underline from links.
That underline is the first and most important clue for a user that the text is a link to something.
Text labels on such buttons should have an identical look to links. This includes the underline, which makes it patently obvious that the graphic is a link to something.
If you have this linkto or linkto, most of your user would know that the linkto with the underline is linked to something.
I suggest you use mouseover's as your links. At least this way your user will know that that is a link.
Thanks
--Dr.Website
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