Category Archives: Front-end code

Why CSS is important for accessibility

Eric Meyer presenting the keynote at @media 2006.

One of the highlights of @media for me was Eric Meyer's keynote on the past ten years of CSS. I think there was one thing that contributed to CSS's development that Eric didn't cover, which isn't so much an omission in terms of the keynote, but really helps explain why it took off in the UK.

CSS tables verses layout tables

Screen shot of 4 boxes, almost symmetrical but with a gap due to a few extra words in one box.

It's been something that designers have wanted better control of ever since CSS started to be considered the best way to layout HTML pages: table style grids. A quick review of the options shows there could be a few drawbacks of the method.

Invalid HTML interfering with accessibility

Every now and then you come across an example of code that slaps you around the face and demonstrates that you really do have to make sure you use valid code.

Accessible layouts

Screen shot at 800 wide and 1600 wide, both filling the screen width, effectively zooming in.

The type of layout you choose for a web site is often considered a tricky decision, it seems you can never make a popular layout decision. However, there is a process to go through to make sure it's as accessible as possible.

Conditional comments in CSS

With the advent of Internet Explorer 7, there is now little choice but to create separate style sheets for different browsers, at least for a moderately complex visual design or layout. This post explores the need for change, and where this approach could go.