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When I started blogging again in September after mythree-month parental leaveI wasn?t sure how often I?d find time to write a post. Looking back at the past few months I see that I have posted more frequently and more regularly than I had expected to.
So just in case anyone has gotten used to me posting something two or three times a week, I thought I?d let you know that with Christmas coming up I will be taking the opportunity to stay away from work and blogging for the next three weeks.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to those who celebrate them. I?ll be back in January 2009.
Posted inLife.
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Find inline CSS and JavaScript with Inline Code Finder
A few weeks ago I postedFind nasty JavaScript with the Obtrusive JavaScript Checker, talking about Robert Nyman?s useful quality assurance tool.
Well, Robert didn?t stop at finding inline events and JavaScript, so now he has extended the Obtrusive JavaScript Checker and createdInline Code Finder. Instead of just looking at JavaScript-related things, Inline Code Finder will find and highlight any elements that have inline events, inline styles, or
javascript:links.Inline Code Finder is available as astandalone add-on for Firefoxand as aFirebug plugin.
Good stuff!
For more details or to provide feedback, go to Robert?s postInline Code Finder Firefox Extension - Find Inline JavaScript Events, Inline Styling And Javascript:links.
Posted in(X)HTML,CSS,Coding,JavaScript.
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Reveal new window links and links to non-HTML files with a user stylesheet
As I stated inMake Safari open targeted links in new tabs instead of new windowsI find links that open in new windows highly annoying.
One reason that new windows can be so intrusive is that most browsers don?t make it obvious to the user that clicking a link is going to open a new window (or a new tab, depending on browser configuration). If it was really obviousbeforeyou click a link that it will open in a new window, at least you?d be prepared for it.
Well, there is a rather simple way of achieving this by adding a few CSS rules to a user stylesheet. For some reason this never occurred to me untilJim Wilkinsonmentioned it to me in an email response to the article about Safari that I just mentioned. Thanks Jim!
Highlight links that open in a new window
Based on Jim?s tip, here?s the CSS I use to highlight links that open in a new window:
a[target="_blank"]:before,a[target="new"]:before {margin:0 5px 0 0;padding:1px;outline:1px solid #333;color:#333;background:#ff9;font:12px "Zapf Dingbats";content: "\279C";}
This will insert a box with a?heavy round-tipped rightwards arrow? before any links that have a
targetattribute with a value of_blankornew.279Cis the hexadecimal code for that character, taken from theDingbats (PDF file)Unicode code chart. I specify the?Zapf Dingbats? font to make sure that the character is available.You may want to choose a different character and a different font, depending on what is available on your computer. Just change the
contentandfontproperties to whatever you prefer. Likewise if you think the style of the box is too intrusive, just change the colours to something you like.Highlight links to PDF and Word files
Another common kind of obtrusive links open PDF or Word files without informing the user. To highlight such links I use the following:
a[href$="pdf"]:after,a[href$="doc"]:after {margin:0 0 0 5px;font:bold 12px "Lucida Grande";content: " (PDF)";}a[href$=".doc"]:after {content: " (DOC)";}
This will insert either
(PDF)or(DOC)after links with anhrefattribute value that ends inpdfordoc. I insert this information after the link instead of before it since it?s fairly common for links to PDF and Word files to also open in a new window, and I want to be aware of both.Tell your browser to apply the stylesheet
How you apply these rules to all sites you visit depends on which browser you use. Here?s how to do it in Safari:
- Create a file with the CSS rules you want to apply
- Open Safari?s preferences window from the ?Safari? menu and activate the ?Advanced? panel
- Choose?Other?? from the ?Style sheet? menu
- Locate and choose the file you created in step 1
- Close the preferences dialog
If you don?t use Safari, consult your browser?s documentation or do a Google search for ?user stylesheet x?, where ?x? is the name of your browser. You may also find About.com?sUser Style Sheetsinstructions useful.
No more surprises when clicking links
Applying these rules will of course affect the way many websites look, and may occasionally cause minor layout problems. Links that already alert the user that they will open in a new window or point to a non-HTML document will also be affected, so the information will be repeated.
However, that is a small price that I am willing to pay to reveal obtrusive links before I click them.
Posted inAccessibility,CSS,Usability.
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Swedish National Guidelines for Public Sector Websites in danger?
Just over two years agoVerva(Swedish Administrative Development Agency) published the current version of theSwedish National Guidelines for Public Sector Websites.
As I mentioned inGuidelines for Swedish public sector websites updated, I took part in creating those guidelines. Because of that I may be a bit biased, but I think they are still quite relevant. Nothing is perfect, of course? the guidelines are more than two years old so there are certainly areas that could be improved and updated.
Having this set of guidelines to refer people to has definitely helped make plenty of Swedish public sector websites more accessible than they would have been if the guidelines had not existed. But now the future of these guidelines is uncertain.
It was made public earlier this year that Verva will be closed down by the end of 2008, and that other government agencies would take over parts of Verva?s activities. Unfortunately there is still no information available on what will happen to the Swedish National Guidelines for Public Sector Websites.
According toa newsletter (in Swedish)that was published on 8 December, Verva's website, including the guidelines, will be taken offline on 31 December.
I think it is very unfortunate that there is no clear information available on what will happen to the guidelines after that. Without a national agency behind the guidelines there is a substantial risk that they will be regarded as less relevant and ignored to an even greater extent. That, in turn, is likely to make the accessibility and usability of Swedish public sector websites suffer.
If you happen to have any insight into or influence on this matter, please urge whoever is in charge to appoint an authority that will host and continue to develop the Swedish National Guidelines for Public Sector Websites after 31 December 2008.
Until that happens? if it does ? the content of the guidelines are available oneutveckling.se. The site is a personal initiative by Peter Krantz, author of the Fangs Firefox extension and one of the guideline authors, who also intends to keep the guidelines up-to-date and encourages reader participation.
Excellent initiative, Peter!
Posted inAccessibility,Usability,Web Standards.
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WCAG 2.0 finally a W3C Recommendation
Today the W3C announced thatWeb Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0(WCAG) is now a W3C Recommendation. The announcement is available inW3C Web Standard Defines Accessibility for Next Generation Web.
It has taken a long, long time for WCAG 2.0 to reach this stage, but now the wait is over. If you?re still procrastinating like I was, stop it and start reading up onGoing from WCAG 1.0 to WCAG 2.0.
Lately I?ve been diving into WCAG 2.0 to learn what?s new and different from WCAG 1.0. I like that there are many examples of how to meet the guidelines as well as hownot tomeet them. It?s good that the purpose of each guideline is explained and that there are examples of how not meeting a particular guideline can cause problems for people with disabilities.
WCAG 2.0 can still be improved, but I think it is a major step forward from WCAG 1.0.
Posted inAccessibility,Web Standards.
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