http://tc.eserver.org/publisher/Web_Standards_Project A listing of works published by Web Standards Project in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Web_Standards_Project http://tc.eserver.org/34000.html http://tc.eserver.org/34000.html Standards have so much to offer that we at The Web Standards Project (WaSP) consider it necessary to help you learn more about them. This document is merely a starting point; it will give you a solid understanding of what standards exist, why they do, and why you should care about them. Every time we create a piece of the Web, we contribute to the common information space that is the Web. We can build it up, or we can add weight that will tear it apart. The choice belongs to us; the consequences belong to everyone. http://tc.eserver.org/34001.html http://tc.eserver.org/34001.html Forms are often the most tricky aspect of web development for beginners to get their head around, largely because it means stepping out of the comfort zone of one-way information - no longer are you simply presenting information at the person viewing your site, now you are asking for input, for feedback that you have to process in some way. And just as it may be difficult for HTML beginners to understand just how they handle form data, so is it difficult to understand some of the issues relating to accessibility. http://tc.eserver.org/34002.html http://tc.eserver.org/34002.html As of this writing, HTML and XHTML are both being used to create Web sites. But there are multiple versions of each, with specific changes and ideas attached. The following table shows the current W3C HTML and XHTML recommendations of note. http://tc.eserver.org/34003.html http://tc.eserver.org/34003.html Any effort on the part of web authors to add accessibility features is rendered useless if browsers and assistive technologies don’t take advantage of them. User agent developers need to ensure that their products support these features and, most crucially, make them available to users in an accessible and obvious manner. What follows is a quick run-down of most of UAAG’s guidelines and checkpoints, annotated with comments, suggestions, personal gripes about current levels of implementation, and wishlists for future browser versions. http://tc.eserver.org/34005.html http://tc.eserver.org/34005.html Some browsers have difficulty upon encountering the XML Prolog. In some cases, the browser will render all the markup as text. In other cases, when a browser has some XML support, it might attempt to render the document as an XML tree. To avoid these problems, many practicing web professionals prefer to leave the prolog off. This table will help you make that decision by showing you which browsers have known problems with the XML prolog. http://tc.eserver.org/34006.html http://tc.eserver.org/34006.html HTML 4.01 is as valuable as XHTML 1.0 in a daily usage. The syntax proposed by XHTML 1.0 has several important benefits. The weight of these benefits has to be evaluated in the context of your project: Use the right tool for the right job. For a Web designer, starting to use XHTML 1.0 will be helpful in some circumstances and will certainly help you to smoothly negotiate the future. XHTML 1.0 gives a wonderful opportunity to learn about XML languages and their possibilities without having to learn new semantics because you’re working with familiar tags and attributes. http://tc.eserver.org/32960.html http://tc.eserver.org/32960.html This article highlights the benefits of using Web standards for business sites (Internet, intranet and extranet sites). It is aimed at stakeholders from the marketing, communication and IT departments. http://tc.eserver.org/25354.html http://tc.eserver.org/25354.html The Web Standards Project (WaSP) fights for standards that reduce the cost and complexity of development while increasing the accessibility and long-term viability of any site published on the Web. http://tc.eserver.org/21536.html http://tc.eserver.org/21536.html This area includes a variety of references and tools such as: reference charts; important articles; and helpful tools. http://tc.eserver.org/21537.html http://tc.eserver.org/21537.html The following resources provide a quick link to numerous WaSP and other resources related to web standards. http://tc.eserver.org/21535.html http://tc.eserver.org/21535.html There are sixteen (16) legal color names for use in HTML 4.x and XHTML. Any other color name is a browser-specific name and cannot be used in conforming HTML 4.x and XHTML documents. http://tc.eserver.org/21526.html http://tc.eserver.org/21526.html The WaSP Dreamweaver Task Force was created in 2001 to accomplish two tasks of vital importance: To work with Macromedia’s engineers to improve the standards compliance and accessibility of web pages produced with Macromedia Dreamweaver, the market-leading professional visual web editor and development tool. Detailed objectives are listed below. This part of the group’s mission was largely fulfilled with the release in May 2002 of Dreamweaver MX, though the Task Force will continue to work with Macromedia as the company fine-tunes subsequent versions of its product. To communicate effectively within the online Dreamweaver community, raising awareness of web standards and helping others discover how their tools can be used to create standards-compliant, accessible sites. This work will continue indefinitely and is a key component of WaSP’s developer education outreach program.