HWG-News Tips Early September 2000

Cross-platform Compatibility

HWG-News features member-submitted "tips" in each issue, in the space between articles and announcements. These were the tips submitted for the 11 September 2000 newsletter, for the following category:

Cross-platform Compatibility

Not everyone is lucky enough to have a PC, a Macintosh, and a Unix machine, each running multiple versions of the most popular browsers on thier desks. What are some of the pitfalls to avoid when designing web pages so that your pages look good in all environments?

This issue's winner!

When using scripting languages, be sure to comment out code for those browsers that do not support it. If programming Active Server Pages, it is best to use JavaScript on the client side versus VBScript which is the default on the server side since recent versions of Internet Explorer and Netscape both support JavaScript. Frames should be avoided, as some browsers do not support frames. Most browsers (even character-based browsers such as Lynx) support tables; however, tables within tables should be avoided. Always put "alt" tags on image sources.

-- Submitted by Vicki Riggins <VRiggins@carilion.com>