The following entries were made in the “Coding & Markup” category.
Archive for “Coding & Markup”
Semantic Use of Bold and Italic Elements
The “bold” and “italic” HyperText Markup Language (HTML) elements, expressed as <b> and <i>, respectively, aren’t illegal. In fact they’re legal to use and have distinct semantic purposes. Whether to use them or not should be dictated by said purposes, and nothing else. Right from the start I must say the “bold” and “italic” element names are deceiving because they shouldn’t be used to make “bold” and “italic” text solely for the purpose of making “bold” and “italic” text. That would be a presentational thing and that’s what your Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) is for. Right?
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Using the Break Element Properly
As it concerns the break element, there are four basic thoughts people will have: First there are those who say it should never be used on a web page because it is a “presentational element” that has no semantic value; Others say using it carefully is okay, and that it does have some semantic value; Then there are those who say it is used to make paragraph-looking blocks of text on a web page and aren’t really familiar this whole smantik thing; And the last group will be quite familiar with it — “Everyone knows The Break Element is that movie with Bruce Willis… right?”
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Tips for Keeping Forms Accessible
Web forms are generally accessible if you build them using the proper elements. If you don’t use the proper elements, though, then right out of the starting gate their inherent accessibility is diminished or even lost completely. This article assumes that you have a basic working knowledge of the various form elements and how they are used. This article’s main objective will be to offer some tips for keeping your forms accessible, and in some cases, making them even more accessible than they are by default. So, here are the tips, in no particular order. Oh, and try not to mind my headings… I was feeling creative.
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Adding Embedded Images to a Web Page
Embedding content images on a web page is a dirt-simple, basic, and straightforward task, right? Well, yes, it is, but there are some interesting tricks I’ve learned since I’ve been doing this that I think are really helpful to know — and worth sharing. Most of which I have stumbled upon quite by chance, while others came to the front of my brain by way of my interest in making web sites more accessible and usable.
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WordPress Posting and Commenting Tips
WordPress is smart — really smart — and I like that, but it requires the right input if you want to exercise its abilities. What follows are a few things I do to get the most out of WordPress’s highly professional desktop-like web publishing features. Many of the tips I will offer carry over to the commenting side as well, not just article posting. Please know that I am not using the Visual Rich Editor so while most of the posting tips will apply, they may not be all shared.
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A Quickie on the Q Element
adding a script to the page load to fix one instance of one small problem for one browser made me frown
I’m utterly swamped right now, but as I get a breather now and then — which is a few hours at a time — I still want to write short posts (or are they articles?) to let you know I’m alive. One of the things I’m doing is building a rather large site using WordPress as a content management system (CMS). I can’t show you anything yet, but it’s a good one I think. On this site I have an instance where I use the <q> element to markup an inline quote. I don’t use it often so I wanted a simple solution to the matter of that element not being supported by Internet Explorer (IE) — including IE7 if you can believe that. I started thinking about the situation.
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The Reality of Dealing with a Mule
I’ve discussed the poor quality of free code and applications before. Since very few people had helped me spread the word as I had hoped for, I’m at it again. I realize it isn’t going to be easy to get the core of the development community to change, but I’m no quitter.
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The Power of Zero
Different elements are given different initial or default layout values as ascribed by various browser rendering engines. One element may have a natural padding value of 10px in one browser, for example, while another browser may give it 15px. And in these cases, the padding may cause different renderings of the same element. What this boils down to is that the default styling of an unstyled page will look one way in one browser, yet, while close, it may be different in another browser.
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Using HTML Lists Properly
If you’re a person who spins around fast when someone shouts “hey, you, web developer,” you probably use HyperText Markup Language (HTML) lists often — or you should anyway. But do you use them correctly and effectively? Let’s take a closer look at the three list types available, figure out what they’re best used for, and how to do so properly. Also, let’s see about putting them to use creatively, with imagination and a little bit of style.
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