link roundup: betas, templates, passing acid, superheroes, uk accessibility
- Joyeur: Public Betas Are a Sham:
You’re either ready to ship, or you’re not. Slapping a 'beta' badge on your web site logo doesn’t cover for any actual flaws or shortcomings in your software. It’s this decade’s equivalent of the 90’s 'under construction' GIF animation.
So when will Google take Gmail out of beta? How about Flickr? Does dodgy version numbering count as part of this sham? - Layout Gala: a collection of 40 CSS layouts based on the same markup and ready for download! It's like CSS Zen Garden's more practical brother ;)
- Opera Watch: Latest weekly build of the Opera browser passes Acid2 test | Opera Browser Blog. Obviously this won't 'count' until the official release of Opera 9 comes out, but still this is great news. Opera is likely to be the first PC browser and the first cross-platform browser to pass Acid2. This will make it an excellent choice for standards-based prototyping - build in Opera and Safari, then bugfix elsewhere with the final design (yes I know, check periodically in IE too).
- How To Be A Web Design Superhero | And all that Malarkey. Who says standardistas have a superhero complex? ;)
- How to commission an accessible website | The Register:
The British Standards Institution published new guidance yesterday for those who commission or maintain websites, to ensure that any site they make or maintain is user-friendly for disabled people. It could help with legal compliance.
You know, here's a thought: maybe it could help disabled people use websites too. Pity that legal compliance is still the the first point in the lead after a statement of the topic.
> "Pity that legal compliance is still the the first point in the lead after a statement of the topic."
This is a shame, but anything that will get more accessible sites out on the web can only be a good thing. We can aloways hope that maybe one day people will do it because it's the right thing to do.
@Cam: Oh for sure, the fact that it's reported is great! I just find that people still only care about the legal stuff, which is sad.
I usually mention search engine friendliness early on in accessibility discussions: that usually gets the attention of business-minded people.