[thelist] no more font tags?

aardvark roselli at earthlink.net
Fri Jun 1 20:38:28 CDT 2001


> From: "rudy" <r937 at interlog.com>
[...]
> but ted was asking about <em> font tags </em> for crying out loud!!
> 
> this is one instance where i think we are safe in making the change to
> css

oh, i think we're all safe making that switch...

> i mean, take away the font tags, and what happens? version 3 and
> earlier will show the browser default font -- like, this is a
> usability crisis? they get everything in black and Times New Roman and
> suddenly the page doesn't work?

nup, i didn't say it was a usability issue, it's a client issue...

[...]
> the way to bring this up with the client is to mention it in passing

then i would argue you are doing a disservice to your client... 
sometimes they know enough, and know you are trying to snow 
them... sometimes they don't know at all, and come screaming 
when their co-worker boots up NN3...

>    "dear client, by the way, anybody using a text browser (or a
>     really early browser, like from 1996) is going to see, um, just
>     plain text....   world wide stats, and i have no reason to believe
>     your customers will be radically different (have you seen what
>     kind of computer you can get for 800 bucks nowadays? and all of
>     them come with windows and at least ie5... your customers do have
>     good incomes, don't they?) say that people with text browsers or
>     really really early browsers make up no more than 2% of all
>     visitors, and your site will still work for them too, sir or
>     madam, as the case may be..."

this is obviously a joke, but if you're going to make the '$800 
computer" argument, then you're starting down the slope where 
you can't keep the client from justifying things that are truly 
usability issues, like absurd DHTML, fat pages, bizarre Flash, 
etc... and text browsers aren't even relevent in that discussion...

the best thing you can do for your client is explain the implications, 
tell them the stats, and show them how it will appear... after all, 
you *do* have a copy of NN3 for testing, don't you?

anyway, my point was, fump them, yes, but make sure you aren't 
harming your client's goals -- lame as *you* think they may be...





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