Sent by B.K. DeLong on 21 January 2003 14:02
Hi all -
This is the first time I'm posting to the new list since I've jumped back
into the fray. I'm finally dealing with the nightmare most every Web
developer has hit one time or another. I was given a spec sheet down to the
pixel and had to recreate it. All tables and spacers. A NASTY experience.
But I managed to do it and moved all the styles to CSS including table
background colors. It validates as HTML 4.01 Transitional, and Section 508
compliant. The only thing keeping it from WCAG 1.0 Accessibility is the
fact that I'm using pixels for tabular widths and heights.
The discussion to drop NN4 is null and void because this is an MIT project
and up until last fall, NN4.x was the primary browser for MIT until they
could get Kerberos certificates working with NN6, IE and Mozilla. Not to
mention the fact that this is a worldwide, everyone must be able to access
project.
I've been looking at this code WAAAY to long and could use some fresh eyes:
http://norbert.mit.edu/cms/department.html
Here's what I'm trying to do:
* I initially had the "Go" button an INPUT type="image" but border="0" is
not valid in HTML 4.01 for this element. No classes seemed to work to
remove the hideous blue border and no one on webdesign-l seemed to have a
workable solution except Kevin C Smith, who suggested JavaScript, which
isn't (unfortunately) a viable option. I've resorted to using a regular
image with an a href submit to activate the form. Any suggestions so I can
revert to the appropriate input?
* Another problem may have to do with my understanding of parent/child
inheritance. If you look at the Biology entry in IE5/6, NS7 etc, you'll
notice it's a lighter color with a 1px border of white above and below it.
If you look at it in NN4.x, you'll see that only the word Biology has this
background.
Now, in order to make the entire column have the right background, I had to
give the whole Left-Hand TD the class of "left-nav" instead of just the
table the departments are contained within.
I don't seem to understand why making the TD within that smaller table have
its own background/class doesn't override the TD of the bigger table it's
nested within.
Any ideas?
In my style rules, I'm currently using:
http://norbert.mit.edu/cms/style/core.css
td.preactive { background-color: #ffffff;}
td.activedept { background-color: #d9d9b3; color:#d9d9b3; }
I've tried with no luck:
tr.activedept { background-color: #d9d9b3; color:#d9d9b3; }
.activedept tr { background-color: #d9d9b3;color:#d9d9b3; }
.activedept td { background-color: #d9d9b3; color:#d9d9b3; }
And yes, with much thanks to Porter Glendinning, I'm working on a full CSS
version but in order to meet our needs it HAS to function exactly the same
in NS 4.x. Blech.
http://norbert.mit.edu/cms/all-css/department.html
My deadline is too soon for a CSS solution so for now, I'm going to do what
I can with what I have.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
--
B.K. DeLong
[EMAIL-REMOVED]
617.877.3271
http://ocw.mit.edu Work.
http://www.brain-stream.com Play.
http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org Potter.
http://www.attrition.org Security.
