Webdesigners have had enough, everytime a new browser hits the market they have to check their websites for new problems, because every browser is different and they don't show sites the same way
Translated excerpt radio interview broadcasted in the Netherlands on August 16th considering the Web Standards Project and the problems with different browsers.
Interviewee: Mark Bruitsman, Interaction Designer and Manager Webdesign Department at TWINSPARK interactive people (http://www.twinspark.nl)
INTERVIEWER:
Webdesigners have had enough, everytime a new browser hits the market they have to check their websites for new problems, because every browser is different and they don't show sites the same way.
In the US a group of designers has taken the initiative to start the Web Standards Project, they believe that every browser should show a website the same way.
How is this problem possible, aren't there any standards?
MARK:
The problem is that the standards are not completely integrated in the browsers.
INTERVIEWER:
So the browser manufacturers are making up their own gadgets?
MARK:
That's one thing for sure, but that isn't really the biggest problem. The problem is that they do not integrate the standard that is already accepted!
INTERVIEWER:
But isn't it in their own interest to make sure the browser supports the complete standard?
MARK:
Well, yes that's what I would say. That's why I do not understand why those companies do not integrate the standard.
INTERVIEWER:
Are the manufacturers trying to make eachothers life impossible?
MARK:
I'm sure there's a lot of politics and strategy involved, but that's exactly why there is an independent standards organization.
INTERVIEWER:
What are the consequences for you as a webdesigner?
MARK:
First of all it means a lot of testing on all the different browsers once you (think you) finished the site. For that you need several different machines because for instance Explorer 4.0 can not work alongside Explorer 3.0 on the same machine. And there is always the MAC and the PC.
It always costs a lot of extra time which you would rather invest in more productive ways. This whole issue withholds designers from better and more efficient design. A designer is often more busy trying to find "workarounds", because it is not possible to fully use the complete standard for every browser.
You never exactly now beforehand what a browser will do with a certain page until you have tested it.
The biggest problem is that designers are getting used to working around these "browser-flaws", it has become a given fact you have to live with. That is why it is good someone is at least trying to take a stand again!
INTERVIEWER:
Will there ever come an end to the development of the HTML standard or internet standards in general?
MARK:
As long as the internet is still user-unfriendly (as any user can experience, be it speed or design), there is a lot of work to do for designers, this includes a lot of good interaction design. Crucial for being able to make good design are the tools that help deliver the design to the user, and these tools need standards!
In my opinion development will never stop because we will keep on learning and design will always get better (or more efficient), and therefor the standards will have to continue to evolve.
Or to look at it in another way, as long as I can not leave my grandmother alone on the net without getting lost, design and standards will need to improve.