CMS and WAI

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alex.barylski
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CMS and WAI

Post by alex.barylski »

CSS doesn't have the flexability I need to create fluid designs...

For instance, my current web site has 4 columns
- Left hand side gutter (22px)
- Left hand side navigation menu (180px)
- Content area (100%)
- Right hand side gutter (22px)

With a footer which spanned 100%

This design proved to difficult for me to be done in CSS alone so I used a TABLE layout...

Which doesn't conform to WAI standards :(

Ah well...

Anyways, the point is...I have my own little CMS which I built to manage the content on my site...not the greatest but it works and uses TinyMCE as an editor...

Like many other CMS's when I need to adjust the layout of my content I again have to use tables as all CMS I have seen don't allow anything but, as the WYSIWYG editors written in JS don't allow for much more...

How would you go about designing a CMS so it was more WAI friendly???

For instance, images...there is no way to force a user to enter an ALT value unless you use an image uploader, etc...which I don't...

I'm thinking of starting work on my next CMS which I will strive to make conform to CSS designs and WAI, etc...

Ideas, comments, opinions, etc???

Cheers :)
Gambler
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Post by Gambler »

How would you go about designing a CMS so it was more WAI friendly???
Either I would make 2 separate designs, or I would simplify layout as much as possible. Yours doesn't sound so bad. It's 2-column design.
http://accessat.c-net.us/test/template-2col.html
or instance, images...there is no way to force a user to enter an ALT value unless you use an image uploader
You can enter alt values at run-time. Simply scan src fields, and strip extensions. But that would be costly, so users should be able to disable that option.
alex.barylski
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Post by alex.barylski »

Either I would make 2 separate designs, or I would simplify layout as much as possible. Yours doesn't sound so bad. It's 2-column design.
:P

I actually meant the system output, not the system itself...how could you design a CMS so it output WAI compliant code...
You can enter alt values at run-time. Simply scan src fields, and strip extensions. But that would be costly, so users should be able to disable that option.
I dunno about that one :?

What if JS is disabled???

That wouldn't pass with w3c validation service either...
alex.barylski
DevNet Evangelist
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Joined: Tue Dec 21, 2004 5:00 pm
Location: Winnipeg

Post by alex.barylski »

I appreciate the 3 column table layout exmaple though thanks :)
Gambler
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Post by Gambler »

What if JS is disabled???
It can be done on the server side with output buffering and a complicated regular expression (or XML parser).
matthijs
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Post by matthijs »

hockey, may I look at your site then? css layouts can sometimes take a little tweaking to work fully cross-browser. but i can't imagine the layout you describe is not possible. maybe we might help?
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John Cartwright
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Post by John Cartwright »

matthijs wrote:hockey, may I look at your site then? css layouts can sometimes take a little tweaking to work fully cross-browser. but i can't imagine the layout you describe is not possible. maybe we might help?
<off topic troll> Hockey, you would be amazed as to what can be accomplished using CSS.. have you seen the house completely rendered in CSS? </off topic troll>
alex.barylski
DevNet Evangelist
Posts: 6267
Joined: Tue Dec 21, 2004 5:00 pm
Location: Winnipeg

Post by alex.barylski »

Jcart wrote:
matthijs wrote:hockey, may I look at your site then? css layouts can sometimes take a little tweaking to work fully cross-browser. but i can't imagine the layout you describe is not possible. maybe we might help?
<off topic troll> Hockey, you would be amazed as to what can be accomplished using CSS.. have you seen the house completely rendered in CSS? </off topic troll>
I've seen that house...it's neat...
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