German Visitors: Zur deutschen Version gehts hier – auf dem Blog von Jens Grochtdreis

If you are just getting your teeth into JavaScript, or if you used it in the past and re-discovered it in the wake of the AJAX craze you might have been baffled by scripts that come in a new syntax.

While older copy and paste scripts looked like this:

var commonSense=null;
var standardsCompliance="50%";
function init(){
  // code
}
function doStuff(){
  // code
}
function doMoreStuff(){
  // code
}

Newer scripts inside tutorials tend to look like this:

awesome={
  commonSense:null,
  standardsCompliance:"50%",
  init:function(){
    // code
  },
  doStuff:function(){
    // code
  },
  doMoreStuff:function(){
    // code
  }
}

The new syntax is called the object literal and is pretty close to sliced bread. Here is why: (more…)

More good stuff from Yahoo:

• The Design Pattern Library describes patterns to use when you have a certain task to fulfil, taking the idea of patterns into the UI arena. If you have no clue about patterns, check Snook’s bit at Digital Web about them.
• Proving that the developers can walk the walk instead of just teasing you, there is also a User Interface Library to download and use, instead of checking through 23123 different calendar pop-ups to use.

Dang, I need more time. There goes taking in food and sleeping.

Yahoo just released their idea of modern browser support entitled Graded Browser Support . I have been advocating this in my company for a while, although it sometimes is tricky as it is also dependent on the client and their visitors (I had this wonderful degrading CSS-layout with awesome DOM Scripting effects just to realise that the main user group is IE5 and – god forbid – Netscape Communicator).

I was also pretty chuffed to see them linking to my unobtrusive JavaScript course :-)

Ok, I am reporting live from the new server donated by the lovely people at NWU. Hopefully the transition went smoothly and there are no hickups.

Generally the site should run smoother and faster now, as the server is bigger better faster and better connected.

Yes I know, both Molly and Derek have reported on it already, but after pointing out in my 10 reasons why clients don’t care about accessibility article that one reason is that nobody has been sued properly yet, it seems we are one step in that direction.

Target is being sued for inaccessibility. From the webaim list:

This is to bring to your attention that a web accessibility lawsuit has been filed against the retail store Target. For further information, please see the disability rights advocates site . There are two links about NFB v. Target at the bottom of the page – one is a factsheet and the other is the actual complaint filed February 7, 2006. The International Center on Disability has also posted the information on their homepage at http://www.icdri.org. Filed in California State court, the complaint alleges violations of the California Unruh Civil Rights Act and the California Disabled Persons Act. Relief requested includes statutory damages which may include treble damages under the Unruh Civil Rights Act. California law incorporates the Americans with Disabilities Act provisions in the Unruh Civil Rights Act and provides for relief beyond that available at the federal level.

The very interesting part is that target seem to be only a whitelabeled site using the Amazon API, once again proof that the backend can be good but you still can make a pig’s ear out of it.