Posts pertaining to web development and related topics such as web standards, web browsers, and industry news
I’ve been reviewing bug submissions for the SWFObject project and was reminded of a big problem with SWFObject 2.2: the JavaScript technique it uses for detecting Internet Explorer does not work in Internet Explorer 9.
Three years have passed since PDFObject 1.0 was released, and the browser landscape has changed dramatically. I figured it’s time to dust off PDFObject and see if it can be improved and/or updated for today’s browsers.
In 2008 I posted a quick writeup on how I dealt with cross-domain security issues for some of my e-learning courseware. Since then, I’ve had a lot of people contact me with various questions and for example files. Tonight I decided to revisit the topic and whip up some quick example files.
Two simple functions for comparing and cloning JavaScript objects without requiring a framework like jQuery.
Introducing EasyCaptions: A simple system for adding captions and an interactive transcript to online videos. EasyCaptions uses progressive enhancement to provide the best possible experience for all visitors, regardless of their browser’s JavaScript, HTML5 or Flash support.
It does exactly what is says: expand textareas. No more, no less.
Neither of you are choir boys, and I’m fed up with your bickering.
If you change the default controls to match the look and feel of something your visitor has never seen before, you run the risk of creating confusion, distrust, or alienation. Even worse, if the controls are poorly made or conceived — and many are — you might make your site less usable. A cardinal sin.
The more I think about it, the real beneficiaries of a uniform UI across browsers aren’t the site visitors, but rather the designers who demand artistic control and the clients who insist the product looks the same everywhere, without understanding that it’s okay (even expected) to have some differences.
Most browsers do not allow images to be cropped using CSS3’s border-radius. Tim Van Damme recently posted a workaround for this issue. Here’s a MooTools script that automates Tim’s workaround yet degrades gracefully when JavaScript is disabled.
Mozilla, the makers of Firefox, refuse to support the MP4/H.264 standard because it isn’t open-source and free from licensing constraints. Without Ogg, Firefox’s HTML5 video is rendered useless and requires a Flash-based fallback system. However, Firefox’s handling of the video element breaks the fallback mechanism. A scripted solution is required.
Here’s a simple script that will detect whether HTML 5 video is supported in the browser, and if it is, will check to see if this is Firefox. If yes, it deletes the specified video element but leaves the Flash fallback in its place.
