Providing the same UI across browsers

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.

Loading Captivate files into an AS3 Flash SWF

I researched the different methods available for AVM1 to AVM2 communication, and discovered there are a few workarounds that can enable the AS3 SWF to communicate with the AS2 SWF. I spent the entire day whipping up a Captivate-specific proof-of-concept.

Vertical centering — without using tables!

Every now and then, a developer will come up against something that was SOOOO easy with table-based layouts and winds up being a royal pain with CSS-based layouts. One of these “d’oh!” moments is when you try to vertically center an element on your web page. Umm… hang on, let me rephrase that: One of these “d’oh!” moments is when you try to vertically center an element on your web page when using Internet Explorer 6.