Gotchas in Internet Explorer 8

Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) is at Release Candidate 1, which means it will be released very shortly. IE8 is a brand-new browser and will represent a considerable shift from IE7/IE6; it will follow standards more closely and will offer much improved CSS 2.1 support. However, because of some of these changes, it is also widely understood that IE8 might ‘break’ websites that have relied on IE-specific hacks targeted at previous versions if Internet Explorer.

Lazy loading excanvas.js

I started by developing an HTML example page that used the canvas element and had the excanvas.js file hard-coded. Everything worked as planned. I then took out the hard-coded excanvas.js file and replaced it with a JavaScript-based lazy loader. Guess what? It didn’t work. A simple modification to the excanvas.js file fixed the problem.

Font replacement techniques

Like many other web professionals, I’m tired of the limited font set we have to work with. Gee, should I use Verdana on this site or Georgia? Maybe Arial? Meh. Bor-ing.

Hawaiian diacriticals

This brings me to one of my pet peeves and the purpose of this post: misuse of the backtick (`) character. Many of the afore-mentioned well-intentioned folks mistakenly use a backtick to represent an ‘okina, and it drives me absolutely bonkers.

SCORM resources

I recently emailed a shortlist of good SCORM development resources to a colleague, and figured I should probably post a list here, too. This is a quickie list, and I’m sure I’m leaving someone out. If you know of any resources I’ve missed, please add a link in the comments. This list is presented in no particular order.

Disabling those pesky pop-up blockers

Here’s a list of common pop-up blockers with links to the manufacturer’s instructions for handling said blocker. Enjoy.

Just say no to corporate drone

Link: Cathy Moore’s “Quick ways to increase your score and sound like a human being”

Choosing a specific technology for your e-learning courseware

This question came in via email. I figured I would post it (keeping the author anonymous) because these are very common questions, and maybe this post can help other people out. I also want to give others the opportunity to throw in their 2 cents! 🙂

Link: Web Accessibility Checklist

The talented Cameron Moll has posted a link to a Web Accessibility Checklist prepared by Aaron Cannon, a (blind) member of his web development team.