by Cameron Adams

Design and constraints

By its very nature, design is about constraints. Clients, budgets, messages, gamuts; without constraints, a design could not take form. On the Internet we lose some of the traditional constraints, but gain others. Bandwidth, resolution and browser compatibility are all things that web designers have to struggle with daily. These are immovable barriers imposed upon us and out of our control, but there are also restrictions that we place upon ourselves, restrictions that we are free to release. Take tables, for instance.

Tables, crippling the Internet

Ever since Dave Siegel first laid claim to bastardizing a data table for his own visual design purposes, tables have become a ubiquitous tool for web page layout. They are so deeply woven into the fabric of the Web that software companies have made small fortunes in delivering tools that can help us decipher the endless morass of quadruple nested < td >s and spacer gifs.

They work perfectly for what they’re meant to do – make things line up. But they’re crippling the Internet.

Content is king

If there’s one thing that the success of Google has shown us, it is that on the Internet, information is king. We devour information at astounding rates and Google et al feed us the sustenance which we need. The rise of RSS – an almost pure data stream – has highlighted the notion that information is powerful enough to survive on its own. It transcends attempts to subjugate it into just one manner of appearance. It adapts to a multitude of environments.

Being a part of the future

Of course, Web standards seem different and unusual when you first approach them with a head full of table-based solutions, but what else would you expect? It’s a different way of working, but an undeniably better way. You just have to un-learn the obsolete table shortcuts which you now regurgitate by rote and replace them with the foundations a more efficient and sustainable paradigm.

It is no longer a question of whether it’s worthwhile to support standards; it is a question of whether you wish to be a part of the Internet’s future.

Visit Click to Open Web Page to read more.

CAMERON ADAMS
Web Technologist

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