Posted by Neredbojias on 10/29/07 11:55

Well bust mah britches and call me cheeky, on Mon, 29 Oct 2007 11:34:51
GMT David Mark scribed:

>> >> You can j/s preload sequentially: ie, not starting the following
>> >> preload until the previous is finished. I've done that and it
>> >> works. But a better idea (I think) is just to make a
>> >> position:absolute; visibility:hidden; div "layer" encompassing all
>> >> the images which won't show because of the css.
>>
>> > That will mess up the semantics of the page and will look strange
>> > when style is disabled. For the scriptless approach, it is better
>> > to use background images.
>>
>> Background images don't always load as one might wish, though. The
>
> I don't know what you mean by that. But the typical need for
> preloading is for rollovers and the like, so it isn't a catastrophe if
> the images fail to preload.

No, of course not. But I seem to remembering seeing in the past
background images sometimes loading last (-in ie, I think) and that sort
of goes counter to the whole idea. And neither is it a catastrophe if
one adds a hidden layer with regular images.

>> styling-disabled is a valid concern, but despite conventional
>> mythology, styling is necessary nowadays and anyone who disables it
>> except for testing
>
> That is only part of it. Some agents don't support style at all.

No, but I'll bet 99%+ used actively on the Web today do. A real
consideration might be the useragents of ipods, picture phones and the
like.

>> is a moron. As for semantics - phffft! Very few pages have correct
>
> It is not the users' fault if a document is poorly designed.

Who said it was? We are discussing the viability of an additional layer
for a specific purpose.

>> semantics, anyway, and a sequential list of links in a "layer" will
>
> Very few pages are written by competent Web developers.
>
>> certainly not mess them up if they are correct.
>
> What list of links? The suggestion was for a "layer" with hidden
> images. Search engines, screen readers, style-challenged agents, etc.
> will have no idea what to make of such a thing.

I meant "list of images". Why would search engines have a problem? As
for screen readers, it may cause some confusion but I don't evaluate this
anywhere near reason enough to avoid the technique. Unquestionably, it
will work and work well. Background images may also work, but there is
some doubt. And lastly, I'm not one of those who subscribe to the "least
common denominator approach" to web page creation just to strictly
satisfy certain concepts which are arguable to begin with.

--
Neredbojias
Just a boogar in the proboscis of life.

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