

Re: Cookies and Styles

From: Dris <dris86@cox.net>
Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 15:30:17 -0600
Message-Id: <E69BE6A8-1C69-11D8-ADFC-000A95A18252@cox.net>
To: www-style@w3.org

> What use cases would you like to address that aren't better addressed 
> by
>  * alternate style sheets with client-side support
>    (including selection persistence)

Alternate sheets are nice, but a whole new style sheet just for a small 
thing like a background image or font size?  The idea here is, instead 
of providing altogether alternative styles, just provide a mechanism 
that allows users to mix and match lots of little preferences, from 
font size to backgrounds to colors.  Alternate style sheets are great 
when you want a new overall look, but it's cumbersome and inefficient 
to have a different sheet just for a little preference (then imagine a 
sheet for every combination of preferences, and you're in trouble).

Cookies may not even be the best way.  I could imagine a whole new spec 
that tells user agents how to display a list of site options that would 
interact with more than just CSS.  Then again, I'm going off the wall 
on that notion.

>  * not defining small font sizes in the first place

CSS is made for web design.  In design, aesthetics do count, no matter 
how much we put into accessibility.  If a designer needs a small font 
so something will be visually pleasing, though not so small it's 
unreadable, so be it.  Among other things, that's what CSS is for, 
giving designers freedom.  When we say, "Oh no, don't do that," even 
though the spec lets us, we're imposing unnecessary limits on 

Then again, font size isn't the best example for this, as UAs should 
allow it to be adjusted (regardless of the unit used).  Think more 
along the lines of small customizations, whether it be for 
accessibility uses or just allowing the user to look at the site in a 
layout that they may find more attractive.
"Irony is a voluntary survey with required fields."
	~ Dris ~
Received on Friday, 21 November 2003 16:30:18 GMT
