

RE: Image Galleries, Alt vs caption.

From: Francois Jordaan <Francois.Jordaan@wheel.co.uk>
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 10:04:56 -0000
Message-ID: <DB5599985CAE3C4B82D1A47B8DEA8D82128E49@virgo.intranet.wheel.co.uk>
To: "'B.K. DeLong'" <bkdelong@pobox.com>, "'w3c-wai-ig@w3.org'" <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Hi B.K.,

> >It should be possible in CSS to achieve the grid layout you 
> want while 
> >keeping all items in the same OL or UL. Let me know if you need help.
> I do. I need to limit each row to 4 pictures, however the 
> block itself 
> needs to be resizable, aside from the set padding.

This is quite a tricky one. I'll mail you my best attempt at it, but this is
a topic that's cropped up in the CSS community before. Try googling 'CSS
thumbnail gallery'.

Here are two well-known approaches:
...but neither use lists, and more importantly, both give thumbnail+caption
a fixed height, which I don't think will work for you.

This one seems closest to what you're trying to do:

Here's a discussion on the topic on CSS-Discuss (which is the best place to
continue this discussion!)

> On that note, I'm trying to convert all of OCW's font sizes 
> to ems. Has 
> anyone built something that calculates what nested ems would 
> be or what 
> should be inherited? I'm having a hard time figuring it out - 
> wrapping my 
> mind around it.

The problem of nested ems usually only arises if you're using a TABLE-based
layout and have assigned font-size to TD elements. Nested tables then cause
problems. Don't assign font-sizes to structural elements, like TD (if using
layout tables) and layout DIVs. Usually, you only need to assign font-size
to BODY, H1-6, P, and LI (if you don't put Ps inside LIs.) Maybe in the
context of a structural element, like #contentarea P { font-size: 1em; }

Some people use
BODY { font-size: 100% }
P { font-size: .76em }

while others prefer
BODY { font-size: 76% }
P { font-size: 1em }

Both are equally valid, and have the same result as 
P { font-size: 11px }

Read more about this at

Any further discussion on this should be on the CSS-Discuss list.


Wheel Group, Beaumont House, Kensington Village, Avonmore Road, London W14
T +44 (0)20 7348 1000    F +44 (0)20 7348 1111
D +44 (0)20 7348 1049

This e-mail has been scanned for viruses by MessageLabs.
Received on Friday, 31 December 2004 10:00:04 GMT
