diff --git a/content/posts/website-best-practices.gmi b/content/posts/website-best-practices.gmi index 2fe7633..98011ce 100644 --- a/content/posts/website-best-practices.gmi +++ b/content/posts/website-best-practices.gmi @@ -28,7 +28,11 @@ Unlike the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), the Techniques document ## Security and privacy -One of the defining differences between textual websites and advanced Web 2.0 sites/apps is safety. Most browser vulnerabilities are related to modern Web features like JavaScript and WebGL. The simplicity of basic textual websites *should* guarantee some extra safety; however, webmasters need to take additional measures to ensure limited use of "modern" risky features. +One of the defining differences between textual websites and advanced Web 2.0 sites/apps is safety. Most browser vulnerabilities are related to modern Web features like JavaScript and WebGL. If that isn't reason enough, most non-mainstream search indexes have little to no support for JavaScript: + +=> ./../../../2021/03/10/search-engines-with-own-indexes.gmi A look at search engines with their own indexes + +The simplicity of basic textual websites *should* guarantee some extra safety; however, webmasters need to take additional measures to ensure limited use of "modern" risky features. ### TLS @@ -345,6 +349,37 @@ Using containment for content at the end of the page is relatively safe. Using i => https://www.terluinwebdesign.nl/en/css/calculating-contain-intrinsic-size-for-content-visibility/ Calculating 'contain-intrinsic-size' for 'content-visibility' +## In-page search + +In-page search (e.g., using "Ctrl + s") has been a basic feature in document readers well before browsers, and continues to be an essential feature today. + +Web pages that hide content behind "show content" widgets are difficult to search through: users need to toggle "show content" for each item they wish to search. Often, in-page search highlights are hidden; Reddit's atrocious redesign is a serious offender (TODO: add an image of this). + +If you need to hide some content for performance reasons, I described a less hostile way to do so in the "other ways to defer content" section. + +Searchability is another reason to prefer conveying information textually, when possible: video (especially without accurate captions), pictures of text, etc. aren't so easily searchable. + +### The importance of proofreading + +Correct, consistent spelling is important to readers who use search. In-page search doesn't currently pick up misspelled words. If in-page search implementations develop such a feature, some users may wish to sometimes turn it off; even Google Search implemented a "verbatim" mode for exact matches. + +Moreover, some search implementations (such as the one built into Firefox) support case-sensitive matching. Inconsistent capitalization of proper nouns, acronyms, and initialisms can make searching difficult. + +### Problematic overrides + +Search is so essential to some users' ability to navigate that some desktop users enable "type-ahead" search, to automatically begin a search upon typing multiple characters: + +=> https://website-archive.mozilla.org/www.mozilla.org/access/access/type-ahead/ Enable Firefox' "find as you type" feature +=> https://github.com/Foxy/chrome-type-ahead Chromium extension to enable type-ahead; note that it requires full-page access and performs script injection to work. + +If you ignored my advice to avoid JavaScript, at least think twice before using it to define custom keyboard shortcuts which interfere with this type of functionality. I singled out type-ahead search, but there are countless other examples of uncommon keyboard behavior that JavaScript overrides interfere with. + +Another problematic override is scroll-behavior. Enforcing smooth-scrolling (e.g., with the "scroll-behavior" CSS property) can interfere with the use of in-page search by slowing down jumps between matches. Rapidly darting around the page with smooth scrolling can cause motion sickness. Simply relying on users to override default behaviors violates the "inclusive by default" directive I encourage, since user preferences are fingerprintable and shift responsibility away from developers. + +There's a complex solution to turn off smooth scrolling for unfocused elements, but it doesn't address separate issues such as anchor-link navigation: + +=> https://schepp.dev/posts/smooth-scrolling-and-page-search/ Fixing Smooth Scrolling & Page Search + ## About fonts I recommend setting the default font to "sans-serif". Avoid "system-ui": it causes issues among readers whose system fonts don't cover your website's charset. @@ -480,7 +515,7 @@ I describe best practices for preparing pictures of text in the "Pictures of tex ## About custom colors -Some users' browsers set default page colors that aren't black-on-white. For instance, Linux users who enable GTK style overrides might default to having white text on a dark background. Websites that explicitly set foreground colors but leave the default background color (or vice-versa) end up being difficult to read. Don't strain your eyes trying to read this example: +Some users' browsers set default page colors that aren't black-on-white. For instance, Linux users who enable GTK style overrides might default to having white text on a dark background. Websites that explicitly set foreground colors but leave the default background color (or vice-versa) end up being difficult to read. The same phenomenon occurs on pages with text on top of background images. Don't strain your eyes trying to read this example: => gemini://seirdy.one/misc/website_colors.png Screenshot of a website with gray text on a darker grey background. Details below. @@ -561,8 +596,6 @@ Here's an approximation of what this kind of halation looks like: => gemini://seirdy.one/misc/halation.png Fuzzy white text on black background reading "But it is not" (image/png) => https://www.essentialaccessibility.com/blog/accessibility-for-people-with-astigmatism image source -I personally like a foreground and background of "#eee" and "#0e0e0e", respectively. These shades seem to be as far apart as possible without causing accessibility issues: "#0e0e0e" is barely bright enough to create a soft "glow" capable of minimizing halos among slightly astigmatic users, but won't ruin contrast on cheap displays. I also support a "prefers-contrast: less" media query which lightens the background to "#222". - "Just disable dark mode" is a poor response to users complaining about halation: it ignores the utility of dark themes described at the beginning of this section. If you can't bear the thought of parting with your solid-black background, worry not: there exists a CSS media feature and client-hint for contrast preferences, called "prefers-contrast". It takes the parameters "no-preference", "less", and "more". You can serve increased-contrast pages to those who request "more", and vice versa. Check these docs for more information: @@ -570,6 +603,8 @@ If you can't bear the thought of parting with your solid-black background, worry => https://drafts.csswg.org/mediaqueries-5/#prefers-contrast Media Queries Level 5, section 11.3: prefers-contrast => https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/@media/prefers-contrast prefers-contrast on MDN +I personally like a foreground and background of "#eee" and "#0e0e0e", respectively. These shades seem to be as far apart as possible without causing accessibility issues: "#0e0e0e" is barely bright enough to create a soft "glow" capable of minimizing halos among slightly astigmatic users, but won't ruin contrast on cheap displays. I also support a "prefers-contrast: less" media query which lightens the background to "#222". + ### Contrast under different conditions Color palettes need to be effective for different types of vision deficiencies (e.g. color blindnesses) and screens. Color blindness is a far more nuanced topic than "the inability to see some colors". Rob Pike explains his experience with color blindness: @@ -1035,12 +1070,13 @@ These tests begin reasonably, but gradually grow absurd. Once again, use your ju 10. Read the (prettified/indented) HTML source itself and parse it with your brain. See if anything seems illogical or unnecessary. Imagine giving someone a printout of your page's along with a whiteboard. If they have a basic knowledge of HTML tags, would they be able to draw something resembling your website? 11. Test with unorthodox graphical browser engines, like NetSurf, Servo, or the Serenity OS browser. 12. Try printing out your page in black-and-white from an unorthodox graphical browser. -13. Test on something ridiculous: try your old e-reader's embedded browser, combine an HTML-to-EPUB converter and an EPUB-to-PDF converter, or stack multiple article-extraction utilities on top of each other. Be creative and enjoy breaking your site. When something breaks, examine the breakage and see if you can fix it by simplifying your page. -14. Build a time machine. Travel decades--or perhaps centuries--into the future. Keep going forward until the WWW is breathing its last breath. Test your site on future browsers. Figuring out how to transfer your files onto their computers might take some time, but you have a time machine so that shouldn't be too hard. When you finish, go back in time to meet Benjamin Franklin: +13. Download your webpage and test how multiple word processors render and generate PDFs from it.¹¹ +14. Combine conversion tools. Combine an HTML-to-EPUB converter and an EPUB-to-PDF converter, or stack multiple article-extraction utilities on top of each other. Be creative and enjoy breaking your site. When something breaks, examine the breakage and see if it's caused by an issue in your markup, or a CSS feature with an equivalent alternative. +15. Build a time machine. Travel decades--or perhaps centuries--into the future. Keep going forward until the WWW is breathing its last breath. Test your site on future browsers. Figuring out how to transfer your files onto their computers might take some time, but you have a time machine so that shouldn't be too hard. When you finish, go back in time to meet Benjamin Franklin: => https://xkcd.com/567/ xkcd: Urgent Mission -I'm still on step 13, trying to find new ways to break this page. If you come up with a new test, please share it: +I'm still on step 14, trying to find new ways to break this page. If you come up with a new test, please share it: => mailto:~seirdy/seirdy.one-comments@lists.sr.ht Mailing list for this website @@ -1059,7 +1095,7 @@ This article is, and will probably always be, an ongoing work-in-progress. Some * How to avoid relying too much on formatting, for user agents that display unformatted text (e.g. textual feed readers like Newsboat) * Elaboration on how authors should delegate much of their formatting to the user agent, and how CSS resets are a symptom of a failure to do so. * Keyboard-driven browsers and extensions. Qutebrowser, Luakit, visurf, Tridactyl, etc. -* Ways to support non-mainstream browsers by supporting subsets of specifications and using progressive enhancement. +* Ways to support non-mainstream and older browsers by supporting subsets of specifications and using progressive enhancement. * Avoiding "_blank" targets in URLs unless absolutely necessary. * Ways to improve comprehension by readers who struggle to understand non-literal language (certain manifestations of cognitive disabilities, non-native speakers unfamiliar with idioms, etc.). I might wait until this WAI draft specification matures and its vocabularies gain adoption before going in depth: => https://w3c.github.io/personalization-semantics/help/index.html Personalization Help and Support 1.0 @@ -1191,3 +1227,6 @@ I find Practical Typography quite useful for printed works, and incorporated a m ⁹ libavif links against libaom, librav1e, and/or libsvtav1 to perform AVIF encoding and decoding. libaom is best for this use-case, particularly since libaom can link against libjxl to use its Butteraugli distortion metric. This lets libaom optimize the perceptual quality of lossy encodes much more accurately. ¹⁰ Consider disabling the JIT for your normal browsing too; doing so removes whole classes of vulnerabilities. In Firefox, toggle javascript.options.ion, javascript.options.baselinejit, javascript.options.native_regexp, javascript.options.asmjs, and javascript.options.wasm in about:config; in Chromium, run chromium with `--js-flags='--jitless'`; in the Tor Browser, set the security level to "Safer". + +¹¹ Libreoffice can also render HTML but has extremely limited support for CSS. OnlyOffice seems to work best, but doesn't load images. If your page is CSS-optional, it should look fine in both. +Fun fact: Microsoft Outlook renders HTML email with Microsoft Word's proprietary HTML engine. diff --git a/content/posts/website-best-practices.md b/content/posts/website-best-practices.md index 8f8dd27..c39620a 100644 --- a/content/posts/website-best-practices.md +++ b/content/posts/website-best-practices.md @@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ A false sense of security is far worse than transparent insecurity. Don't offer Consider taking hardening measures to maximize the security benefits made possible by the simplicity of textual websites, starting with script removal. -JavaScript and WebAssembly are responsible for the bulk of modern web exploits. Ideally, a text-oriented site can enforce a scripting ban at the [CSP](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/CSP) level. +JavaScript and WebAssembly are responsible for the bulk of modern web exploits. If that isn't reason enough, most [non-mainstream search indexes](./../../../2021/03/10/search-engines-with-own-indexes.html) have little to no support for JavaScript. Ideally, a text-oriented site can enforce a scripting ban at the [Content Security Policy](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/CSP) (CSP) level.
@@ -360,7 +360,7 @@ Long pages with many DOM nodes may benefit from CSS containment, a more recently
-`content-visibility: auto` is a more complex value than `hidden`; rather than being similar to `display: none`, it adaptively hides/displays an element's contents as they become relevant to the user. It also doesn’t hide its skipped contents from the user agent, so screen readers, find-in-page, and other tools can still interact with it. +`content-visibility: auto` is a more complex value than `hidden`; rather than being similar to `display: none`, it adaptively hides/displays an element's contents as they become relevant to the user. It also doesn’t hide its skipped contents from the user agent, so screen readers, in-page search, and other tools can still interact with it.
@@ -378,6 +378,31 @@ Leveraging containment is a progressive enhancement, so there aren't any serious Using containment for content at the end of the page is relatively safe. Using it for content earlier in the page risks introducing [layout shifts](#layout-shifts). Eliminate the layout shifts by calculating a value for the `contain-intrinsic-size` property. Calculating 'contain-intrinsic-size' for 'content-visibility', by {{}}, is a comprehensive guide to calculating intrinsic size values. +In-page search +-------------- + +In-page search (e.g., using Ctrl + s) has been a basic feature in document readers well before browsers, and continues to be an essential feature today. + +Web pages that hide content behind "show content" widgets are difficult to search through: users need to toggle "show content" for each item they wish to search. Often, in-page search highlights are hidden; Reddit's atrocious redesign is a serious offender (TODO: add an image of this). + +If you need to hide some content for performance reasons, I described a less hostile way to do so in [the "other ways to defer content" section](#other-ways-to-defer-content). + +Searchability is another reason to prefer conveying information textually, when possible: video (especially without accurate captions), pictures of text, etc. aren't so easily searchable. + +### The importance of proofreading + +Correct, consistent spelling is important to readers who use search. In-page search doesn't currently pick up misspelled words. If in-page search implementations develop such a feature, some users may wish to sometimes turn it off; even Google Search implemented a "verbatim" mode for exact matches. + +Moreover, some search implementations (such as the one built into Firefox) support case-sensitive matching. Inconsistent capitalization of proper nouns, acronyms, and initialisms can make searching difficult. + +### Problematic overrides + +Search is so essential to some users' ability to navigate that some desktop users enable "type-ahead" search, to automatically begin a search upon typing multiple characters.[^7] If you ignored my advice to avoid JavaScript, at least think twice before using it to define custom keyboard shortcuts which interfere with this type of functionality. I singled out type-ahead search, but there are countless other examples of uncommon keyboard behavior that JavaScript overrides interfere with. + +Another problematic override is scroll-behavior. Enforcing smooth-scrolling (e.g., with the `scroll-behavior` CSS property) can interfere with the use of in-page search by slowing down jumps between matches. Rapidly darting around the page with smooth scrolling can cause motion sickness. Simply relying on users to override default behaviors violates the "inclusive by default" directive I encourage, since user preferences are fingerprintable and shift responsibility away from developers. + +There's a complex solution to [turn off smooth scrolling for unfocused elements](https://schepp.dev/posts/smooth-scrolling-and-page-search/), but it doesn't address separate issues such as anchor-link navigation. + About fonts ----------- @@ -405,7 +430,7 @@ Some people raised fingerprinting concerns when I suggested using the default "s I don't know much about fingerprinting, except that you can't do font enumeration or accurately calculate font metrics without JavaScript. Since text-based websites that follow these best-practices don't send requests after the page loads and have no scripts, they shouldn't be able to fingerprint via font identification. -Other websites can still fingerprint via font enumeration using JavaScript. They don't need to stop at seeing what sans-serif maps to: they can see available fonts on a user's system,[^7] the user's canvas fingerprint, window dimensions, etc. Some of these can be mitigated by [Firefox's protections against fingerprinting](https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-protection-against-fingerprinting), but these protections understandably override user font preferences. +Other websites can still fingerprint via font enumeration using JavaScript. They don't need to stop at seeing what sans-serif maps to: they can see available fonts on a user's system,[^8] the user's canvas fingerprint, window dimensions, etc. Some of these can be mitigated by [Firefox's protections against fingerprinting](https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-protection-against-fingerprinting), but these protections understandably override user font preferences. Ultimately, surveillance self-defense on the web is an arms race full of trade-offs. If you want both privacy and customizability, the web is not the place to look; try Gemini or Gopher instead. @@ -413,7 +438,7 @@ Ultimately, surveillance self-defense on the web is an arms race full of trade-o Browsers allow users to zoom by adjusting size metrics. Additionally, most browsers allow users to specify a minimum font size. Minimum sizes don't always work; setting size values in `px` can override these settings. -In your stylesheets, _avoid using `px`_ where possible. Define sizes and dimensions using relative units (preferably `em`). Exceptions exist for some decorations[^8] (e.g. borders), but they are uncommon. +In your stylesheets, _avoid using `px`_ where possible. Define sizes and dimensions using relative units (preferably `em`). Exceptions exist for some decorations[^9] (e.g. borders), but they are uncommon.
@@ -537,7 +562,7 @@ I describe best practices for preparing pictures of text in [a dedicated section About custom colors ------------------- -Some users' browsers set default page colors that aren't black-on-white. For instance, Linux users who enable GTK style overrides might default to having white text on a dark background. Websites that explicitly set foreground colors but leave the default background color (or vice-versa) end up being difficult to read. Don't strain your eyes trying to read this example: +Some users' browsers set default page colors that aren't black-on-white. For instance, Linux users who enable GTK style overrides might default to having white text on a dark background. Websites that explicitly set foreground colors but leave the default background color (or vice-versa) end up being difficult to read. The same phenomenon occurs on pages with text on top of background images. Don't strain your eyes trying to read this example:
@@ -585,12 +610,12 @@ This image is an approximation of what halation looks like, cropped from }}
-I personally like a foreground and background of `#eee` and `#0e0e0e`, respectively. These shades seem to be as far apart as possible without causing accessibility issues: `#0e0e0e` is barely bright enough to create a soft "glow" capable of minimizing halos among slightly astigmatic users, but won't ruin contrast on cheap displays. I also support a `prefers-contrast: less` media query which lightens the background to `#222`. - "Just disable dark mode" is a poor response to users complaining about halation: it ignores the utility of dark themes described at the beginning of this section. If you can't bear the thought of parting with your solid-black background, worry not: there exists a CSS media feature and client-hint for contrast preferences called `prefers-contrast`. It takes the parameters `no-preference`, `less`, and `more`. You can serve increased-contrast pages to those who request `more`, and vice versa. Check section 11.3 of the W3C {{}} specification for more information. +I personally like a foreground and background of `#eee` and `#0e0e0e`, respectively. These shades seem to be as far apart as possible without causing accessibility issues: `#0e0e0e` is barely bright enough to create a soft "glow" capable of minimizing halos among slightly astigmatic users, but won't ruin contrast on cheap displays. I also support a `prefers-contrast: less` media query which lightens the background to `#222`. + ### Contrast under different conditions Color palettes need to be effective for different types of vision deficiencies (e.g. color blindnesses) and screens. Color blindness is a far more nuanced topic than "the inability to see some colors". {{. Color blindness manifests in complex ways. Testing in grayscale is a great start, but it doesn't account for all kinds of color vision deficiencies. @@ -602,7 +627,7 @@ Color schemes should also look good to users who apply gamma adjustments. Most o In defense of link under­lines {#in-defense-of-link-underlines} ---------------------------------- -Some typographers insist that [underlined on-screen text is obsolete](https://practicaltypography.com/underlining.html),[^9] and hyperlinks are no exception. I disagree. +Some typographers insist that [underlined on-screen text is obsolete](https://practicaltypography.com/underlining.html),[^10] and hyperlinks are no exception. I disagree. One reason is that underlines make it easy to separate multiple consecutive inline links: @@ -644,7 +669,7 @@ Some image optimization tools I use: : The reference WebP encoder; has dedicated lossless and lossy modes. Lossy WebP compression isn't always better than JPEG, but lossless WebP consistently beats PNG. `avifenc` -: The reference AVIF encoder, included in [libavif](https://github.com/AOMediaCodec/libavif)[^10]. AVIF lossless compression is typically useless, but its lossy compression is pretty unique in that it leans towards detail removal rather than introducing compression artifacts. Note that AVIF is not supported by Safari or most WebKit-based browsers. +: The reference AVIF encoder, included in [libavif](https://github.com/AOMediaCodec/libavif)[^11]. AVIF lossless compression is typically useless, but its lossy compression is pretty unique in that it leans towards detail removal rather than introducing compression artifacts. Note that AVIF is not supported by Safari or most WebKit-based browsers. I put together [a quick script](https://git.sr.ht/~seirdy/dotfiles/tree/3b722a843f3945a1bdf98672e09786f0213ec6f6/Executables/shell-scripts/bin/optimize-image) to losslessly optimize images using these programs. For lossy compression, I typically use [GNU Parallel](https://www.gnu.org/software/parallel/) to mass-generate images using different options before selecting the smallest image at the minimum acceptable quality. Users who'd rather avoid the command line while performing lossy compression can instead check out [Squoosh](https://squoosh.app/), a JavaScript app that bundles WebAssembly-compiled encoders; I've heard good things about it. @@ -841,7 +866,7 @@ Where long inline `` elements can trigger horizontal scrolling, consider a Soft hyphens are great for splitting up text, but some text should stay together. The phrase "10 cm", for instance, would flow poorly if "10" and "cm" appeared on separate lines. Splitting text becomes especially painful on narrow viewports. A non-breaking space keeps the surrounding text from being re-flowed. Use the ` ` HTML entity instead of a space: `10 cm`. -{{}}[^9] describes [where to use the non-breaking space](https://briefs.video/videos/is-progressive-enhancement-dead-yet/) in more detail +{{}}[^10] describes [where to use the non-breaking space](https://briefs.video/videos/is-progressive-enhancement-dead-yet/) in more detail One exception to the rules from Practical Typography: don't use a non-breaking space if it would trigger two-dimensional scrolling on a narrow viewport. Between broken text and two-dimensional scrolling, broken text is the lesser evil. I personally set a cutoff at 2.5 cm (1 inch) at 125% zoom. @@ -1000,7 +1025,7 @@ Your page should easily pass the harshest of tests without any extra effort if i These tests begin reasonably, but gradually grow absurd. Once again, use your judgement. -1. Evaluate the heaviness and complexity of your scripts (if any) by testing with your browser's JIT compilation disabled.[^11] +1. Evaluate the heaviness and complexity of your scripts (if any) by testing with your browser's JIT compilation disabled.[^12] 2. Test using the Tor Browser's safest security level enabled (disables JS and other features). 3. Load just the HTML. No CSS, no images, etc. Try loading without inline CSS as well for good measure. 4. Print out the site in black-and-white, preferably with a simple laser printer. @@ -1012,10 +1037,11 @@ These tests begin reasonably, but gradually grow absurd. Once again, use your ju 10. Read the (prettified and indented) HTML source itself and parse it with your brain. See if anything seems illogical or unnecessary. Imagine giving someone a printout of your page's `` along with a whiteboard. If they have a basic knowledge of HTML tags, would they be able to draw something resembling your website? 11. Test with unorthodox graphical browser engines, like NetSurf, Servo, or the Serenity OS browser. 12. Try printing out your page in black-and-white from an unorthodox graphical browser. -13. Test on something ridiculous: try your old e-reader's embedded browser, combine an HTML-to-EPUB converter and an EPUB-to-PDF converter, or stack multiple article-extraction utilities on top of each other. Be creative and enjoy breaking your site. When something breaks, examine the breakage and see if you can fix it by simplifying your page. -14. Build a time machine. Travel decades--or perhaps centuries--into the future. Keep going forward until the WWW is breathing its last breath. Test your site on future browsers. Figuring out how to transfer your files onto their computers might take some time, but you have a time machine so that shouldn't be too hard. When you finish, go back in time to [meet Benjamin Franklin](https://xkcd.com/567/). +13. Download your webpage and test how multiple word processors render and generate PDFs from it.[^13] +14. Combine conversion tools. Combine an HTML-to-EPUB converter and an EPUB-to-PDF converter, or stack multiple article-extraction utilities on top of each other. Be creative and enjoy breaking your site. When something breaks, examine the breakage and see if it's caused by an issue in your markup, or a CSS feature with an equivalent alternative. +15. Build a time machine. Travel decades--or perhaps centuries--into the future. Keep going forward until the WWW is breathing its last breath. Test your site on future browsers. Figuring out how to transfer your files onto their computers might take some time, but you have a time machine so that shouldn't be too hard. When you finish, go back in time to [meet Benjamin Franklin](https://xkcd.com/567/). -I'm still on step 13, trying to find new ways to break this page. If you come up with a new test, please [share it](mailto:~seirdy/seirdy.one-comments@lists.sr.ht). +I'm still on step 14, trying to find new ways to break this page. If you come up with a new test, please [share it](mailto:~seirdy/seirdy.one-comments@lists.sr.ht). Future updates -------------- @@ -1033,10 +1059,11 @@ This article is, and will probably always be, an ongoing work-in-progress. Some * How to avoid relying too much on formatting, for user agents that display unformatted text (e.g. textual feed readers like Newsboat) * Elaboration on how authors should delegate much of their formatting to the user agent, and how CSS resets are a symptom of a failure to do so. * Keyboard-driven browsers and extensions. Qutebrowser, Luakit, visurf, Tridactyl, etc. -* Ways to support non-mainstream browsers by supporting subsets of specifications and using progressive enhancement. +* Ways to support non-mainstream and older browsers by supporting subsets of specifications and using progressive enhancement. * Avoiding `_blank` targets in URLs unless absolutely necessary. * Ways to improve comprehension by readers who struggle to understand non-literal language (certain manifestations of cognitive disabilities, non-native speakers unfamiliar with idioms, etc.). I might wait until the WAI [Personalization Help and Support 1.0](https://w3c.github.io/personalization-semantics/help/index.html) draft specification matures and its vocabularies gain adoption before going in depth. * Other accessible writing tips, maybe after I get a copy of {{}} by {{. A relevant excerpt on writing accessibly is [on A List Apart](https://alistapart.com/article/standards-for-writing-accessibly/). +* Rules for descriptive link text, for screen reader navigation and for user-agents that display links as footnotes (e.g. some textual browsers with the `dump` flag). Conclusion ---------- @@ -1052,6 +1079,7 @@ There are so many ways to read a page; authors typically cater only to the mains * Unreliable, lossy connections * Metered connections * Hostile networks +* Using in-page search * Downloading offline copies * Very narrow viewports (much narrower than a phablet) * Mobile devices in landscape mode @@ -1142,18 +1170,24 @@ A special thanks goes out to GothAlice for the questions she answered in `#webde [^6]: Ironically, that page doesn't load the main text without JavaScript despite citing a JavaScript requirement as a downside. If you can't load the page, the same reasons are [outlined here](https://addyosmani.com/blog/infinite-scroll-without-layout-shifts/) in the "Accessibility concerns for infinite scroll" section. -[^7]: Iterating through a list of font names to see if each one is available on a user's system is a slow but effective way to determine installed fonts without being granted permission to use the Font Access API. [BrowserLeaks has a demo](https://browserleaks.com/fonts) of this approach. Warning: the page might hog your CPU for a while. +[^7]: Firefox users [can enable "find as you type"](https://website-archive.mozilla.org/www.mozilla.org/access/access/type-ahead/) by toggling the `accessibility.typeaheadfind` preference in `about:config`. Chromium (and derivatives) users can [install an extension](https://github.com/Foxy/chrome-type-ahead); note that it requires full-page access and performs script injection to work. -[^8]: Decoration is more than cosmetic. The [color overrides and accessibility](#color-overrides-and-accessibility) sub-section describes how some decorations, like borders, improve accessibility. +[^8]: Iterating through a list of font names to see if each one is available on a user's system is a slow but effective way to determine installed fonts without being granted permission to use the Font Access API. [BrowserLeaks has a demo](https://browserleaks.com/fonts) of this approach. Warning: the page might hog your CPU for a while. -[^9]: {{}} only renders invisible text without JavaScript. You can use a textual browser, screen reader, copy-paste the page contents elsewhere, use a reader-mode implementation, or "view source" to read it without enabling scripts. All of these options will ironically override the carefully-crafted typography of this website about typography. +[^9]: Decoration is more than cosmetic. The [color overrides and accessibility](#color-overrides-and-accessibility) sub-section describes how some decorations, like borders, improve accessibility. + +[^10]: {{}} only renders invisible text without JavaScript. You can use a textual browser, screen reader, copy-paste the page contents elsewhere, use a reader-mode implementation, or "view source" to read it without enabling scripts. All of these options will ironically override the carefully-crafted typography of this website about typography. I find Practical Typography quite useful for printed works, and incorporated a more moderate version of its advice on soft-hyphens into this page. With a few such exceptions, I generally find it to be poor advice for Web content. -[^10]: libavif links against libaom, librav1e, and/or libsvtav1 to perform AVIF encoding and decoding. libaom is best for this use-case, particularly since libaom can link against libjxl to use its Butteraugli distortion metric. This lets libaom optimize the perceptual quality of lossy encodes much more accurately. +[^11]: libavif links against libaom, librav1e, and/or libsvtav1 to perform AVIF encoding and decoding. libaom is best for this use-case, particularly since libaom can link against libjxl to use its Butteraugli distortion metric. This lets libaom optimize the perceptual quality of lossy encodes much more accurately. -[^11]:

Consider disabling the JIT for your normal browsing too; doing so removes whole classes of vulnera­bilities. In Firefox, navigate to about:config and toggle some flags under javascript.options.

Code snippet: Firefox prefs to turn off JIT compilation
javascript.options.ion
javascript.options.baselinejit
javascript.options.native_regexp
javascript.options.asmjs
javascript.options.wasm

+[^12]:

Consider disabling the JIT for your normal browsing too; doing so removes whole classes of vulnera­bilities. In Firefox, navigate to about:config and toggle some flags under javascript.options.

Code snippet: Firefox prefs to turn off JIT compilation
javascript.options.ion
javascript.options.baselinejit
javascript.options.native_regexp
javascript.options.asmjs
javascript.options.wasm

In Chromium and derivatives, run the browser with `--js-flags='--jitless'`; in the Tor Browser, set the security level to "Safer". +[^13]: Libreoffice can also render HTML but has extremely limited support for CSS. OnlyOffice seems to work best, but doesn't load images. If your page is CSS-optional, it should look fine in both. + + Fun fact: Microsoft Outlook renders HTML email with Microsoft Word's proprietary HTML engine. +