I think pseudo standards are fine, if it keeps the wheels of creativity turning.

The alternative questions are, what is worth turning into a standard, why, and how do you decide?

I suppose the answer depends what everyone is doing with all this functionality.

Standards are certainly useful for HTML/CSS/basic Javascript, because they are the lowest common denominator, and the subject/content of a large majority of web pages only needs these. Hence a standard maintains accessibility.

Ineed, when I read about purist accessibility approach of HTML and CSS only, wherever possible, then all this functionality would seem almost irrelevant/forbidden? to the large majority of web pages.

However, as soon as you start talking about more complicated functionality, the pool of potential users who actually need/look for this functionality on the client is possibly much reduced, and aslo the range of requirements they may have becomes much more varied/customised, so the need for/possibility of creating/demand for a standard becomes much reduced.

So I would be interested to understand who is using it all and for what purposes: presumably for the large part – HTML editors, presenting tabular data, web page functionality that genuinely benefits from being AJAX driven, or where the whole purpose of the web page is to showcase DHTML functionality (i.e. the actual subject of the web site is its DHTML functionality, in which case accessibility cannot be preserved).

Taking it further, effectively, when you start using all that extra functionality, you are creating mini-applications in the browser environment.

In practice have only found myself using the full range of functionality in web browsers to create myself mini-applications, which are not web pages at all, which I use for work.

Effectively the browser is a rapid application development environment.

If more complex browser based applications are driving the way forward, then clearly there is an infinite range of ways in which applications could be implemented, which will make it almost impossible to dictate a single standard: vis Bindows, XUL, XAML, etc etc.

As long as accessibility for the majority of web pages is maintained, I would suggest then, that it is better to let pseudo standards evolve by themselves, depending on the perceived needs/requirements of the complex user, rather than dictate them. But every so often, consider capturing some of the evolved developments in a standard/update to a standard, if the requirement/use is sufficiently stable.

Julian Turner on September 30th, 2005 at 3:31 am

I don't really think it's a standard if someone just copies someone else's work…

Nicholas C. Zakas on December 14th, 2005 at 8:11 pm