[Javascript] Modern usage

[paul at juniperwebcraft.com (Paul Novitski)]

At 07:47 AM 4/19/2006, Bill Moseley wrote:
>I'm updating a site and I'm questioning some of the javascript.  I'm
>quite new to javascript, but I'm wondering how much of this might be
>for very old browsers, and how much is still required today.

For details on JavaScript support across browsers I recommend 
Peter-Paul Koch's http://www.quirksmode.org/


>The page also is using ypSlideoutMenu from 2001.  Anyone familiar
>with this?  Would you consider it acceptable javascript?
>
>http://cvs.sourceforge.net/viewcvs.py/ypslideoutmenus/ypSlideOutMenus/ypSlideOutMenus.js?rev=1.2&view=auto
>
>http://ypslideoutmenus.sourceforge.net/demo/index.html

I don't think it makes the grade:

- It requires a mouse and doesn't work from the keyboard.

- It uses inline scripting instead of unobtrusively applying 
behaviors from an external script.

- It mis-uses markup attributes such as title.

- The menus are unstructured clusters of anchors inside divs instead 
of unordered lists.

- There's no structural relationship in the markup between parent 
menu items and their sub-menus.

- When JavaScript isn't running, the individual menu links still work 
but the page styling is very broken.

- The only thing this script provides that isn't possible using CSS 
alone is the sliding effect, which for me is too minor a benefit to 
justify its downsides.

- On the positive side, the script does test for browser capabilities 
and doesn't merely sniff HTTP-REFERER.


Mind you, three or four years ago I loved writing scripts like 
this.  Having had my consciousness raised in the areas of markup 
semantics and accessibility I can look back fondly but I can't go back.

Regards,
Paul