CSS Hacks are all the rage at the moment. I couldn’t resist putting in my view. This may upset those that love their hacks and collect lists of all the available ones.

Most CSS ‘Hacks’ involve simple punctuation tricks to fool the problematic browser into accepting a different style to the browsers that display correctly.

CSS Hacks work, but there are two main points to consider:

Firstly, the validity of the CSS may be affected. Invalid CSS hardly seems worthwhile as the main aim of CSS layout is to embrace web standards - seperating style from content.

Secondly, designers have performed Hacks to satisfy current and past browsers. They have failed to look in the other direction – will it be futureproof? With the launch of the next version of Internet Explorer this autumn (and many more to follow), one has to wonder whether these Hacks, or quick fixes, will break a site.

In essence, we cannot predict how Hacks will be displayed. Designers might like the idea of work needing to be done in the future on a clients site but if the site breaks the client is unlikely to commission the same team to fix it.

The true skill of a designer is shown when s/he creates a design without Hacks that generally looks great and works. Slight differences have to be expected. Trade-offs have to be made – and it is the decisions made that show a quality end product. So less hacking beacause it’s cool and current and more designing to fit all browsers without hacks. You don’t want your client viewing their site with its pants down, after all.

Share This

↑ Jump up to the comment form

The posts One Year Ago | CSS Hacks, are related to this post.

Or why not take time out to find out about the author of the post.