ascading style sheets were designers have adopted a hybrid
formally introduced by the standard, using CSS for styling
W3C in 1997 and in the nine text but continuing to use nested
years since have made gradual tables to structure their pages.
progress to becoming a web This provides a measure of
standard. Although the W3C stability and control to a web
mandates style sheets instead of designer who does not have the
HTML formatting for internal time or inclination to learn
styles, many web designers have advanced CSS. However, this
been slow to adopt CSS. practice is severely frowned on
by both the W3C and by a small
Graphic designers, especially, but influential group of CSS
have been slow to accept CSS designers who claim that the use
since it does not allow the of nested tables slows down page
complex designs made possible by loading and that CSS can, with
the use of nested tables without proper application, create
concentrated testing and complex designs just as well as
workarounds. That is because CSS nested tables.
is not universally cross-browser
compatible. The first release of However, many freelance web
CSS in 1997 was notorious for designers have found that their
breaking on a variety of clients are unwilling to accept
browsers. The second, and the additional cost and time to
current, release provides more create a completely CSS-based
stability but still causes design. This attitude is
unexpected results on older beginning to change at the
browsers. corporate level, however, as more
and more sites are redesigned
In light of the cross-browser using pure CSS.
difficulties of CSS. many
The continuing acceptance of CSS there are basically two camps of
as a web standard has also been web designers, those who use
hampered by the popularity of Flash and those who don't. The
Macromedia Flash as a design debate over the merits of CSS
tool. Completely vector-based and versus Flash has been known to
imported into a web page by the get quite heated on occasion.
use of a plug-in, Flash offers
enormous flexibility in creating Many have predicted that the
complex navigation systems, a third release of CSS will solve
historically weak point of CSS. many of the problems hampering
Flash also allows a higher level widespread acceptance of CSS as a
of artistic expression than the web standard. However, the third
more limited CSS, which is release has been in development
primarily designed to deliver since 1998 and is not expected to
information. This has created a be completed anytime soon.
divide in the web design
community to the point where
About the Author:
Kadence Buchanan writes articles on many topics including Computers, Science, and Education
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