About the Widget .
Glide Panel Magic is a PVII Widget that lets you present some or all of your Web pagecontent in a logically structured, engaging, and compact format.You can, for instance, display product facts, multi-part forms,or multi-step tutorials, in logical chunks—and in a unique andvisually engaging way. The Glide Panel Magic navigation barquickly identifies major sections and minimizes page scrollingby keeping more information above the fold.
Your information is presented in a search engine-friendly,standards-based (x)html structure that's accessible to all usersat all times, even when JavaScript is not available.Navigation links are keyboard accessible and act as ordinarynamed anchors when JavaScript is not available,to deliver users straight to the relevant content.
Source: Project Seven Web Site . External Link .
Code Generation Performance of the Widget .
The Glide Panel Magic widget renders flawlessly in anyWeb content page regardless of MIME content type or DTD.It conforms to full W3C standards based upon the contentpage's DTD.
The CSS created by the extension and for the widget conforms to fullW3C CSS standards and validates, accordingly.
Since the widget's JavaScript produces content for eitherthe
text/html
or
application/xhtml+xml
MIME content type based upon the DTD of the content page,Glide Panel Magic performs flawlessly within ASP.NET code andis rendered
XHTML
compliant by the .NET frameworkfor browsers that support true
XHTML
.
Disclaimer .
This is an evaluation of a beta of the Glide Panel Magicwidget by Project Seven. This testing is for content generation,standards compliance and accessibility compliance, only.
The widget is supplied as an Adobe Dreamweaver extension.Performance of the widget within Dreamweaver and its contentdevelopment environment are beyond the scope of this test.
HTTP Header .
Major browsers include development tool add–ons thatallow views of various aspects of the Web page's DOM . A view of this Webpage's HTTP Header information is shown in the image in theleft sidebar.
The pertinent information of this image is that it showsthis specific page is delivered and parsed by the browserwith a MIME content–type of
text/html
.
The W3C Validation Service can be used for further verification of thecontent–type [ EXT ] that is delivered to the Web browser.
Summary .
The Project Seven Glide Panel Magic widget meets anylevel of Web standards and best practice technicalspecification and consideration.
Its CSS based design is highly configurable that enablesthe widget to accommodate any sound HTML design. Multiplewidgets can exist on the same content page. The widget's menustructure can be horizontal or vertical and can be locatedseparate from the content that the widget controls. The CSSdegrades gracefully in older browsers. It can be adjustedto accommodate and/or coexist with external style sheets thatcontrol primary content for all devices that support CSSand supported CSS media types.
The JavaScript is clean and succinct. For devices and useragents that do not support JavaScript or for Web visitors whodisable JavaScript, the widget content is highly structuredand usable.
It is how and in the manner which the JavaScript for thiswidget has been coded that allows the JavaScript to impactthe
DOM
ofany modern Web browser regardless of the Web page'srecognized MIME type. It further allows the script to makethe required adjustments to the DOM prior to the Web pagebeing parsed. This allows the content page to successfullyrender within the browser for either of the MIME types of
text/html
or
application/xhtml+xml
.
The DTD sUsed for Tests .
These tests are based upon performance, parsing andrendering of these pages that use the various XHTML DTDs.
Performance is not an issue in pages that do not specifya DTD or use a malformed DTD. Use of such is not recommended.However, when it happens, as in the creation of much of thehobby and do–it–yourself Web content, browserswill render that content in their Quirks mode. The widgetwill function correctly in such environments.
Tests were not necessary for determination of performanceof content with a MIME type of
text/html
thatuse HTML DTDs. It would have been a redundant series of tests.
The Content's Logical Structure and Use of the
tabindex
Element
.
Logical structure of Web content is a critical accessibilityissue. It is also important to efficiency of the Web content'spresentation. With this type of widget, logical tab orderbecomes important particularly when content is present withinthe sidebar.
Logical Structure and Use of the Appropriate
header
Element
.
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Use of the
tabindex
Element and LogicalTab Order
.
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Additional Structure and Content Recommendations .
Additional requirement of use of the
noscript
element and inclusion of a named anchor link add usabilityand accessibility compliance to the content whenever thewidget is used.
Use of the
noscript
Element
.
This widget is dependent upon client–side JavaScript.It is strongly recommended to include a
noscript
element whenever client-side JavaScript is used. This includesits use for improvements and feature additions to usabilityof any Web content.
Use of the Internal Page Link .
Dependent upon the type of content that is used with thiswidget, a named anchor link that will navigate to the beginningof the widget's content is recommended.
As used on this content page wherein information ispresented and folded by the widget, a the named anchor linkof
top of page
is used. Its use adds functionand purpose for the ‘un–folded’ contentwhen the content is presented without use of the widget'sassociated JavaScript.
Accessibility .
Content and developer skill dependent, this widget meetsall levels of the WCAG version 1.0 as published by the W3C As I said,it meets all levels:Priority One, Priority Two andPriority Three. This includes the United States Americanswith Disabilities Act Section 508 Accessibility Guidelines.
This content page has been machine validated against theWCAG 1.0 standard using Hiawatha's AccVerify and Watchfire'sWebXact products. No errors are reported at Priority 1,Priority 2 or Priority 3 levels.
SEO Performance .
The content within the widget is exposed fully to searchengines provided that the specific content is not excluded bytechnique, e.g. robot text file exclusion.
This ability is superior over standard AJAX techniquesthat are used to present content within a collapsible content‘fold’.
Exposing content to search engines and having the contentconveniently available to users via ‘click through’of the search engine link are distinct and separate issues.The Web developer must be cognizant of these issues. Specifictechnique and suggestions are provided within the Application Test content page ofthis Web site and address these issues.
