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Standards-Supporting Browsers
Browser Specifics
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Standards-Supporting Browsers

• Standards-Supporting Browsers
• What Are the Web Standards?

All browsers have variations in how they implement HTML and CSS standards. We code to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web standards for HTML 4.0.1 Strict instead of the ever changing browsers. The Society for Technical Communication is a W3C member: http://www.w3.org/

As of December 2003, there are at least 251 browser/platform combinations for Web developers and designers to consider. Among the ones that do support the standards, there are varying degrees of compliance to the standards. Therefore, it is important for us to limit the number of browsers that we support. For this reason, we have one style sheet that supports the popular W3C standards-compliant browsers such as Firefox 0.9+, Lynx 2.8.5+, Mozilla 1.8+, Netscape 7+, and Opera 7+ on the Macintosh and Windows platforms; and Safari 1+ and Camino 0.8+ for the Macintosh platform. The IE 5.2 browser for Macintosh and current versions of the IE 6 for Windows browser do not fully comply with the HTML 4.0.1 Strict and CSS level 2 standards and will, therefore, have a few display problems.

If you are not using one of the standards-supporting browsers, our site does not appear as the intended design. However, you are still able to navigate the site and access its content in nonstandards-supporting browsers using the text mode style sheets.

Browser upgrades are FREE and easy to install. Upgrading your browser will enhance your experience with our Web site and with many other sites on the Internet. An upgrade will allow you to use and view Web sites as their design is intended and allow you to benefit from features that are not available to older browsers.

There are some modifications in the style sheet to handle variations from the standards in the IE 6 Windows browser. New releases of existing browsers may alter how they implement the W3C HTML and CSS standards. Let us know what browser and operating system you are using if the browser you are using does support the W3C standards but you landed on this page. Send a message to the .

Browser Specifics

The selection of which browser to use may not be under your control. However, if you do have control over what software you are using, the following browsers support most web standards including CSS, HTML, and XHTML.

Browsers that support CSS2 and HTML 4.0.1 Strict

The following browsers provide full support for CSS2, HTML 4.0.1 Strict, and accessibility / Section 508 features. Some provide partial support for CSS3.

Apple's Safari 1+, 2+ (Mac OS X)
Camino 0.7, 0.8, 0.9, 1+ (Mac OS X)
Firefox 0.8, 0.9, 1+, 2+ (Linux, Macintosh, Windows, and others)
Konqueror (Linux KDE Desktop)
Netscape 7, 8+, 9+ (all platforms)
Mozilla 1.5, 1.6, 1.7+ (all platforms)
Opera 7, 8, 9+ (all platforms)
Galeon (Linux GNOME Desktop)
Lynx 2.8.5+
- See also, the Lynx Viewer, which simulates what Web pages will look like when viewed with Lynx, a text-mode web browser

The following browsers provide partial support for CSS2, HTML 4.0.1 Strict, XHTML, and accessibility / Section 508 features.

Microsoft Internet Explorer v7+ (Windows) [IE7 contains a number of improvements to cascading style sheet (CSS) parsing and rendering over IE6. These improvements are aimed at improving the consistency of how Internet Explorer interprets cascading style sheets as recommended by the W3C in order that developers have a reliable set of functionality on which to rely. IE7 also changed the behavior of overflow to align with the CSS2.1 box model.]

Browsers that support CSS1 and HTML 4.0.1 Transitional

The following browsers provide almost full support for CSS1 and HTML 4.0.1 Transitional with partial support for CSS2.

Microsoft Internet Explorer v6+ (Windows) [if pages specify DTD standards-compliant mode, complies almost fully with CSS1 and a few CSS2 standards; includes proprietary coding for HTML support]
Microsoft Internet Explorer v5.2+ (Macintosh OS X) [supports CSS1 and HTML 4.0.1] – no longer available for download from Microsoft as of 31dec05
Microsoft Internet Explorer v5.2+ (Macintosh OS 9) [supports CSS1 and HTML 4.0.1] – no longer available for download from Microsoft as of 31dec05
Opera v9+ (Windows, Linux, Handheld)

For a complete list of the current browsers that support CSS, see CSS Browsers. This list includes links to download sites for each browser.

What Are the Web Standards?

The Web standards are developed and maintained by the World Wide Web Consortium. The standards ensure that the Web will work better for all users. New browsers and recent updates to most browsers support the W3C standards.

For more information about W3C standards for Accessibility and CSS, see

WDC Exclusives

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