 |
 |
I've been following the interesting thread today - asked a techie friend about Nick's first question. His response: 1 - It's part of the http request header generated by the browser, specifically the user agent field. See http://developer.netscape.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/nsapi/http.htm for the gritty details. The thing is its just a text string and some browsers give the option of pretending to be IE as some websites will reject requests from non ie browsers. I use Mozilla and Konqueror, I make them both identify themselves as IE. He also said that content could be - and was - adjusted based on the above agent string. Jon -----Original Message----- From: Nick Poole [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: 16 June 2004 16:24 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Browsers Dear All, I just wanted to ask some questions relating to this one: 1. How does IE identify itself? Is it information that the browser itself passes on, or do the stats/log files make an intelligent guess based on what kind of software it is? If the latter, is there not scope for different browsers sharing a common engine/origin to be identified as each other? I recall using a 'who am I' script which Identified my browser as Mozilla instead of IE5. How accurate is browser identification anyway? 2. What are the access issues surrounding 'browser sniffing'? Aside from the fact that it seems to be predominantly Javascript-based, are there issues arising from identifying the browser and serving up the content/style accordingly? And to what extent can a combination of XHTML and CSS overcome different browser requirements? 3. What is it that leads to these browser quirks? I have seen information relating to the Document Object Model and how it is handled, but I am not totally sure that I understand how these make one browser any better or worse, particularly in terms of accessibility. Is it possible to design in such a way that the presentation is independent of these quirks? Any answers (very) gratefully received! Nick -----Original Message----- From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Gray, Peter Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2004 2:29 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Launch of www.ingenious.org.uk > > Our stats for www.artandarchitecture.org.uk show that 91.5% > of hits are > > recorded as from IE browsers. > > The stats for http://www.torbytes.co.uk show an average less > than 80% from > IE browsers. > That matches my experience of 80%-ish claiming to be IE. Of course, I can only dream of getting the sort of traffic NMSI gets ;-) > > It should be about standards, not market dominance. Indeed. I was just surprised by the claim of 98% IE. Pete -- Peter M Gray Museums Officer ********************************************************************** This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender and ensure it is deleted and not read copied or disclosed to anyone else. It is your responsibility to scan this email and any attachments for computer viruses or other defects. East Lothian Council do not accept liability for any loss or damage which may result from this email or any files attached. Email is not secure and can be intercepted, corrupted or amended without the knowledge of the sender. East Lothian Council do not accept liability for errors or omissions arising as a result of interrupted or defective transmission. ********************************************************************** ______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System. For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System. For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System. For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email ______________________________________________________________________