Web Browsers 2010

February 15th, 2007, Category: Web Usability

Sometimes I find myself having daydreams and awake from them with mathematical equations or genius web design ideas, well this time I awoke with a half baked idea of what browsers could be like in 2010. I know what your thinking “oh god here he goes again”!

Web Browser Power

I do think the more power the browser has the better, I actually think search and contact details should be presented through the browser and I think this has already started to happen with future versions of IE promising built-in site search function, I think this is fab as every user will know exactly how to search every website.

I know this is the thinking behind Micro-formats such as the H-Card, a way of having contact details for each website you visit in one place, The only problem with H-card at this point is that the user has to download a bit of software to enable these contact details to be used, if this was in-built in the browser this could well be a great solution to having centric contact details and other frequently asked details at the click of a button without having to search or even browse through all different websites different form and email link layouts.

Ajax show us the way

Imagine also that browsers will enable the user to drag and drop parts of a website to suit their style of layout, I have seen this affect on some AJAX powered websites and I think the more web browsers behavior replicates the windows working environment the better the usability. On this website you can move the navigational box or the content box around the screen and place them anywhere you like them. Or take this a extra step and have Vista Aero scrolling effect on the different boxes on the website.

Imagine if browsers could take the html and style it the way the user would like it to be styled via an easy theme editor, one click and I could have a Star Wars themed web, another click I’d have a mountain backdrop, though this potentially could put me out of work.

Web Hyperlinks

One thing I think would be very beneficial to users would be a simple button that would actually overwrite all CSS rules and underline all links, whether photos, flash or anything, I know my grandad doesn’t know which parts to click mostly because we all forget one of the fundamentals of the hyperlinked set of documents we call the web is hyperlinks, the first thing we are taught is the underlined blue text, their hyperlinks.

Maybe the W3C should have legal rights to enforce Web browser manufacturers to adopt their guidelines, “you must support CSS3 Mr Gates because its the law”. You must also fix all known browser bugs and not come up with excuses such as legacy users, these legacy users would be better off with the new browser anyway, more secure, better rendering and probably more productive. Thanks for letting me share the dream / rant I can now rest!

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