FIGURE E

Here is how Blazer displays Yahoo!Finance.

The Hunger Site
The Hunger Site, which, with its sister sites, helps various worthwhile causes based on click-through, has significant use of small images and a simple tabular layout, but by default uses JavaScript to create pop-unders. Figure F shows this site in Internet Explorer.

FIGURE F


The Hunger Site is displayed in Internet Explorer. Roll over picture for a larger image.

EudoraWeb renders this site as you would expect, but the extensive use of images to communicate the causes and to provide sponsors' ad banners comes through confusingly as re-flowed text, shown in Figure G.

FIGURE G

Here is how EudoraWeb displays the Hunger Site.

PocketLink has problems with the Hunger Site. As a result, it could not be rendered or cached, as shown in Figure H.

FIGURE H

PocketLink has a problem with the Hunger Site.

Rendering differences were most apparent between Xiino and Blazer for this site. In Figure I, notice how the navigation tabs for the sister sites are stacked two-by-two.

FIGURE I

This is how Xiino displays the Hunger Site.

Blazer displays the images one below the other. The Blazer documentation specifically discusses this phenomenon. I do not have a preference in approaches, but Blazer's approach results in more legible images. Fortunately, Xiino's support for JavaScript did not result in pop-under display.

Blazer also mangles the animated world map by re-flowing the table that contains the image tiles. This is not an unexpected behavior, but it violates the look and feel of the site. Blazer is shown in Figure J.

FIGURE J

Here is how Blazer displays the Hunger Site.

Dilbert.com
Dilbert.com is the online presence of the popular comic and includes larger images, regional color regions, a tabular layout, and some JavaScript rollover behaviors. Figure K shows the site using Internet Explorer.

FIGURE K


Here's how Dilbert.com looks in Internet Explorer. Roll over picture for a larger image.

The limits of a text-only browser are highlighted by EudoraWeb's handling of Dilbert.com in Figure L. The utility of text ends when the whole point of a site is its image content.

FIGURE L

This is EudoraWeb's display of Dilbert.com.

PocketLink doesn't do much better, despite its image display capability. As the documentation states, background colors are not displayed, as is apparent in Figure M. Also, the comic strip itself was never displayed, leaving only a large white space in the page.

FIGURE M

PocketLink makes a valiant attempt at displaying Dilbert.com.

Xiino provided a better rendering of the site, as shown in Figure N.

FIGURE N

Xiino was better at displaying Dilbert.com.

Blazer also performed better in this regard. However, both browsers scaled the comic strip down to an illegible level. Blazer is shown in Figure O.

FIGURE O

Here, Blazer is displaying Dilbert.com.

The New York Times
The New York Times has a simple color scheme, a large image for The New York Times logo, optimized images for article pictures and navigation grahics, and a relatively sophisticated tabular layout. Figure P shows the Times using Internet Explorer.