HTML, XHTML, & CSS All-in-One For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Chapter 5. Improving Usability with jQuery

In This Chapter

• Working with scroll bars

• Building a sorting mechanism

• Managing selectable items

• Using the dialog tool

• Creating an accordion page

• Building a tab-based interface

The jQuery UI adds some really great capabilities to your Web pages. Some of the most interesting tools are widgets, which are user interface elements not supplied in standard HTML. Some of these elements supplement HTML by providing easier input options. For example, it can be quite difficult to get the user to enter a date in a predictable manner. The datepicker widget provides an easy-to-use calendar for picking dates. The interface is easy for the programmer to add and makes it hard for the user to enter the date incorrectly. Another important class of tools provided by the jQuery UI helps manage complex pages by hiding content until it is needed.

Multi-element Designs

Handling page complexity has been a constant issue in Web development. As a page gets longer and more complex, navigating the page becomes more difficult. The early versions of HTML had few solutions to this problem. The use of frames was popular for a time, because it allows the programmer to place navigation information in one frame and content in another. However, frames added additional usability problems and have fallen from favor. Dynamic HTML and AJAX seem like perfect replacement technologies, but they can be difficult to implement, especially in a reliable cross-browser manner.

The jQuery UI provides ...