lightbox

I want to use lightbox javascript (Dhakar, 2007) to open images of my designs. Javascript though can be turned off in users browsers and lightbox only works on 'all modern browsers'.

Jakob Nielsen is quite anti javascript: "Avoid JavaScript in your Web pages. No code equals no risk of bugs. If you must use JavaScript, test and debug religiously on all combinations of platforms and browser versions" (Nielsen, 2001). I think I read in our text somewhere that Krug? or was it in accessibility somewhere? that if you use something like java and flash then you should supply an alternative for those with incompatible platforms and browsers etc..

So I intend to use light box but supply an alternative for those that can't or wont be able to open the images that way. All I need to do now is work out how to do that!

I found this information: "Lightbox JS is a great example of what I'm talking about. Reference a JS file, then add rel="lightbox" to any image tags on your page and they get a cool popup effect. If the image tag has a title, it's used in the display. If the browser doesn't support it or the page is being rendered in another format (screenreader, print, etc.), it's a standard image tag so it degrades gracefully. Perfect" (Galloway, 2006).

I disabled java in firefox and noticed image (only) opens in a new page at the lightbox site, so this means images can still be opened for a larger view. I find myself forgetting to press the close button when I open images this way and tend to hit the back button which means I am taken from the site! This could be just me, I forget that you can click anywhere on the page to remove the image! My boyfriend doesn't have this problem though, he is good at closing elements in their correct places, could be just a personal usability issue, however, I will need to test this with users as this lightbox way is not a standard convention with opening images.


Dhakar, L. (2007) Lightbox Version 2.03.4,
Retrieved from: http://www.huddletogether.com/projects/lightbox2/
May 22, 2007.

Galloway, J. (2006) Using markup based javascript effect libraries to make dynamic sites in standards compliant html,
Retrieved from: http://weblogs.asp.net/jgalloway/archive/2006/01/18/435857.aspx
May 22, 2007.

Nielsen, J. (2001) Poor Code Quality Contaminates Users' Conceptual Modes,
Retrieved from: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20011028.html
May 22, 2007.