Lowest Common Denominator?

My site design is 6 plus years old. It uses just HTML along with some
JavaScript and Perl.

Now it is time for a top to bottom redesign. So I would like to know what's
the lowest common denominator these days (tecnology wise) that I can
incorporate on the client side to assure that 95%+ of the visitors will be
able to view the pages correctly.

We sell software that runs only on Win 32 platforms, so of course, we are
concerned only with users running a browser on Win32.. Most visitors use a
flavor of IE, some Opera and some Netscape.

Can I now incorporate

CSS?

Flash?

into the design?

What about tabbed pages and drop-down menus that DreamWeaver can apparently
create? (I'm think

Any input or suggestions would be very much appreciated.

TIA.

Karl Thompson wrote:

 > Now it is time for a top to bottom redesign. So I would like to know
 > what's the lowest common denominator these days (tecnology wise)

GoogleBot, it can bring you lots of customers, but can't see your images,
doesn't like frames, and skips over flash.

 > that I can incorporate on the client side to assure that 95%+ of the
 > visitors will be able to view the pages correctly.

Oh joy. "Correctly". This word has two meanings on the web, "Identically"
and "Readably".

The former is impossible, the latter is best achieved with progressive
enhancement (start with HTML, then add images, then add CSS, then add
JavaScript, all the while making sure the content is still available in a
sane way if one level of technology is stripped away).

 > Can I now incorporate

 > CSS?

Unless you want a very plain site, you should.

 > Flash?

Depends what you plan to use it for. Its usually inapropriate as a means of
converying information to the user.

 > What about tabbed pages

Nothing wrong with tabbed pages al la:
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://diveintomark.org/archives/2003/03/24/pure_css_tabs.html" target="_blank">http://diveintomark.org/archives/2003/03/24/pure_css_tabs.html</a>

 > and drop-down menus

Are very difficult to implement well, and even when done right can still
cause problems for people with certain disabilities.

Best avoided.

 > that DreamWeaver can apparently create? (I'm think

Dreamweaver's JavaScript generation leaves a lot to be desired (like a
tactical nuke landing on Macromedia HQ).

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David Dorward <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://david.us-lot.org/" target="_blank">http://david.us-lot.org/</a><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->