would allow developers to change the style declarations of an HTML element by means of JavaScript. Even better, through the use of "layers," elements on the page could be precisely positioned in the browser window using absolute or relative positioning properties. As part of this transition, browsers scrambled to support what was touted as the next "big thing" in web development. As a result, the two major browsers (Netscape and Internet Explorer) ended up supporting very different extensions to the original specification. For instance, the HTML 4.0 specification brought about two tags used to generate and work with layers: the <div> and <span> tags. Although Internet Explorer supported these tags, Netscape 4.0 didn't (in terms of creating layers), instead opting for the proprietary <layer> and <ilayer> tags. To make a long story short, the dust settled, and a major shift in the browser industry saw users preferring Internet Explorer over Netscape version browsers. The web development trend also moved to support the more popular and much more flexible <div> and <span> tags. Newer versions of Netscape, Firefox, and Internet Explorer now fully support the use of <div> and <span> tags while the <layer> and <ilayer> tags have since become deprecated. In fact, Dreamweaver doesn't even support the use of <layer> and <ilayer> tags but creates layers using the <div> or <span> tag. NOTE Although Dreamweaver no longer supports the <layer> and <ilayer> tags in its visual environment, that doesn't mean that you can't use these tags. If you're adamant about supporting older versions of the Netscape browser (maybe it's the browser of choice for your organization), you can still find the tags in the code hints menu in Code view. What this means is that if you plan on supporting older versions of Netscape and you must use layers in your site, you'll end up coding everything by hand.   In short, you must be aware of your target audience. If your organization is structured such that your livelihood depends on your next online sale, tables are probably your best bet because they are supported by a much greater array of browsers. If, however, you've developed a new media site to market development services, you might opt for a more standards-compliant alternative in layers to impress and show off design and development capabilities. Be aware though, that if the end user is viewing your site with a web browser that is not compatible with layers written using the <div> or <span> tags, the result will be detrimental to the look of the site, as you saw in Figure 11.2. In the end, it's crucial to be aware of your target audience when using layers in your site.           Working with Layers Now that you have a formal understanding of the power layers expose, let's actually insert and work with them in Dreamweaver. In the following sections, you'll learn about the various techniques for inserting layers, modifying layer properties through the Properties Inspector and the Layers panel, building a table-less web page, and using behaviors to facilitate interaction between the user and layers in the page. To begin working with the examples in this chapter, you'll need to download the support files online. As you have done for the rest of the chapters in this book, you can work with the examples in this chapter by downloading the files