One of the challenges of writing a book such as this is that the Web is changing rapidly. The World Wide Web of today is not the same as the Web of a few years ago. It certainly will not be the same as the Web (or its successor) of a few years hence. Much of the debate about general Web design (and it applies equally to Web survey design) is based on different assumptions about bandwidth, browser capacity, and so on. At one extreme, we're told to design for the lowest common denominator. In other words, design for what the Web was. This could result in boring, plain HTML, with no interactivity and few visual or other enhancements. At the other extreme there are those who argue one should design for what the Web will be, requiring the latest versions of browsers and plug-ins and the use of high-end systems to bring all the interactivity and enhanced features to the Web experience. Somehow, we have to strike a balance between these two extremes, designing instruments and developing design guidelines that are useful both now and in the future.

My effort to find a comfortable middle ground means that I am writing for today's dominant technologies but trying to focus on general principles rather than specific details, with the intention that they should apply to the future Web as much as to the present.