[MACCAWS] Javascript and standards (RE: recent experience)

I've been avoiding learning Javascript for years now; as a Mac user I 
tend to find moderately complicated JS on the sites I visit 
frequently either excludes me / doesn't work / causes a crash. So I 
use PHP, mostly.

Perhaps it is time I took the plunge - but I'd like to learn 
Standards Javascript and then adapt it as required for the 'real 
world'. I am already familiar with the flavour of ECMA script used in 
Flash.

Javascripting / VB Scripting (sp?) seems to be what so often causes 
large-scale sites to be inaccessible to minority browsers. I'd be 
interested to know MACCAWS group members' opinions on how these sites 
_should_ be coded, and any resources that might help me learn 
Javascript the standards way.

My apologies if this is hopelessly ignorant - as I said my Javascript 
is limited to roll-overs and window.status!

Geoff
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