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Free! - The secret benefit of accessibility part 1: Increased usability
Web accessibility has so many benefits that I really do wonder why such a large number of websites have such diabolically bad accessibility. One of the main benefits is increased usability, which according to usability guru, Jakob Nielson, can increase the sales/conversion rate of a website by 100% and traffic by 150%.
At which point you must surely be asking, “So if I make my website accessible its usability will increase and I'll make more money out of it?”. Well, not quite. An accessible website is not automatically more usable but there are many areas of overlap:
1. Descriptive link text
Visually impaired web users can scan web pages by tabbing from link to link and listening to the content of the link text. As such, the link text in an accessible website must always be descriptive of its destination.
Equally, regularly sighted web users don't read web pages word-for-word, but scan them looking for the information they're after.
Link text such as 'Click here' has poor accessibility and usability as both regularly sighted and visually impaired web users scanning the paragraph will take no meaning from this link text by itself. Link text that effectively describes its destination is far easier to scan and the destination of the link can be understood without having to read its surrounding words.
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Design Psychology: Hoax or Hot Stuff?
Every few years a new trend floats through design markets. These changes usually focus on form and/or function, and it seems that audiences (and many designers) are swept along with the tide without means to contradict or question the outcome. The latest buzz phrase, “design psychology,” began in the architectural design market a few years ago, and now you can partake in courses on this subject at many colleges. Before you plunk down hard-earned cash to learn more about how psychology affects the success of your Web design (or any other design), learn first what this term means to you and your work. Through the following information and links to other sites, I hope to show you how to spot research hoaxes (or poor studies) and how to recognize hot information that will help you succeed with your online endeavors.
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Free! - Making accessible forms part 2
As outlined in part 1 of this article, forms are one of the most crucial parts of your website. They're used to complete important tasks such as buying products and contacting you so their accessibility is crucial. This second part of our two-part article outlines some more ways to optimise the accessibility of your forms.
Read MoreXMLHttpRequest
If you've been using the web of late you'll have noticed some funky things being done with client side HTML that pulls data from a server without the need to refresh the page. Such techniques are used in pages like Google's Suggest, (www.google.com/webhp?complete=1&hl=en) Maps (maps.google.com/)and Gmail (www.gmail.com), along with a number of other applications from web professionals trying out the technology. It's similar to how Flash can pull XML data and utilise it, but using plain old HTML and JavaScript.In this tutorial we're going to look at the basics of how this is done using XMLHttpRequest, and show a simple application you can put it to.
To use this tutorial you'll need an understanding of JavaScript and basic XML and PHP, if you're only familiar with server behaviors the tutorial is probably a bit advanced for you. I've tried to keep the example as un-cluttered as possible to focus on the core idea behind the technology.
How it works
Normally when you request a web page, your browser sends a request for the page and then the page is returned. The browser only interacts with the server at the page request, so our only way to get an update to the page based on user data is to request a new one or use a plug-in like Flash or Java.
XMLHttpRequest allows us to request additional data from the server via JavaScript. A series of calls to the XMLHttpRequest object allow us to request small batches of XML data from a server source over a web connection. Because they're small, the technique is ideal for small dynamic updates to page information. For security reasons these requests can only go to the server that the JavaScript was originally downloaded from.
The technology was originally created by Microsoft as an Active X object, but other browsers have followed suit with a native JavaScript Object. This object is actually part of the W3C standard, but is obscurely hidden within the depths of the SVG specification.
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Free! - Making accessible forms part 1
Forms are one of the most crucial parts of your website. Forms are used to:
- Buy products
- Sign up to newsletters
- Contact you
These are the goals of your website! When a web user fills out a form they're doing something you want them to do. Unless you make sure they're accessible to one and all, some of your site visitors may not be able to perform some of these crucial tasks.
The group of users who can experience the most problems with forms is visually impaired users utilizing screen readers. Fear not though, help is at hand. Our two part article will show you how to optimize your forms for accessibility and allow absolutely everyone to use them.
Read MoreAnalog: Access Statistics, Web Traffic Analysis
If you run a web site, chances are you get some sort of logged information on how many visitors you get. Usually this will take the form of a set of text logs that tell you how many times a page was requested. If you're lucky, your web host will provide some form of basic transformation on your text logs to provide more detailed information. But what does it really mean? Is a hit a visitor? Why are you getting so many visitors from Virginia USA?
In this tutorial we'll look at raw web logs and what they mean and more importantly, how to run some analysis software on them and how to interpret the statistics in a meaningful way. We'll focus on using the free Analog software for analysis, and detail some common configurations for it.
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Free! - Build up links to your website
Build up links to your website
There are three main factors that determine the search engine ranking of your website:
- Site optimization
- Site popularity
- Link popularity
Site optimization is about placing your keywords in the right places on your website and making your website accessible to search engines. Please read Search engine optimization: The basics for more about this.
Site popularity can be achieved through online and offline marketing and through link popularity - the more websites that link to you the more people will find your website. For more on online marketing please read this Buying your way in article.
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Free! - Writing effective link text
Writing effective link text
When I was younger I used to love reading choose-your-own adventure books. Instead of reading the book from start to finish I could make the decisions for the main character and ultimately decide the outcome of the book. The Internet is essentially the same, except it's the largest choose-your-own-adventure book ever with literally billions of pages to choose from.
Why is link text so important?
Because of this unique ‘choose-your-own adventure’ way the Internet is structured, it's essential that we can find and understand links quickly. Most pages we visit on the web don't contain the information we're looking for, but merely help us find the page we want. Think about the process you go through to find information on the web:
- You go to a website
- You scan the page looking for a link that might take you where you want to go
- You follow the link and scan this new page looking for the information you're after
- If you can't find what you want you scan through the links on this page and click on one
- And so on until you find what you're looking for (or until you give up!)
I can recall situations where I've spent up to 20 or 30 minutes just searching for something on the Internet, every few seconds clicking on links that I was desperately hoping would take me to the information I was looking for. If I could have easily found those links and quickly understood their destination maybe I wouldn't have had to search for so long.
So, we've established that it's important for link text to be easy to find and understand. So what can you do to achieve this goal? Simple. Follow these six guidelines for how to write effective link text and your site visitors will be able to find what they're looking for quickly and efficiently.
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Free! - Linking out is good!
Linking out is good
Many websites I come across don't have a single link to another website. Ask the webmaster why not, and the answer you get is simple enough: “If I link to other websites people might leave my site.” At this point I break the news that site visitors will leave your site. And there's nothing you can do about this.
Site visitors won't leave your site because you provide links to external sites. They'll leave for one of two reasons:
- They've found what they were looking for and no longer have a reason to stay on your website
- They can't find the information they're looking for and leave to seek it elsewhere
“OK, so site visitors are going to leave my site. But why should I hunt around for websites to link to?” I can think of four reasons why linking out is good for you and will ultimately increase traffic to your website:
Read MoreCultural Contrasts: The Problem between Popular Perception and Reality
Design, Marketing, and Popular Perceptions
A Cultural Dilemma…
When we create a website, especially a site that appeals to or represents a certain culture or ethnic group, do we rely on popular perceptions or “reality”? “Popular perception” is a key phrase that means a wide population either subconsciously or consciously refers to a specific person, place, or thing in a specific venue that is often labelled “traditional.” For instance, if I say, “Native American,” what patterns, textures, and colours pop into your head? Did you think about vivid colours, feathers, fringed leather, moccasins, and beads? Or, is your experience different, and do you visualize other patterns, textures, and colours? The latter response is a “specific” reaction based on personal experience and/or knowledge. Which image is correct (politically and otherwise), and does either response matter when we create a website to help a client market his or her identity?
The following information is based on my personal experiences with the Monacan Indian Nation, a Native American group based in Amherst County, Virginia, USA, near Lynchburg. Only recently, the state of Virginia granted the Monacan Nation official Native status and now the tribe is actively pursuing Federal recognition. In this article, I will share how this little-known Native American nation began to alter their image – both in real life and on the Web – to achieve their goals.
Read MoreCultural Perspectives: The Colour Wheel Goes to the Bahamas
Is the Colour Wheel International?
I often wonder if “colour wheel mentality” is limited to western tradition, or if colour schemes – like McDonalds – have become global and, if so, do they now override cultural traditions in other countries? This week, I’ll share what I learned about certain Caribbean traditions. When we analyze Bahamian colours and symbols, we can deepen our understanding of cultural differences. When we comprehend how and why these colours and symbols are used, we can incorporate this information into our own work when appropriate.
A Geographic Perspective on Colour
Junior Junkanoo Girls in Nassau (photograph by author)
I’m an enthusiastic cheerleader for traditional colour schemes that evolve from the colour wheel, because these schemes work to elicit fairly predictable responses from viewers. But, do these schemes work worldwide? If not, where can we find examples of artistic difference that would help us compare a western artistic heritage against another point of view?
The opportunity to learn answers to the above questions became available to me in December 2004, when I participated in a three-week history/anthropology/archaeology course in New Providence and San Salvador islands in the Bahamas. During this trip, I experienced the Junkanoo, a tradition that incorporates a seeming rainbow of colours in its presentation. Before we look at Junkanoo, however, a little information about Bahamian culture will help us understand how these people use colour and why this usage differs from some western concepts.
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