Access - by Design » web 2.0

FREE Access Audits!

jess — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 20:17:04 +0000

To mark the festive season we are giving away a FREE access audit – normally worth £50!

We don’t mean that will pop your website url into some random, automated accessibility test and provide you with a simultaneously vague, yet cryptic list concerning such oddities as mark-up and user-agents. We mean that you website will be tested by (gasp) a REAL person who then provide you with simple and effective ways to improve any problem areas your site may have.

This is offer is NOT for Access-by Design clients (who ought to already be pretty accessible unless our company needs a serious name change) but for ANY businesses and individual with a website. We are not offering this to filch other designers clients, get you onto our mailing list or find some dodgy way of making you pay us some money for ‘extras’. This is something we do all year round (usually for £50) but if you have read anything on this website, you will know that we care and hope for a FULLY ACCESSIBLE internet one day. This little gift might help a few more website do that…

We GUARANTEE we can improve accessibility on your website!

Our Accessibility audits;

Are quality assured by trained, certified professionals.
follow their code(s) of conduct set out by The Guild of Accessible Web Designers to whom Access – By Design are proud to belong
follow stringent worldwide accessibility guidelines and international web standards, many of which have been in place for over eight years .
use some automated testing but are primarily manual checks ALWAYS carried out by an real person as auditor.
Audits are either carried out by or secondarily checked by a REAL disabled person who either uses assistive technologies to view the website or who have a disability that significantly affects their use of computers and browsing the internet

This audit is often all a small to medium website needs to significantly improve the access on their website.
The audit is usually up to 500 words which outlines the major areas with accessibility issues and also your accessibility strengths.
Unlike most audits we also look at your website capability to perform on the newest technologies such as PDAs, mobile phones and internet enabled TV and Games Consoles.
These Overview Audits are created for you to pass on to your web designer or implement yourself.

PLEASE NOTE:

We do not make any changes to your website for you.
Please advise us whether the improvements will be carried out by a trained web practitioner or a talented amateur web designer so that the wording of the audit can be delivered appropriately.

This offer is only valid up until 31st December 2009! Contact us today on 01243 514454.

More details about our accessibility audits can be found via this link →

Getting more business from your website

jess — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:38:22 +0000

Today, Clive the Director of Access-by Design, was pleased to be able to address the business community in Chichester at the ‘Business Breakfast’ at Chichester College of Technology on the subject of ‘Getting more business from your Website – Website problems and how to resolve them.’

The presentation covered the four primary website problems businesses identify as the most critcial;

My website content is out of date…
My website is nowhere on Google…
My website doesn’t always work…
My products/services don’t sell online…

We have added the Powerpoint presentation here which offers help and solutions to these problems – please see the notes for more information. We can also provide this information in audio format on request.

If you have any problems with your website – why not call us today to see if we can advise you. We also offer for accessibility audits will REAL help and advice to make you website more accessible and ‘disability friendly’. Contact us on 01243 514454.

Plain Text Transcript for Access-by Design Presentation

jess — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:12:28 +0000

The following is a transcript from the Access – by design presentation ‘Getting more business from your Website – Website problems and how to resolve them.’

Getting more business from your Website.

Website problems and how to resolve them.

Common Problems 1- 4

My website content is out of date…
My website is no-where on Google…
My website doesn’t always work…
My products/services don’t sell online…

These are the four main problems identified by the business community that effect the performance, capability and effectiveness of their website.

Problem #1: My website content is out of date.

If your website is out of date – find a way of editing SOMETHING.

Ideally, you would have a dynamic website that you could edit yourself, but if not there are other ways of adding new content – even if you are not ‘allowed’ to make changes to your website yourself.

Get a blog – there are lots of free blogging portals that can be added (almost) seamlessly to any website so you can add news and events yourself.
Use social networking. All sites such as facebook, twitter and myspace allow you to make ‘badges’ so people can visit your page and talk to you.
Use online image portals such as flicker or video such as youtube. All can be added as links or attachments to your website.
Add testimonials – add via a blog, mailinglist or free guestbook. People buy services from business they trust.
There are many newsletters and/or mailing lists available (often free) to keep clients up-to-date with products and services. You can refer to your website via links to highlight key areas/products.

Dos & Don’ts when using additional features such as social networking and free are:

Keep it Professional. Only use a personal blog if your personal activities are relevant to your business – you have a reputation to maintain which can be shattered by a misguided ‘joke’ posted by a ‘friend’. Also remember that most social networking site carry adverts – some may directly contradict your company ethos or even be by your competitors!
Keep it Focused. You might well ‘be’ your business but your customer will probably still not want to see pictures of your last holiday or read ‘funny’ comments left by your friends.
Think about Longevity. Nothing looks worse than an out of date news page or blog. Only start something if you KNOW you have the time to keep it going.

Problem #2 My website is no-where on Google.

People tend to forget that Google is a business too and it wants to look GOOD. Any search engine is only as good as its results. It tailors its own search index criteria too look for websites that will show how effective IT is as a search engine. If you don’t give it want it needs – you won’t make the front page. Google looks for four main aspects to a website. Presently these are:

relevancy
traffic
activity
and classification.

So – why SHOULD Google visit your website? Give it a reason!

Reason #1) You have added a new entry to your blog.

Every time you add a blog entry Google revisits your website (providing it has been set up correctly, of course).
Blogs talk about your business in a way that can be clearly identified as relevant.
Blogs create activity and traffic.

Reason #2) Your RSS Feeds.

RSS feeds show Google your website updates regularly.
RSS feeds help contextualise your business within a global/national market.
RSS create activity, traffic and classification.

Reason #3) Google sees that people are using your links as a general resource.

Links create communities and customers.
Well selected links classify and legitimize you by contextualisation and association.
Links create activity and traffic.

Reason #4)

Google identifies your site as have interesting, well labelled images.

Images have the same properties as textual content (Only if ‘alt’ tag is used).
Images classify and contextualise by descriptions.
Images can be ‘tagged’ which create relevancy and are independently searchable.

Google Dos and Don’ts are;

1) Keep Professional.

Don’t use methods such as ‘squeeze’ pages, javascript redirects to ‘bump up’ your hits, auto refreshing pages, multiple ‘copy and paste’ for extra content or spam people with ‘news’ emails or you WILL be marked down by Google.

2) Keep Focused.

If you use Adsense, make sure you choose adverts that are relevant to you.
Don’t use single words as meta tags. Think about relevant phrases instead.
Don’t overuse keywords/phrases. or you WILL be marked down by Google.

3) Think about Longevity.

Do check links regularly as websites change and delete pages all the time,
check RSS feeds are working regularly
and don’t take on a Blog if you can’t keep it up-to-date or you WILL be marked down by Google.

Problem #3 My website doesn’t always work.

Problems with websites are often caused by incompatibility.

Not only are there lots of internet browsers now – there are lots of versions too.

Most websites are only designed to work on one version of Internet Explorer – but there a 3 versions in high use in the UK and they are very different. Other popular browsers in common use are;

Safari
(Mozilla) Firefox
Google Chrome
Opera
Flock (watch out for that last one as it is created for social networking addicts and set to be a big hit.).

There are usually around 3 versions of each browser in use at any one time. Are you sure your website works on these? This chart usually makes businesses scared.

Be VERY scared!

The following is a list of browsers/internet ready devices that are in common use in the UK.

Web Browsers:

Internet Explorer 6-8.
Mozilla Firefox (3 versions)
Safari (3 versions)
Opera (3 versions)
Google Chrome (Beta).

On mobile devices the most used browsers are;

Windows Mobile
Safari Mobile
Opera (SSR – Small Screen Rendering)
Firefox Mobile (Beta)

plus a range of brand-specific browsers such as;

Polaris
JB5,
BOLT
Blazer
Skyfire.

Monitor screens now range from;

1280 x1024+ / Widescreen – which is the currently the most commonly used monitor size in the UK
1024 x 868+ which has previously been standard screen size across all age groups,
800 x 600 which still covers between 10 and 20% of internet users in the UK and all new Netbooks
640×480 – which is estimated to still effect between 1-5% of UK internet users but vitally, is STILL the default resolution on low-end screens such as those used by patients in hospitals and within the public sector departments.

As well as these screen sizes and resolutions, most mobile web devices display web pages on portrait NOT landscape screens.

Other new considerations include;

Internet enabled HD-TV (often powered by Yahoo)
Internet enabled Sky + boxes
Internet enabled Wii and X-Box 360
Wireless internet enabled games consoles such as Nintendo DS, PSP and Ipod Touch.

(PS there are 40+ other web browsers in common use not mentioned here…)

How to make your website work on everything!

The good news is there is one complete solution.

The best (and possibly, only) way of making your website work on all these browsers and devices is to adopt modern and word wide web standards which cover design and accessibility across all technologies – both now and those that may emerge in the future.

The most well known of these is called WC3 Guidelines (Word Wide Web Consortium) , which in spite of being published over 8 years ago, are still widely ignored.
The second are the WCAG, which are the Word Wide Web Consortium Accessibility Guidelines, which promote web accessibility
Lastly is Web 2.0 – which separates how a website looks from its content, enabling and encouraging worldwide distribution and freedom to access information – whatever you are using to view that information.

Many business (and sadly, even web designers) do that think that the either the demand or need is there to adopt these accessible web design techniques. However, it is precisely these techniques which ALSO allow your website to be viewed all the browsers and platforms we previously listed.

Why limit who can see your websites and buy your products and services simply because your website doesn’t work? Don’t settle for second best – ask your designer to adopt accessible web design techniques.

Problem #4: My Products/Services don’t sell online.

To identify what your products or services are not selling online its often easiest to look at successful e-commerce websites and ask yourself what makes them different to you?

Research has identified four solid facts about successful online shops all have to do with the clients ‘shopping experience’.

1) Clients feel safe and secure.

Research has shown that If a client;

feels they have left the website they were on;
feels that their personal details may be unsafe;
can’t clearly see confirmation of what they have bought (and when it will be delivered BEFORE paying)
can’t easily get help if they get stuck during the shopping or checkout process ;

that they will stop and leave the shop.

2) Clients feel calm and at ease.

If a client feels at all;

unsure
panicked
frustrated due to slowness or complexity of the process

then they will leave the website (even at the very last stage of checkout).

Check your shopping experience from start to finish on a someone else’s unfamiliar computer – would YOU buy from you?

3) Client can see clearly what they are buying.

Images on many web shops are terrible!

Look at eBay to see images by the most popular sellers.
Look at the ‘big boys’ shops and how easy the image options they offer are.
Contact your manufacturer – most will provide high quality images free for web distribution.

4) Clients feel they have options.

Successful online shops usually have most(if not all) of the following options:

visible contact information;
an FAQ or Help page;
optional telephone payment;
one-click buying option;
optional account sign-up;
instant email confirmation and shipping details;
instant, accurate stock information;
pictures of their products IN the shopping cart;
multiple shipping/Postage options.

Check your shop site and make sure you follow these examples of good practice.

In conclusion.

To resolve your website problems take the following action:

Help clients FIND you
Make clients feel WELCOME
Make clients feel SAFE
Make clients feel INTERESTED
PROVIDE clients with the ability to choose you and your services.

For any help and advice with what you have read here, please contact Clive Loseby on 01243 514454

©Access-byDesign 2009

Using H2 elements – Accessibility Tips

jess — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:26:52 +0000

The most constant (and infuriating mistake) for many users who rely on mark-up for accessibility is the common practice by designers of using multiple h2 elements.

In this article the <> around the mark up has been removed so it does not get applied to the text.

Although, with more designers adopting Web 2.0 principles, the idea that a document structure only has one main heading h1 has ‘sunk in’ (with a co-sponsoring dramatic drop in designers using h1 purely to change the text size) h2 elements are still used, even on the most accessible of pages, as general and multiple mark-up to indicate not a second heading but any subheadings on the page or to simply make a title bigger. A webpage with several divided areas might have several h2 elements as a title.

Quite simply, this is a basic misunderstanding between the structural mark-up and semantics. A second heading (mark-up) is the second heading of the document content e.g:

h1 A New Look at Web Accessibility /h1
h2 How correct use of mark-up aids understanding of content. /h2

Remind yourself of why Web 2.0 is important by watching the video below:

[youtube]6gmP4nk0EOE[/youtube]

Instead Most designers are using h2 as general ”secondary” heading e.g.

h1 This Look at Common Web Design /h1

h2 The Use of Html/h2
p Some writing on html /p
h2 The Advantages of PHP /h2
p Some Writing on php /p
h2 Accessibility and the use of Headings /h2
p Some writing on this subject/p

If it is used multiply on a page an h2 becomes simply a secondary heading or a subheading – all equal. This confuses the user whose browser of assistive technology uses mark-up to aid document comprehension. These elements become irrelevant and the user is unable to gain any indication or item priority or document structure or navigation from their use. It is also confusing for the designer. If the all h2 are equal, where and why do we use h3 or h4..?

To keep a document structure clean and its visual design separate use h2 only if it really is a second heading. For lots of secondary headings (i.e separate titles to areas) use other methods mainly, CSS colour, size or capitalisation and hidden navigational aids or (where accurate and appropriate) the title=”" tag.

A well-worded, textual title or CSS hidden navigational element used to identify page areas and navigation can be invaluable to everyone from those using screen-readers or even those using mobile phone that have a non-standard mobile browser.

Web 2.0 Video

jess — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 09:56:05 +0000

[youtube]s3fNmmlU7GI[/youtube]

Video by Mike Wesch
Please press the play icon to start the video
This Video has an audio track
Please follow this link for a complete transcript of the audio on this video

Web 2.0 Video – Full Transcript

clive — Sun, 25 May 2008 13:28:56 +0000

This is a full transcript created by Access- by design as an alternative for “Web 2.0 -the net is changing” video by Mike Wesch.

Description of movement and action is described in square brackets []
Main content text is shown in speech marksn “”

[Video starts – music]

[A pencil writes the words “text is linear”]
[Squeezes in the letters 'un' to read]

“Text in unlinear”

[Writes underneath]

“Said to be”

[Adds another word so it reads]

“often said to be”

[erases words underneath and writes]

”when written on paper”

[erases everything]
[typing begins]

”Digital text is different”

[the word ‘different’ is highlighted and deleted and replaced with]

“more flexible”

[the words “more flexible” are deleted and replaced with]

“movable”

[text moves left]
[the word “movable” is deleted and the text now reads]

“Digital text is above all… hyper.”

[the word “hyper is selected and moved so it now reads]

”Digital hypertext is above all”

[The word "digital" is deleted, and “hyper" is reselected and moved so it reads]

“hypertext is above all”

[The words “is above all” is deleted and replaced with]

“hypertext can link”

[The word] “link” [becomes into a blue, underlined web hyperlink]

[The word “link” is selected” and we are taken to another “page” with the word] “here” [also a hyperlink]

[The word “here” is selected and we are taken to another “page” with the word ]“here” [again in a different position and italicised – also a hyperlink]

[the word “here” is selected and we are taken to another “page” with the words] “or here” [also a hyperlink]

[the words “or here” are selected and we are taken to another “page” with the words] “virtually anywhere” [also a hyperlink]

[the words “virtually anywhere” are selected and we are taken to another “page” with the words] “anywhere virtually” [also a hyperlink]

[the words “anywhere virtually” are selected and we are taken to another “page” with the words] “anywhere virtual” [also a hyperlink]

[We are shown an “old style” Yahoo search engine page with a button that reads]

“take me back”

[The button is selected by the mouse icon]
[We are shown a web archive. The mouse brings up an option menu and highlights]

“View Source”

[We are shown the source code of a webpage. A new line of text appears at the top of the page that reads]

“Most early websites were written in HTML”