Selecting a Web Content Management Product
June 20, 2008
So you want to take a look at a real Web Content Management (WCM) product. How do you go about evaluating all the different products and vendors? What should you be looking for in a WCM package? Is it better to build your own, buy or use Open Source?
The best way to answer this question is to compare the products on an apples to apples basis. You can do this objectively by building a product evaluation matrix based upon your specific needs. The first column can list out the functionality categories (e.g. Security). The second column can be the specific needs (e.g. integrates with Active Directory for roles and authorization) under each of the categories. The next columns would be your products, one per column for each product you want to consider. For each product then you would give a rating (1 to 10 scale) on each specific need.
You can then add a column for weighting each specific need, or do this at the topic level. For example, flexible workflow may be much more important to you than your ability to customize the presentation. You can then add some more columns to calculate the weighting against the rating to arrive at a realistic assessment number for each product on each of your organization’s specific needs. Sum these all up per product to arrive at a total product assessment score.
Web Design for the Professional Magician Part I - Selecting the Perfect Domain Name
June 14, 2008
Selecting the Perfect Domain Name
The first issue I have with magician web sites is the improper use of domain names. Examine the following list of URLs and select the most professional one:
- www.freewebspace.com/users/losers/reallosers/Hire-me.html (Example 1)
- http://www.Kooool-Magic-2day4U2.tv/ (Example 2)
- http://www.WebToastyHosty.com/234asdkjfd/No-hire-me.html (Example 3)
- http://www.TikiMagic.com (Example 4)
Example 1
Unfortunately the first site is too common today. It is too long to be remembered. It is also too long to be accurately typed. Who knows what site your potential visitor may end up loading into their browser. More importantly it is unprofessional. With the low cost to register domain names and host web sites, there is no longer any reason to use this type of web site as a professional magician.
These URLs are usually found on business cards with perforations around the edges. If this applies to you, then please listen to this simple advice. Please spend the small amount of money it takes to look like a professional or don’t pretend that you are one. Your potential clients are not impressed. They will not hire you. This advice applies to both the web sites and the business cards. Let’s review the pros and cons.
www.freewebspace.com/users/losers/reallosers/Hire-me.html
Building a Great Intranet Taxonomy
June 9, 2008
While it may seem like a “quick and easy” task, defining the navigation structure and organization of your intranet site will be one of the most challenging tasks you will face in the course of your project. It is also one of the most critical success factors. The site structure, also referred to as the information architecture or taxonomy, is the foundation of your intranet. Creating an effective taxonomy is as much an art as it is a science. Use the wrong terms and your users won’t be able to navigate by intuition. Make your site too deep and they will never find the content they’re looking for.
One common myth is that if you integrate a search engine with your site you don’t need to focus as much on the taxonomy. This is completely false. All web users can be generalized into one of 2 buckets; “browsers” or “searchers”. Searchers, of course, will first use a search engine to locate content while browsers will manually look for the desired information by navigating the taxonomy. This is not to say that browsers never search, or vice versa, it merely suggests that all users have a preference for one method or the other when attempting to locate content. The most efficient site will have a well-organized taxonomy AS WELL AS a good search engine to satisfy both types of users.
Web Accessibility: The Basics
June 2, 2008
What is web accessibility & why is it important?
Web accessibility is about making your website accessible to all Internet users (both disabled and non-disabled), regardless of what browsing technology they’re using. In addition to complying with the law, an accessible website can reap huge benefits on to your website and your business.
Your website must be able to function with all different browsing technologies
The first and perhaps the most important rule of web accessibility. Not everyone is using the latest version of Internet Explorer, with all the plug-ins and programs that you may require them to have for your website. Different browsing technologies, each with their own accessibility requirements, can include:
* Lynx browser - Text-only browser with no support for tables, CSS, images, JavaScript, Flash or audio and video content
* WebTV - 560px in width with horizontal scrolling not available
* Screen reader - Page content read aloud in the order it appears in the HTML document
* Handheld device - Very small screen with limited support for JavaScript and large images
* Screen magnifier - As few as three to four words may be able to appear on the screen at any one time
Benefits Of An Accessible Website: Part 2 - The Business Case
May 25, 2008
The DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) states that service providers must not discriminate against disabled people. A website is regarded as a service and therefore falls under this law, and as such must be made accessible to everyone.
Some organisations are making accessibility improvements to their websites, but many are seemingly not making the accessibility adjustments. Disabled people don’t access their website, they say, so why should they care?
There are, however, two very good reasons as to why businesses should start taking these issues seriously:
1. An accessible website will make you more money 2. An accessible website will save you money
There are seven explanations for this:
1. Your website will be easier to manage
An accessible website separates the content (the words and images that we see on the screen) and presentation (the way that these words and images are laid out) of each page. Each web page has an HTML document that contains the words and images for that page (the content), and calls up a CSS document that includes the presentation information - this CSS document is shared by all the pages on the website.
Benefits Of An Accessible Website: Part 1 - Increase In Reach
May 19, 2008
The DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) states that service providers must not discriminate against disabled people. A website is regarded as a service and therefore falls under this law, and as such must be made accessible to everyone.
Some organisations are making accessibility improvements to their websites, but many are seemingly not making the accessibility adjustments. Disabled people don’t access their website, they say, so why should they care?
Why you should care about disabled Internet users
The statistics on the number of users who may face difficulties due to your website’s accessibility are quite startling:
* There are 8.6 million registered disabled people in the UK - 14% of the population (source: DRC)
* One in 12 men and one in 200 women have some form of colour blindness - 9% of the UK population (source: Institution of Electrical Engineers)
* Two million UK residents have a sight problem - 4% of the population (source: RNIB)
* There are 12 million people aged 60 or over - 21% of the UK population (source: UK government)
Planning A Usable Website: A Three-step Guide
May 14, 2008
A website is like an information flow, with you as the provider and your site visitors as the receivers of the information. If you don’t plan your website with this in mind right from the start, you could find yourself with a brand new website that solves all your immediate needs… but not those of your site visitors.
Clicking away from your website has never been easier for Internet users. There are about 35 million websites competing with yours on the Internet (source: http://www.zooknic.com/Domains/counts.html). Search engine results are becoming better and better and Internet connection speeds faster and faster - finding one of your competitors’ websites is now very quick and very easy.
1. Work out your site visitors’ immediate needs
Your website has to provide information that fulfils the immediate needs of your site visitors. This is the fundamental principle behind usable website design, so let’s repeat it one more time: Your website has to provide information that fulfils the immediate needs of your site visitors.
OK, now we’ve got that straight, we come up against a problem: Your goals for the website are probably different to the immediate needs of your site visitors. Oh dear.
Why a CSS Website Layout Will Make You Money
May 6, 2008
Although CSS layouts have been around for years, they haven’t become so commonplace until recently. This was basically due to limited browser support (especially from Netscape 4) - nowadays though, CSS 2.0 (which introduced positioning) is compatible with over 99% of browsers out there (check out the browser stats over at http://www.thecounter.com/stats/2004/August/browser.php).
So, why should you convert your website from its current table-based layout to a CSS layout? It’ll make you money. Simple really. And here’s four reasons to explain why:
Reduced bandwidth costs
Web pages using CSS for layout tend to have much smaller file sizes than those using tabular layouts. It’s not unusual to see reductions of 50% or more in file size when switching from CSS to tables. Smaller file sizes obviously mean reduced bandwidth costs, which for high traffic sites can mean enormous savings.
The main reason for this dramatic decrease in file size is that presentation information is placed in the external CSS document, called up once when the homepage loads up and then cached (stored) on to the user’s computer. Table layouts on the other hand, place all presentation information inside each HTML, which is then called up and downloaded for every page on the site.
The Secret Benefit Of Accessibility: Part 2 - A Higher Search Engine Ranking
May 2, 2008
An additional benefit of website accessibility is an improved performance in search engines. The more accessible it is to search engines, the more accurately they can predict what the site’s about, and the higher your site will appear in the rankings.
Not all of the accessibility guidelines will help with your search engine rankings, but there are certainly numerous areas of overlap:
1. ALT descriptions assigned to images
Screen readers, used by many visually impaired web users to surf the web, can’t understand images. As such, to ensure accessibility an alternative description needs to be assigned to every image and the screen reader will read out this alternative, or ALT, description.
Like screen readers, search engines can’t understand images either and won’t take any meaning from them. Many search engines can now index ALT text though, so by assigning ALT text search engines will be able to understand all your images.
2. Text displayed through HTML, not images
Text embedded in images appears pixelated, blurry and often impossible to read for users utilising screen magnifiers. From an accessibility point of view this should therefore be avoided.
The Secret Benefit Of Accessibility: Part 1 - Increased Usability
April 24, 2008
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
