Higher Ed Webs

A Quick Word on User-Interface Design

2005-12-14T18:50:00.000-08:00

Excellent user-interface design isn't that complicated. It is not my intent to take anything away from experts in this field with their HCI, human factors, cognitive psychology, etc. degrees, I simply don't think it takes a PhD to design usable sites and web-based interfaces.

As someone who has evangelized user-centered design and web accessibility good user-interface design has simply been a must. It doesn't matter what functions the web-based service has or how robust the data is if the user can not intuitively use it. Bottom-line: if the user can't use it, it's useless.

Now on the web this become tricky as you have a single user-interface that every end-user group with their individual thought process must use. By simply understanding your users (who they are and what they are there to do) and understanding some basic and fundamental online behaviors patterns and theoretical UI and design principles a sound and usable site design can be obtained. Then by running this design through some usability workshops the subtle nuances should be vetted and a web-UI with strong visual hierarchy and an intuitive navigation system arrived at.

UI Before/After Samples

Data Aggregation for Integration of Web Services

2005-11-25T21:39:00.000-08:00

Web services integration is not about centralizing services. Rather it is about building upon standards and open-source technologies so that businesses and institutes can benefit from web-based services and incur on-going long-term cost-savings.

This approach not only addresses fiscal concerns it also mitigates concerns over ownership of data. By pulling all data from the authoritative database and creating a standardized well architected data warehouse the data can be used and shared by various web-based applications while allowing the ownership and data maintenance to remain distributed.

In addition to developing the standardized data warehouse building on a XSLT/XML framework further allows content to be developed (inputted) once and published everywhere. Not only can the content be called by external company/institute sites managers, who can then apply their own style sheet so that the data appears to be local content, it can by syndicated via RSS and subscribed to by users. Once a RSS/XML feed is established aggregating data for purposes such as an enterprise-wide web portal with single sign-on can be easily facilitated.

The SJSU Approach to Data Warehousing Distributed Databases
for Integration of Web Services

Download Integrated Data Schematic

Podcasting in Higher Education

2005-11-25T21:38:00.000-08:00

from edublogs

It features interviews from Duke University, where the Duke iPod project was launched in 2004 to measure their use in a Higher Ed setting. I began to get excited: an inside view on the Duke project, about which I had heard some negative...

Read more...

University Weblogging: Where, With What System (and How Fast)?

2005-11-25T21:13:00.000-08:00

A post from Spike Hall's RU Weblog [blog]

Wikis as Higher Educational Tools: Some Links and Arguments

2005-11-25T21:12:00.000-08:00

A post from Spike Hall's RU Weblog [blog]

Web Portals and Higher Education

2005-11-25T21:09:00.000-08:00

Another excellent eBook from Educause [www]

Open-Source in Higher Education

2005-11-25T21:05:00.000-08:00

Report on the use of open-source technologies in higher education. [pdf]

Approaching HigherEdWeb

2005-11-24T22:25:00.000-08:00

[taken from my portfolio]

Having performed work for non-profits, student organizations, universities, professional sport teams, politicians and exotic dancers and worked with large design firms such as Razorfish I have refined my workflow process so that it can be used for various clients with numerous stakeholders. I have also had the unique opportunity to see first-hand where lessons learned from one industry can be applied to another.

The ability to amalgamate these lessons and experiences to the tangible benefit of a web project is ultimately enhanced by adhering to a design philosophy that embraces standards such as XHTML, XSLT and XML and building upon open-source solutions. In taking such an approach to designing and developing for the web the final work product is assured to be both sustainable and extensible.

As a university webmaster for two of the larger campuses in the California State University system it has become quite apparent that one can not take lessons learned from e-commerce and web services from the private sector and apply them directly to higher ed. When it comes to web sites for institutes of higher education most of us in this niche of the industry are shooting into the dark. Although we have a good idea of what is needed, how can we be sure that we are on the right track. When you consider the digital divide that exits between university administrators and the millennials (net generation) this question becomes even more daunting. Of course we can look at trends in website development in general and infer where we should go but how smart, in terms of a business model, is this approach?

My primary objective as a web technology strategist is to address not only this technical divide but to also leverage the power of the internet and the benefit of web standards so that ownership can not only remain distributed but so that data can also be used by all while being pulled from the authoritative sources. In addition, integrating web services (this is not the same as centralizing) should allow the institute to streamline business process and customer service while resulting in enterprise-wide cost-savings.

Surprisingly this approach to web-based services is a new model for higher education. Add to this model a user-centered design approach that results in an excellent user-interface and the final product will not only be simple and intuitive to use but will also meet the identified business objectives and exceed overall expectations.

Technology can not be used only as a tool. Rather it needs to be part of our lifestyle. Once we arrive at this point it will no longer be "technology."

My del.icio.us bookmarks

2005-11-14T20:24:00.000-08:00

These are virtually all relevant to higheredwebs http://del.icio.us/nozicka

HighEdWebDev Conference

2005-08-17T11:54:00.000-07:00

I recently came across a conference that appears to be appropriately designed for our specific niche of the websphere. I am planning on attending but was wondering if any one has attended this conference in the past and if so what their thoughts were about it.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This year marks the tenth conference for the WebdevShare Program Committee and the second year WebdevShare and HighEdWeb have worked together to present our new conference, HighEdWebDev. We are proud to present this annual, international conference aimed specifically at higher education Web professionals. Join us November 6 – 9 at the RIT Inn & Conference Center in Rochester, NY.

Conference Website: HighEdWebDevo5

Feature vs. Function

2005-06-09T12:28:00.000-07:00

When it comes to the design of what people use there are many variables that must be considered. If you were to ask some one what they thought were some of the most important things to consider you would get answers like ‘the ability to do this,’ or ‘capable of such-and-such,’ or ‘I want to be able to…’

Often times these are referred to as the “functionality” of the product. However, this is an erroneous label as these are actually “capability features”. One may consider the difference between the two to be purely a matter of semantics but it is much more. The difference between what is a function and what is a feature can even be considered a philosophical debate.

Let’s forego the philosophical aspect at this time and simply consider a couple of scenarios. First, let’s look at the automobile. Specifically, let’s look at an automobiles ability to stop. This feature (the ability to stop) is agreeably important, thus, all automobiles must have this feature or we would all be living in Bedrock stopping our cars like the Flintstones. Now, if we analyze how the braking feature functions this is a completely different set of considerations. Brakes are activated via a pedal. Why? Because, requiring the driving to say, open the glove compartment and depress a red button to stop the car, isn’t that usable. In fact, it’s a liability. A pedal simply makes sense because based on how a driver operates (uses) a car activating the braking mechanism via a pedal requires the least amount of effort (and thought) while providing the greatest amount of functionality (usability).

The second scenario to consider is how a house in constructed. Houses built properly utilize a team of experts. From architects, designers, general contractors, construction workers, plumbers, electricians, painters, landscapers, etc. Why? Because we have evolved into a society of experts and by using a team of experts the sum of their collective knowledge results in a final product that meets all requirements, user desires, legal requirements/regulations, etc. and ultimately exceeds all expectations.

Imagine what would happen if a plumber attempted to perform the work that the electrician should be performing or an architect drew up plans for a construction worker that didn’t meet OSHA standards. The final product would be deficient. Not only would it not meet legal requirements, it would not meet the home owner’s needs and would therefore be unusable.

Features are a product’s capabilities and must meet user requirements, resource limitations and business objectives. Functionality on the other hand, is how these features are actually implemented.

The Web has evolved to a point of maturity where not only are there industry standards (adopted by manufacturers and followed by designers and developers), but there are also specialists – experts in the various areas of web design and development. The presence of specialized roles isn’t really something that resulted from the big bang (and bust) of the web. It isn’t something new. It has been adopted from software engineering.

There is a distinct difference between a designer and a developer as it applies to human-computer interfaces. The developer is the person who codes, they are the programmers. Then there are the designers, the people who make things look pretty. There is also a third role – the information architect. This is the person who must understand end-user behavior patterns and things like usability and accessibility. This is the person who must ensure that a site’s (web application or web-based service) features are as easy to use (function) as possible.

It should not be up to the developer to decide how to implement a feature. This should be defined by the information architect and then built to spec by the developer. It is very easy to see the various sites that run the vast spectrum from designer-built to developer-built. Sites built by a designer tend to be extremely aesthetically pleasing, but lacking in overall features (or the features implemented are not based on direct end-user needs). Sites built by a developer tend to be rich in features, but difficult to use for end-users. Sites built from either end of the continuum are deficient and ultimately unusable.

In comes the information architect. The information architect will take the UI from the designer and review it to ensure that the proper visual hierarchy is obtained, that the design can be implemented (and where modifications need to be made), and that usability and accessibility concerns are addressed. This same person will then work with the developers to spec out how the features will be implemented so that they afford the most functionality.

The design and development process for web-based user interfaces has matured but it is also cyclic in nature. The goal of the initial launch of a web-based service or site is to maximize the amount of time between go-live and the next version. In order to do so all things must be properly considered and industry niche experts properly utilized. By doing so usability and accessibility concerns will be minimized and functionality maximized thereby minimizing the necessity of working on “fixes.”

When decisions need to be made proper time and due diligence should be given to what is in the end-users best interest. Trade-offs in the interest of budgets or resources should never be made at the expense of the end-user. The bottom-line is that if the product doesn’t meet the end-users needs and work in way the end-user expects, it is a failed product. The number of features a product has is ultimately a moot point if the end-user doesn’t, won’t, or can’t use them.

Additionally, if for all intent and purposes said product (that is deficient in usability) is the only one available for users the result will be in elevated costs across the board for the institution. These avoidable costs will come in the way of customer service and support (ie. helpdesk) and in the need to redevelop shortly after launch to address usability issues and product deficiencies. Unfortunately, all too often people don’t take the time to do things properly the first time. In essence it appears that they don’t have the time (resources) to do things right the first time; yet, they always seem to find both when things have to be done a second time.

There are two things that greatly increase the chance of having a successful web-based product to launch. The first is the use of user-profiles. A fictitious (and well-thought out) user profile should be created for each identified end-user segment. These user-profiles will enable the team to ask how said user would use the system rather than asking the team to attempt to conceptualize how they think a user would use it.

Second and probably more important is usability testing. This is not the same as beta testing. Usability testing involves users from the various identified end-user segments and who are not involved with the project. Usability testing should occur at various points during the product development process to ensure that things are being built properly to meet end-user needs. Studies have shown that a single usability test with as few as three users can identify 80% of usability issues.

Frankly, quite often the way that results in the most effort and time from the development and design team will be the solution that works best for the user. In some ways this is simple logic. The more time taken to properly develop and implement functionality the less effort that will be required on the part of the end-user when they actually use the system.

Why XHTML with CSS matters

2005-04-15T22:37:00.000-07:00

From you can sleep when you're dead

The IE/Netscape browser war is over, and most web users are using standards-compliant browsers like Firefox, Safari, and IE 6. The old table-based layout techniques are no longer necessary.

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The Music of Wireframes

2005-04-15T22:32:00.000-07:00

From UXCentric

Think about it. A score isn't music, just as a wireframe isn't a Web page. A score tells the musician what notes to play, when to play them, how to play them. A wireframe tells the project team what content to include, its placement and how it behaves.

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Penn State Adopts WebStandards Policy

2005-04-13T13:09:00.000-07:00

Found on Web Standards Projects

News from Pennsylvania State University, New Web Policy to Affect all of Penn State's Public Web Sites, gives a target date of August 15, 2005 for compliance to standards, guidelines, and accessibility. Major changes to the web policy were the result of consultation with the Faculty Senate, Web developers and designers, and administrators.

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Website redesign blogs: instructive trips to memory lane

2005-04-13T13:07:00.000-07:00

From collegewebeditor.com

As explained in the previous post “Blogging the website redesign,” I really think blogs beat the traditional redesign committee’s status reports and meetings, because they give every stakeholder a chance to look at the design in the context it’s supposed to work - on a computer screen - and to give instant - yet articulated - written feedback.

Cornell.edu Redesign Blog has been doing it very well since July 2004. Started just a few weeks before the launch of the new website design, this blog has kept its promises...

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When a Dean blogs for her students, faculty, staff and alums

2005-04-13T13:05:00.000-07:00

From collegewebeditor.com

While current students’ blogs are used more and more as promotional channels by marketing offices, you (at least, I) wouldn’t think that Deans were the blogging type. Somehow, I thought they just didn’t fit the blogger’s profile.

Well, I was wrong…

The Dean of Park School of Communications at Ithaca College in NY, Dianne Lynch, has been blogging since February 2005.

And, in her blog, “All Things Park - The sort-of official blog of the Park School at Ithaca College,” Dean Lynch uses blogging at its best.

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Higher ed website redesign: why you should build your case

2005-03-30T15:45:00.000-08:00

Found on collegewebeditor.com

People don’t like change – especially on THEIR website.

Although you know it’s time to redesign your old graphic-intensive non-ADA compliant website launched 5 years ago, you’d rather live in fear of being featured on webpagesthatsuck.com than use the “R-word.” In the second part of the series “Why most university websites suck”, posted on her personal blog, Andrea Schwandt-Arbogast, Web Manager for Humboldt State University in Eureka, CA, explains: “the default state of University web sites is conservatism. They get redesigned every five years or so, when they’re at the point that they’re so broken or graphically embarrassing that they are hurting the institution.”

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Pass/Fail: Does Your Website Make the Grade [conference preceedings]

2005-03-29T11:08:00.001-08:00

When it comes to web sites for intitutes of higher education most of use in that niche of the industry are shooting into the dark. Although we have a good idea of what is needed, how can we be sure that we are on the right track. When you consider that digital divide that exits between university web site administrators and the Net Generation this question becomes even more daunting. Of course we can look at trends in website development in general and infer where we should go but how smart, in terms of a business model, is that approach?

Recently I presented at the Community of Academic Technology Staff (CATS) conference in Sacramento, CA. This is an annual conference, which initially targeted staff in the CSU System but has grown to include attendees from across the country. This year marked my sixth year presenting at the conference, which turned eight this year. Altough the conference is titled "academic technology" many of my presentations have been on topic like web accessibility, designing with web standards, and this year on web metrics and analytics.

In terms of measuring the success of a univerity site I spoke about various metrics and measurement tools available. I also spoke about how to design successful sites with measurement in mind. Unless your site is designed with measurement in mind the metrics you use to measure you site may not be as accurate as you hope. Additionally, with the various user-segments of a universiity site how can a single site with a single navigation schema and a single visual layout design truly be effective?

In an earlier post I referred to a book by Pamela Cox-Otto published LRP Publications (not available on Amazon only via the publisher). Get this book, it has all the research findings from the focus groups, surveys, etc. that Dr. Cox-Otto has done specifically in relation to university/college websites.

As for my conference preceedings my presentation slides are available in both ppt and pdf formats.

Access Matters - Seeking Best Practices

2005-03-29T10:55:00.000-08:00

From Access Matters
Found on Web Standards Project

Bob Easton is the man behind Access Matters, a weblog that offers up advice regarding web accessibility and best practises. Quiz items are presented as blog or journal entries and answers by others follow in the comments or replies often offering up additional key information.

Read More...
Visit Access Matters

a good reading list for designers

2005-03-28T14:00:00.000-08:00

Found on suvcon blog on LiveJournal

I came across this list and I have many of these books so I considered it a good enough list worth sharing. I also have a list of my books online. If you're interested it can be found at www.sjsu.edu/webpublishing/docs/booklist.xls. I think it may be missing my latest books on web metrics and analytics, but I may be wrong and they may be included.

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Wild Information: Content in Its Native Environment

2005-03-28T13:43:00.000-08:00

Found on alttags.org

Sometimes it feels like the most neglected aspect of implementing a content management system is . . . the content. Content development and migration pose a variety of challenges, and we’ve’ve written a series of articles discussing these issues. This critical look at preparing content for the web will help you create a plan for implementing a CMS on time and on budget.

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Content Management System 101: how to evaluate a web CMS?

2005-03-28T13:42:00.000-08:00

Found on collegewebeditor.com

Whether you have already crossed that bridge or not, you know that the selection of a web content management system (CMS) is a very big decision to make (or sell to your website stakeholders).

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Plan for the next big thing: trends to watch in higher education

2005-03-28T13:40:00.000-08:00

Found on collegewebeditor.com

Websites are not developed and/or maintained in a vacuum. Because the Web is more flexible and dynamic than traditional communication channels, Website Stakeholders tend to expect quicker responses from their Web services.

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Accessible Folksonomies: Accessibility, Usability and Web Standards

2005-03-19T12:35:00.000-08:00

Folksonomy (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Folksonomy is a neologism for a practice of collaborative categorization using freely chosen keywords. This feature began appearing in a variety of social software in 2004. Some examples of online folksonomies being social bookmarking sites like del.icio.us and Jots (http://jots.com/) which are bookmark sharing sites, Flickr, for photo sharing, 43 Things, for goal sharing, GenieLab and Upto11, for music recommendations and associations, and Tagsurf (http://tagsurf.com/), for tag-based discussions. Gmail's labeling system is somewhat similar to the use of tags, but it is not a folksonomy as users cannot share their categorizations. Folksonomy is not directly related to the concept of faceted classification from library science.

Folksonomy is currently understood somewhat narrowly as "tagging." Social sciences and anthropology have long studied "folk classifications"—how average people (non-experts) classify the world around them.

Found on alt tags
Accessible Folksonomies: Accessibility, Usability and Web Standards

Google Code

2005-03-17T13:49:00.000-08:00

Google has launched Google Code, Google's place for Open Source software.

visit website...

Underused IA tools

2005-03-16T10:55:00.000-08:00

Found on Column Two
From Peter Van Dijck's Guide to Ease

Us IA’s have a lot of tools at our disposal (personas, sitemaps, task analysis, …), most of them taken and adapted from other disciplines. But I have the feeling we’re somehow selective in which tools we appropriate. Here are some tools that we don’t seem to use much, even though they can be extremely useful.

More info...

How to measure the ROI of the college website? Step 2: set up a website dashboard

2005-03-16T10:07:00.000-08:00

Found on collegewebeditor.com

Website development and maintenance cost money. That’s why we are all looking for ways to show how expenses associated to the Website shouldn’t be seen as costs but investments.

Measuring the website ROI (return on investment) is a good way to make this point in your annual website reports.

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Wikis in Higher Ed

2005-03-14T12:17:00.000-08:00

From Weblogg-ed

"I've had wikis on the brain lately (as anyone subscribed to my Furl feed would know.) They were a hot topic at the workshop I did last weekend, and I've been putting together my presentation for CIL this week called 'Wikis @ Your Library' (which, if anyone has any more links to wikis in libraries I'd love to see them.) So this article (via Amy Bowllan) from the Washington Post was pretty interesting and has some relevance."

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The 'How Many Teachers are Blogging' Question

2005-03-14T12:15:00.000-08:00

From Weblogg-ed

So guess what group had the largest representation in the recent Blogads survey of the blogosphere? That's right. Educators were almost 15% of the respondents, beating out computer types by almost over 4%. Which once again begs the question...just how many teachers are there out there blogging their worlds?

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The First and Second Laws of Simplicity

2005-03-11T12:05:00.000-08:00

Found on InfoDesign
From Maeda's SIMPLICITY blog

'(1) A complex system of many functions can be simplified by carefully grouping related functions. (2) The positive emotional response derived from a simplicity experience has less to do with utility, and more to do with saving time.' (John Maeda - Simplicity)"

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Stanford Institute of Design

2005-03-11T11:45:00.000-08:00

A Bold New Design Institute at Stanford

The design institute is intended to advance multidisciplinary innovation, place Stanford at the epicenter of the design world, and strengthen the connection between the university and industry. They call it the d.school.

Visit Stanford's d.school site

Comparing Portals, CMS, and "Nukes"

2005-03-11T11:11:00.000-08:00

Found on Column Two
From CMSWatch - AskTony

A portal generally delivers content so it can be consumed. But portal software packages typically aggregate content and data from a variety of locations, and in many cases, include search and collaboration services as well. A web content management system generally supports the production of content, but some CMS products deliver content as well, which can make them 'portal-like.' This is especially the case in the open-source world, where CMS packages often grew out of dynamic page delivery systems.

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WebDevTips - how to get your site headlines syndicated

2005-03-11T11:08:00.000-08:00

Found on WebDevTips

Have you ever visited sites that have news headlines on them? Have you ever thought 'I have some cool stuff on my site, I wonder how I can get my site listed'?

Well wonder no more :) Basically here's how it works.

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WebDevTips - Making accessible forms part 2

2005-03-11T11:06:00.000-08:00

Found on WebDevTips

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 more...: "

WebDevTips - Making accessible forms part 1

2005-03-11T11:05:00.000-08:00

Found on WebDevTips

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.

Read more...: "

Microsoft Commits to Better Standars Support in Internet Exporer 7

2005-03-11T10:50:00.000-08:00

Found on The Web Standards Project

Lead program manager for IE Chris Wilson has committed to improving standards support in Internet Explorer 7.

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Stylesheets for Handheld Devices

2005-03-10T21:31:00.000-08:00

Found on The Web Standards Project
From CSS-Discuss

This document describes some of the issues concerning the use of CSS for handheld devices (using the media type 'handheld'). See also MediaStylesheets for practical media stylesheet strategies.

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Harvard Rejects Those Who Saw Admissions

2005-03-09T12:54:00.000-08:00

From Excite News: Harvard Rejects Those Who Saw Admissions

Mar 9, 11:39 AM (ET) | By JAY LINDSAY

BOSTON (AP) - His decision came late at night, with his laptop propped in front of him in bed. Instructions on a Web site promised business school applicants like him an early online peek at whether they'd been accepted. Intrigued, he began typing.

A minute later he'd accessed the Harvard Business School's admission site, though all he saw was a blank page. That split-second decision cost the 28-year-old New Yorker a chance to attend the school this year.

Using RSS Enclosures in Schools

2005-03-09T12:36:00.000-08:00

Found on Weblogg-ed

RSS enclosures would make it really easy for teachers to distribute files to their students. A teacher could post lecture notes, multimedia content, or any other kind of electronic document and let each student's RSS reader take care of the rest. Similarly, school principals could use RSS to distribute newsletters or other materials to parents who are subscribed to a school's news feed.

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Class Weblogs Analysis and Reflections

2005-03-09T12:35:00.000-08:00

Found on Weblogg-ed

Bud Gibson at Michigan State pointed me to his analysis of Weblog use in his classes last fall and it has some interesting insights into the dynamics of a blog classroom. What I like is that he shares the struggles and the solutions out in the open so we can all learn from his experience.

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How to measure the ROI of the college website? Step 1: Define Strategic Goals

2005-03-09T12:27:00.000-08:00

Found on collegewebeditor.com

This is is actually something that I am in the process of doing at my unversity. In addition I will be presenting at the CATS Conference this month on measuring web site success. Once I have done so I will post my conference presentation and also have the audio of the session available via a podcast.

In its latest issue Educause Review features an article by Brian L. Hawkins and Diana G. Oblinger...

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Do You Know a Crossover Pro: Campus Technology

2005-03-04T21:33:00.000-08:00

Found on collegewebeditor.com
From Campus Technology By John Savarese

A new breed of administrator is now vital to today’s enterprise systems management: the crossover specialist who understands both IT and functional sides.

There’s a new leader on campus these days, and though you may not be aware of it yet, he or she may be one of the primary drivers behind your institution’s current or future enterprise technology success. Who is this person? Names and faces may differ, but the profile says: crossover pro.

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OPEN Government Act appears to protect bloggers as members of media

2005-03-04T10:48:00.000-08:00
Found on Robert Ambrogi's Lawsites

OPEN Government Act appears to protect bloggers as members of media
The OPEN Government Act filed today to shore up the federal Freedom of Information Act would appear to include bloggers as members of the news media and thereby protect them from excessive fees for document requests.

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WebDevTips - Increased usability

2005-03-04T10:41:00.000-08:00
Found on WebDevTips

"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..."

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A quick way to test accessibility

2005-03-04T10:36:00.000-08:00
Found on O-jounalism Blog

...hugely grateful to Niel Eyde for his post highlighting two great tools for testing the accessibility of your website - one for Internet Explorer and one for Firefox. On first use it seems a very quick way to see what needs improving about your website to make it more accessible - including spotting images missing alt tags, missing coding, and colour blindness. With these to hand there really is no excuse.

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WebDevTips - A higher search engine ranking

2005-03-04T10:34:00.000-08:00
Found on WebDevTips

"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."

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Developing sites for users with cognitive disabilities and learning difficulties

2005-03-04T10:30:00.000-08:00
Found on karmakars.com

SUMMARY: This post discusses some of the the points raised at tonights WebstandardsGroup meeting on “Developing sites for users with cognitive disabilities and learning difficulties”. It also contains links to the presentation material and some related reading.

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Accessible Folksonomies: Accessibility, Usability and Web Standards

2005-03-04T10:26:00.000-08:00
Found on alttags.org

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term, a folksonomy is basically a taxonomy created by the people and for the people. A community of users collaborates by “tagging” various types of content with user created keywords. This concept is flourishing on a handful of community driven sites that all seem to have a certain addictive quality.

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A Concise Guide to the Major Internet Bodies

2005-03-03T14:38:00.000-08:00
Found on The Web Standards Project
From Ubiquity: An ACM IT Magazine and Forum

The bodies responsible for the Internet's protocols and parameters can be said to steer the Internet in a significant sense. This document, by Alex Simonelis of Dawson College in Montreal, is a summary of those bodies and their most important characteristics.

Read more...

Freshman blogs: new marketing tools for admission offices

2005-03-03T14:17:00.000-08:00
Found on collegewebeditor.com

More and more colleges are surfing on the blogging wave to boost prospective students’ interest in their institution by supporting and promoting a few hand-picked freshman bloggers.

Simmons College does it. Furman University and Alfred University , too.

By reading these blogs, high school seniors and their parents (as well as anybody interested in what could be a kind of college reality TV) can follow the life of these current students turned into their college’s online ambassadors.

Read more...

A New you.edu

2005-03-02T22:36:00.000-08:00
Here are some examples on how to approach a university web redesign and foster open communications with the campus community...I will be using these as future resources!
A New Arizona.edu | AU Redesign Blog
UCDavis Redesign Project | More about their redesign

Blogging to redesign the website

2005-03-02T22:31:00.000-08:00
Maybe Ohio University can learn something from their in-state rival...

Found on collegewebeditor.com

Blogging to redesign the website

Here is a very good idea from The Ohio State University (thanks to Will Richardson, the K-12 blog guru from Weblogg-Ed for the tip) .

The Communication and Marketing Department at OSU has been using a web blog “to inform the Ohio State community about the process behind an upcoming redesign of (the) web site’s front door, as well as associated, new second-level pages.”

The OSU redesign webblog is a central place to share design sketches, project updates and suggestions. Thanks to the “comment” blog feature, any stakeholder who follows the project can easily give feedback.

I really think this blog beats the traditional redesign committee’s status reports and meetings, because it gives every stakeholder a chance to look at the design in the context it’s supposed to work - on a computer screen - and to give instant - yet articulated - written feedback.

Read more...

IBM to Demonstrate Portfolio of Accessibility Technologies for ISVs and Web Developers at PartnerWorld

2005-03-02T21:59:00.000-08:00
Found on ArriveNet Technology Press Releases

Solutions Enable Developers to Make the Web Widely Accessible

Distribution Source : Market Wire
Date : Wednesday - March 02, 2005

LAS VEGAS, NV -- (Market Wire - Mar 02, 2005) -- IBM today introduced a range of solutions and developers' tools that open up the Worldwide Web and other information technology to the aging workforce and people with disabilities at its annual PartnerWorld Conference.

This portfolio of accessibility technologies enables ISVs/developers to make web sites and IT systems accessible and, further underscores IBM's commitment to providing information technology that everyone can use.

Included at the PartnerWorld demonstration is IBM's innovative talking Web browser, the Home Page Reader version 3.04, an effective tool for developers to test Web pages for accessibility early in the prototype and design stage as well as after the content or application has been deployed.

Full Press Release >>>

Blogs & wikis: Technologies for enterprise applications?

2005-03-02T21:40:00.000-08:00
Found on Column Two

Lauren Wood has written an article that looks at the use of blogs and wikis in the enterprise. To quote:

Blogs and wikis are flexible practices and technologies that are increasingly being used within companies and organizations to ease the creation and dissemination of information, as well as making it easier for companies to communicate effectively with customers, partners, and the public. This article discusses some of the salient features of blogs and wikis, and give examples of companies who already have implemented one or more of these systems.

Read more...

Traveling? Free Wireless Internet (WiFi) Spots in California

2005-03-02T21:36:00.000-08:00
Found on Chuck Goetschel Blog

Take a look at the following free Wireless Internet (WiFi) Spots in California and see for yourself just how fast this trend is growing! How long until you think this list doubles?"

Go to list...

Use Cases Part II: Taming Scope: A List Apart

2005-03-02T21:34:00.000-08:00
Found on A List Apart
by Norm Carr and Tim Meehan

When web projects go wrong, the cause can often be traced to misunderstanding and miscommunication about scope: what you thought your client wanted and what they thought they were getting doesn’t match. The later in a project this is discovered, the costlier for someone it can become.

To manage scope effectively, we have to define what the site must contain, what optional features would be good to have, and what features are irrelevant – and then we have to deal with newly requested or discovered needs and enhancements.

The use-case model can be a powerful tool for controlling scope throughout a project’s lifecycle. Because a simplified use-case model can be understood by all project participants, it can also serve as a framework for ongoing collaboration as well as a visual map of all agreed-upon functionality. It can, therefore, be a precious reference during later negotiations that might affect the project’s scope.

Read more...

Two steps forward....20 steps back

2005-03-02T18:02:00.000-08:00
I came across this post today: From homepage to furniture: a new take on higher ed website design?, on collegewebeditor.com about Ohio University's new website. You should really take a look at it and then read my comments...better yet I'll paste my comments below. I can't believe how heated this has gotten me!

------------------------- pasted comment text--------------------------
That homepage looks like an early design from before the web matured. I can’t stand site designs based on metaphors. So sad to see a major university take a step back in site design and information architecture. Even worse, as a direct result of the design they are forced to have a separate text-only version. Today good site design is one that is forward compatible and has a single design that works across all end-user environments. In a time when college and university sites should be moving towards segmentation and personalization Ohio launches a site that potentially only appeals to one of their many user-segments. Last, the design does very little to create a digital identity and online brand for the university. What a let down!

WOW! So much for web standards, accessibility, and user-centered design. Every negative aspect that I can see in this new site (lack of Section 508 compliancy, lack of web standards, etc.) are direct results of a design that is based around what either someone or some committee wanted and not what their end-users desire or find appealing. I may not work for Ohio University but a cross-section of end-users will show that the demographics of any college or university web users is pretty much the same...as are the end-user segments...that's enough for now...I'm getting too worked up again.

Perhaps someone should have given them a copy of Dr. Pam Cox-Otto that I mentioned in my first post to the blog. Here it is again from that post,

So far the only resource that I've found is a book by Pam Cox-Otto, PH.D. Make Your Web Site Work: Research and Guidance for Effective Recruiting published by LRP Publications. This book is a MUST! for any one involved with a university web site. There is much more value in this book than simply recruitment-related data and information. Dr. Cox-Otto has done incredible research with user segments from the traditional high school student to non-traditional adult learners and from business partners to alumni. In her book she shares her results and also provides recommendations on how to address the needs of these various and varied user groups.

I tell you what...take a look and tell me what you think. The design is clever and novel at best but how unfortunate for such a reputable institute of higher education.

Read more...

Best Practices in Online Student Services

2005-03-01T14:31:00.000-08:00
Best Practices in Online Student Services Web Conference :: March 9, 2005: 1:00 -3:00 P.M. EST

Overview:
The goal of successfully delivering online student services has proven elusive for many institutions. Some organizations, however, have designed and deployed the necessary changes.

Join us on an online tour to discover best practices of essential student services as well as non-essential, yet desirable services.

Who Should Attend:
This session will be most valuable for those interested in a survey of best practices from peer institutions, including student services professionals, communications and web managers, enrollment managers, academic deans, information technology officers and anyone interested in the delivery of student services using the web.

Program Agenda:
Best Practices in Online Student Services
March 9, 2005 :: 1:00 -3:00 P.M. EST

Institutions must make all on-campus student services available online so students can conduct all of their business remotely. The presentation includes best practices in the following online services:

* Registration
* Grades
* Unofficial transcripts and transcript ordering
* Financial aid application, processing, and notification
* Notification and delivery of student bills, payments, and refunds
* Library services
* Book buying and buy-back
* Sale of computer software and hardware
* Progress toward degree audits
* Interactive class schedule
* Detailed course syllabi
* Interactive university bulletin
* Graduation application, processing, and notification
* Disability services
* 24-hour computer help desk
* Live online technical assistance
* Voicemail on all staff phones
* All forms available online in printable and submittable formats
* Electronic work flow (e-signatures)
* Online student union
* Admissions application, processing, and notification
* Transfer credit application, processing, and no"

Measuring Web Site Success Web Conference

2005-03-01T14:26:00.000-08:00
For colleges and universities, web sites are more important than ever. Tight budgets force more information and services online, alumni and parents grow increasingly web savvy, and, of course, students of all ages practically live online. Measuring your site's success is tricky business, though - content grows, technologies become more complex, and privacy measures make site traffic analysis a challenge. Join us for a discussion of practical ways to measure the success of your site from a non-technical perspective.

PROGRAM AGENDA
Using real-life examples, your instructors will lead a discussion of how to glean the most usable information (both quantitative and qualitative) about your web site from a variety of sources, including:

-- Web server log files
-- Traffic analysis software
-- Webmaster emails and other email feedback
-- Surveys
-- Your site's search engine
-- Usability studies
-- Focus groups

This web conference will also focus on how to apply this data to ensure that you use your web site to communicate in the most effective way possible. Further, discussion will include:

-- Common myths about web stats
-- Best practices and standards for measuring your site
-- Common pitfalls to avoid

INSTRUCTORS
Melissa Meehan, Buffalo State College<<
As the Web Administration Director for the State University of New York system's largest college, Melissa leads a team responsible for all aspects of the college's official award-winning site, which totals more than 25,000 pages and attracts more than 180,000 visitors a month.

Ned Stankus, Hamilton College<<
Ned manages web site content for Hamilton College, a highly-selective liberal arts college located in Central New York. Ned enjoys finding reliable data about how people use Hamilton's Web site, although the topic is a constant source of frustration for him.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND
If you're in a position to make decisions based on web site statistics and feedback, you will benefit from the practical advice offered in this web conference. Web designers will learn tips for building measurable websites, while professionals in alumni relations, admissions, student recruitment, and advancement who rely on the web to communicate with their constituents will come away with a practical understanding of how to use web statistics to assess their sites.

REGISTER
To register, please call 720-488-6800 or visit
https://www.academicimpressions.com/web_conferences/0305_success.php

New Staff Directories Report

2005-03-01T14:19:00.000-08:00
Found on Column Two: New Staff Directories report

I'm excited to announce the release today of our new Staff Directories report. This 91-page report contains best-practice guidance on the design and implementation of online staff directories.

In this report you will find:

* detailed exploration of staff directory fields and features (both common and advanced)
* dozens of screenshots illustrating key points
* design guidelines for all staff directory pages (including search screens, profile pages, organisational charts, and more)
* in-depth discussion on how to keep your staff directory up-to-date
* outline of practical approaches to developing your staff directory
* full results of a public survey into staff directory usage
* tips and suggestions relating to all aspects of staff directories

If you are implementing a new online staff directory as part of your intranet, this report will be invaluable. If you are enhancing an existing directory, the best practice guidelines and suggestions will provide many ideas on the next steps to take."

Read entire report...

Flickr - Photo Sharing

2005-02-28T14:49:00.000-08:00
The best way to store, search, sort and share photos. Upload from camera phone, Mac or PC, make albums, add comments, post photos to any blog, RSS/XML feeds.

Flickr - Photo Sharing

Program and department web pages play a big role in college selection

2005-02-28T14:45:00.000-08:00
From collegewebeditor.com

Are you proud of the web pages featuring your academic majors and departments?

According to a survey conducted by Stamats in 2004 and published in their newsletter, you’d better put your best efforts in these pages as they are at the top of your prospective students’ list when they visit college websites.

Read more...

Conference Proceedings - Designing for the 21st Century III

2005-02-27T17:10:00.000-08:00
From designfor21st.org conference procedings
By Bob Rega, Macromedia

"Web Accessibility and Web Design are two disciplines with a common theory and divergent practices. Both endeavors rely on a standard set of techniques to ensure a consistent experience of data and content across a diverse set of end users. Both rely on creative individuals to build and deliver great sites and great experiences that have an impact on the user. Both seek to extend the reach of the end user and link individuals together to form a stronger collective whole. However, despite the common theory that links them, web accessibility and web design do not share a common set of practices. Sites hailed for their accessibility are rarely noted for their design. Sites hailed for their design are rarely noteworthy as models of accessibility. Few sites are ever held up as models of both great accessibility and great design."

Read more...

Zen of CSS Design, The: Visual Enlightenment for the Web

2005-02-26T08:55:00.000-08:00
Co authored by Dave Shea and Molly Holzschlag (molly.com) this book is a must for standard-compliant designers who are looking for way to design engaging visual user interfaces.

For all of you traditional graphic designers doing work on the web keep in mind that a web site's design is more than a pretty layout....it's a user interface, so don't think that just because you have extensive graphic design experience or a degree or anything else that "qualifies" you it is impossible to simply translate your existing skill set to the webspace and design effective and usable web sites. You must learn new design theories that will allow you to adopt your existing skill set to the websphere.

Zen of CSS Design, The: Visual Enlightenment for the Web - $29.99

The First Photo Ever Posted on the Web

2005-02-25T20:23:00.000-08:00
Back in 1992, after their show at the CERN Hardronic Festival, my colleague Tim Berners-Lee asked me for a few scanned photos of "the CERN girls" to publish them on some sort of information system he had just invented, called the "World Wide Web". I had only a vague idea of what that was, but I scanned some photos on my Mac and FTPed them to Tim's now famous "info.cern.ch". How was I to know that I was passing an historical milestone, as the one above was the first picture ever to be clicked on in a web browser!"

Silvano de Gennaro | LHC: Les Horribles Cernettes

Educate Your Website Stakeholders About the Net Generation

2005-02-25T20:16:00.000-08:00
Found on collegewebeditor.com
From Educause

Sometimes hundreds of thousand words are worth more than a short executive summary, especially in higher education.
Does your VP need some hard cold (read “printed") facts before entertaining your latest web bugdet request?
Is your admission office not convinced that it would be a good idea to offer instant messaging (IM) as a way for prospective students to contact an advisor?
Does your Alum Association still rely on snail mail to keep in touch with their constituents?
Educating the Net Generation, a collection of essays published by Educause should help you spread the word that Web 101 isn’t enough anymore in colleges and universities.

A quick glance at the table of contents reveals what seems to be a very promising resource. This 267-page book is free, and that you can download the full PDF version (careful, it’s 4.5 MB) as well as any chapter in PDF and HTML from the table of contents?

Read more...

The Accessibility Challenge

2005-02-25T13:57:00.000-08:00
Found on alt tags

A story from the trenches.

Read more...

Accessibility Features in Adobe Reader 7

2005-02-25T13:51:00.000-08:00
Found on WebAIM
PDF files are nortorious for lack of accessibility. Even worse, many college and university professors (and even administrative assistants) think that converted Word files to PDF files is the quick and easiest way to post content to the web. Well it is, but it is also not the best way. Since Section 508 became law manufacturers have scrambled to incorporate accessibility hooks into their products. PDF files are still a pain to make accessibility but with version 7 of Acrobat Reader out things will be a bit easier. Now if we can just get people to make to actually use these new features to create accessible PDFs!
Read more...

Blogger Codes of Ethics

2005-02-24T23:45:00.000-08:00
While they may not have a rulebook, bloggers have evolved a loose-knit set of general tenets. These principles seem to be widely held:
* Disclose, disclose, disclose. Transparency – of actions, motives and financial considerations – is the golden rule of the blogosphere.
* Follow your passions. Blog about topics you care deeply about.
* Be honest. Write what you believe.
* Trust your readers to form their own judgments and conclusions.
* Reputation is the principal currency of cyberspace. Maintain your independence and integrity – lost trust is difficult to regain.

Found on Weblogg-ed >>

Google Launches EduBlogger

2005-02-24T23:42:00.000-08:00
Found on Weblogg-ed

That will happen in 2007 according to predictions by Teemu Arina over at the new Flosse Posse Weblog dedicated to open source technologies in education.

2007--Educators discover one-click publishing
In contrary to large and rigid content management systems, educators and students have noticed easy personal publishing on a wide scale. One weblog related to education is created every second according to statistics provided by Technorati. Google has launched a specially branded service called EduBlogger™ based on their popular Blogger™ service.
Teemu spun this prediction and many others out of an interview with Alan Levine that is definitely worth putting on your iPod.

Read more...

ePortfolios - The Open Source Portfolio Initiative

2005-02-24T23:19:00.000-08:00
There's been much talk lately about ePortfolios. As an open-source proponent I've come across this open-source eportfolio project that I know I'm going to look into.

The Open Source Portfolio Initiative (OSPI) is a community of individuals and organizations collaborating on the development of the leading non-proprietary, open source electronic portfolio software available.

Read more...

Ed-related Blogs

2005-02-24T22:55:00.000-08:00
Here are a few of the educationally-related blog sites that I've recently come across.

Weblogg-ed

Educational Weblogs

EdBlogger Praxis - Find examples of educator blogs online
EdTechPost

Need an idea for your next admission ad campaign? Ask your prospective students

2005-02-24T20:38:00.000-08:00
From collegewebeditor.com

This is what St. Edward’s University has just done with its Student Ad Contest.

Participants were asked to submit an ad concept for the university’s ad campaign “Learn to think.” Launched in September 2001, these ads decline the same theme by contrasting real-life situations and course titles.

To get a chance to put their hands on the big prize, a year of free tuition at St. Edward’s University, high school seniors had to review the ads available on the website and browse through the university online course catalog.

Such contest rules were a good way to entice high school seniors to explore the university’s website - whether they decided to submit an entry or not.

As stated in the university’s press release about the results of the contest, “St. Edward’s launched the contest as a fun way to inform college-bound high school students about the university and to offer them the chance to experience St. Edward’s for free.”

This integrated marketing initiative resulted in 13,000 visits to the contest web page, 97 contest entries, a lot of buzz in the targeted high schools and probably some good media clips.

Read more...

From graduation to alum registration in less than 5 minutes

2005-02-24T20:36:00.000-08:00
From collegewebeditor.com

In the last issue of its email newsletter, IAC has an interesting idea for colleges and universities wanting to keep in touch with their alums:
First, it was an idea in the brain of Gary Toyne, the Alumni Director of Weber State University. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the computers he needed to get put his plan into effect. So, as any entrepreneurial alumni affairs administrator would do, Gary decided to grab every laptop in his office and then invite colleagues to donate their personal laptops for the day. He and his staff wheeled the computers down to the graduation ceremony and set them up in a strategic area where graduates had to pass by. Once the line formed, all the grads got in it, and staff members and volunteers were able to quickly get them registered.

But, here is an even better plan to avoid the risk of a big graduation day traffic jam:

Set up a few computers to have your graduates-to-be register to your online alum directory at the same time they pick up their academic attire.

A little “offline” planning definitely goes a long way.

Read more...

collegewebeditor.com

2005-02-24T18:48:00.000-08:00
News, tips and, hopefully, some good ideas for people taking care of websites and online marketing in colleges and universities. Site has various web syndication formats.

Visit site >>>

So Where are all the Information Designers?

2005-02-24T18:43:00.000-08:00
Found on InfoDesign
From Online-Learning.com

"Over time, we believe that this combination of skills will become the norm and may even become mandatory for many Information Design positions. Given the current economic climate, employers are already demanding more from their prospective new hires. As evidence of this trend, look at the career section in your local newspaper and you will see that employers are now asking for combination skill sets for many jobs. Companies are looking for people who can simultaneously write, design and develop websites. With a small amount of cross-training, many of today's Information Designers could position themselves for these multi-skilled jobs." (Online Learning)

Read more...

Web Analytics: The Voice of Users in Information Architecture Projects

2005-02-24T18:34:00.000-08:00
Found on InfoDesign
From Hurol Inan

"An information architecture project will uncover the very heart of internal politics in any organisation. In most cases, content owners, department heads and product managers all fight for prime 'real estate' and prominence within the website structure - resulting in a site design that looks like a 'truce' rather than an effective solution." (Hurol Inan) - courtesy of digital web magazine.

Read more...

Microsoft to Release New Browser

2005-02-15T10:31:00.000-08:00
From Reuters | Posted on Yahoo!

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) will release a new version of Internet Explorer, the world's most popular Internet browsing software, with new, built-in security features, Chairman Bill Gates (news - web sites) said on Tuesday.

Read more...

WebAIM's Response to the National Education Technology Plan

2005-02-14T09:20:00.000-08:00
On January 7, 2004, the U.S. Department of Education released its National Education Technology Plan 2004 - external link, "Toward a New Golden Age in American Education: How the Internet, the law and today's students are revolutionizing expectations". While WebAIM applauds the plan for it's visionary action, we are concerned that the plan does not mention the critical need for accessible technology for millions of students with disabilities.

Read more...

WebAIM.org

2005-02-14T09:19:00.000-08:00
WebAIM.org, an incredible site for web accessibility-related information has an RSS feed.
(http://rss.webaim.org/webaim.xml). At a minimum you should bookmark the site (www.webaim.org) for future use. It is a must-have online resource.

Accessibility Features in Dreamweaver

2005-02-14T09:14:00.000-08:00
From Webaim.org
Author: Jared Smith
Date: September 2004

Dreamweaver MX, developed by Macromedia, is one of the most popular and powerful Web development applications available today. Macromedia has greatly improved the accessibility features of Dreamweaver MX over previous versions. MX and MX 2004 now allow developers to be prompted when inserting certain Web elements that may need accessibility attributes added to them. Dreamweaver includes many new tools, features, and reference materials to help developers in developing accessible Web content.

Read more...

Developing with Web Standards: Recommendations and Best Practices

2005-02-13T10:59:00.000-08:00

By PJB on Technology
"This document explains how and why using web standards will let you build websites in a way that saves time and money for the developer and provides a better experience for the visitor. Also discussed are other methods, guidelines and best practices that will help produce high-quality websites that are accessible to as many as possible." (Roger Johansson - 456 Berea Street)

Read more...

Why XHTML with CSS matters

2005-02-12T23:19:00.000-08:00
From youcansleepwhenyouredead.com
January 22, 2005

The IE/Netscape browser war is over, and most web users are using standards-compliant browsers like Firefox, Safari, and IE 6. The old table-based layout techniques are no longer necessary.

Read more...

LIFT Text Transcoder is not the answer

2005-02-12T20:23:00.000-08:00
When it comes to accessibility LIFT text-transcoder should be considered a component of a solution (if considered at all) and not the answer to being accessible and 508 compliant. As far as I'm concerned LIFTs text-transcoder only gives you a printer-friendly page...IT IS NOT A REPAIR TOOL! The text transcoder can not add ALT text when there is no text; it can't make poor ALT tag syntax (ex. photo) better (ex. photo: headshot of Bill Gates).

Basically, with the text-transcoder you are going to get a linearized version of the page with the same acccessibility hurdles and roadblocks that existed before. Think I'm mistaken? Read this post from alttags.com about the Sacramento County website and it's use of LIFT text-transcoder.

Do You Care About Accessibility? | 3/31/2004

Free Usability Toolkit

2005-02-12T09:48:00.000-08:00
The AIfIA Tools project aims to disseminate new IA tools from the community in order to learn from each other. Below you will find document templates, process map posters and other tools to help you in your practice. The documents have been donated by the community, by people just like you.

One of the items posted is the Usability Toolkit from the Society for Technical Communication.

Another item of interest was Case Study: Digital Web Redesign. Christina Wodtke produced this set of deliverables--personas, conceptual model, site map and wireframes--for the Digital Web redesign in 2002.

Digital Web Redesign (3.3 MB)

Full text of Information Architecture for the World Wide Web (1st edition)

2005-02-12T09:42:00.000-08:00
O'Rielly has generously published the full text of Information Architecture for the World Wide Web. (Note that this is the 1st edition of the book, and the 2nd edition has been substantially enhanced, expanded and improved.)

Ground Up, Accessibility

2005-02-12T00:34:00.000-08:00
From The Web Standards Project

In a Digital Web Magazine article this past week, a W3C web accessibility specialist Matt May offers up a short primer for web designers. The article, Accessibility From The Ground Up, gives a quick overview and answers key questions regarding accessible web design.

Read more...

Key steps in creating your reader persona

2005-02-12T00:33:00.000-08:00
By Gerry McGovern
February 07, 2005

The first step in developing successful reader personas is to decide what readers you are not going to focus on. Good web management is often more about what you exclude than what you include.

Read more...

alttags.org

2005-02-12T00:24:00.000-08:00
Add these to your quiver of information:
Accessibility

Content Management
Reports
Section 508
Tips & Tutorials
Usability
Web Standards

CMS Do's and Don'ts

2005-02-12T00:22:00.000-08:00
From alttags.org
Jan 21, 2005

Have you made peace with your Content Management System yet? If you’re like most CMS users, the answer is ‘no’ (or a steady stream of expletives that could easily be understood as a ‘no’). For many, CMS has become synonymous with the word ‘failure’.

Read more...

The Dollar and Sense of Building with Standards

2005-02-12T00:17:00.000-08:00
From Digital Web Magazine
By Alan K'necht

There is no need for a Web site to reflect a printed brochure to smallest detail. One is paper and the other is electronic. By accepting this reality, you can expect savings of 5-10% in your HTML development phase...think of standards as a guide to writing valid code.

Read more...

Usability in e-learning

2005-02-12T00:12:00.000-08:00
"While a large number of organizations have adopted e-learning programs, far fewer have addressed the usability of their learning applications. More attention should be devoted to assuring the usability of e-learning applications if organizations are to fully benefit from their investments." (Michael J. Miller - Learning Circuits)

Read more...

Web Standards vs. Search Friendly Sites: Can You Have Both?

2005-02-11T23:32:00.000-08:00
By Bill Hunt,
February 10, 2005
Web designers don't understand search optimization, and search marketers are clueless about usability and style—at least according to conventional wisdom. The good news is, those attitudes are slowly starting to change.

A special report from the Search Engine Strategies conference, December 13-16, 2004, Chicago, IL. Read more...

Weblogs in Higher Education

2005-02-11T21:19:00.000-08:00
A blog devoted to understanding the best pedagogical and other uses of weblogs and wikis in higher education. Join in...

Albertson's: A Cast Study in Technology Making People Stupid

2005-02-11T21:11:00.000-08:00
Dont' you get tired of people for using technology for technology's sake? Site's that have flash and all the other bells and whistles just for sh!t and giggles? There is a time and place for everything and when you get to that time and place you need to make so you have the proper implementation and that once implemented your business philosophy and decisions account for the changes that technology introduces at every point along the spectrum. Here's a real-world example. Albertson's: A Cast Study in Technology Making People Stupid

Don't let this scenario playout at your university.

UXCentric - a blog worth mentioning

2005-02-11T16:00:00.000-08:00
UXCentric: news, views and links about user experience, information architecture and all things web

WebAbility :: web design that enables

2005-02-11T15:41:00.000-08:00
Things for designing successful sites...web design that works: WebAbility

Browse Happy

2005-02-11T15:12:00.000-08:00
Are you tired and frustrated with Internet Exporer (or just Microsoft in general)? We all know that there are much better (and safer) browsers out there but we are also aware of the fact that about 85% of the population are using IE. So what a quandry! Don't worry, others emphatize and have even gone the distance to put up a site. Check it out: browsehappy.com

Browser Speed Comparisons

2005-02-11T14:24:00.000-08:00
Of course there are many benefits to designing with usabiility and accessibility in mind and doing so with web standards. One of the benefits is faster loading pages. Of course with an external CSS once the first page of your site has been loaded the CSS is in the browser cache of the user so that's one less thing that has to be downloaded and one less hit to your server. Additionally, separating presentation and content code keeps the amount of code to a minimum which decreases download time and minimizes the overhead on the server.

Yes, this is a minimal amount for each person and may be negligible but that all adds up on your server and you will see and better performing server. Additionally, if you don't have your own server and pay for hosting and have a business level plan that charges by bandwidth then you just incurred some immediate cost-saving benefits.

If you go through all this effort it's important to know how much the browser factor into this. Of course this is something out of a designers control but it's good to know what's going on in the environment you are designing for.

There a interesting article on browser speed comparisons that I came across. In general the site I found the comparison data on howtocreate.co.uk is quite excellent. He has a RSS feed which I was more than eager to add to my watchlist.

Outdated HTML Guides

2005-02-11T14:17:00.000-08:00
Molly E. Holzschlag is another excellent presenter and industry expert. Her site molly.com contains a wealth of information. Her site has a post talking about HTML guildes, along with a recommendation. Read more...

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