Newsletter issue #13 - 1st April 2005
This issue
Hello and welcome to the April edition of the Webcredible newsletter!
In this issue:
- Feature article: Tell me what you do!
- Top tip: Follow web conventions
- Useful program: Vischeck
- Top link: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0
- New articles in March
- Webcredible news in March
Enjoy!
Feature article: Tell me what you do!
You know what your organisation does and what your website offers its users. This information has probably become second nature to you, but first-time visitors to your site won't know this. As such, don't forget to tell them what you do. Find out how to achieve this simple yet so often over-looked task.
Read this article in full at www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/web-usability/what-you-do.shtml
Top tip: Follow web conventions
We've all become used to certain standards and conventions on the Internet. By going against these you risk causing your site visitors unnecessary confusion. There are plenty of conventions that exist on the web so here are a few to get you started:
- Navigation terminology Common navigation terminology includes items such as 'Home', 'About us', 'Contact us' and 'Shopping basket'. Any web user wishing to contact you would undoubtedly scan through a page on your website, looking for that 'Contact us' link. Call this link, 'Enquiries' and site visitors will find it that much harder to find this important link.
- Organisation logo The organisation logo virtually always appears in the top-left corner of the screen. Place it somewhere else and site visitors may not be able to quickly work out on whose website they are. The logo should also be a link back to the homepage, simply because most logos do indeed link back to the homepage nowadays.
- Search function The search function is usually a large input box towards the top of the screen, followed by a 'Go' or 'Search' button. Place this facility below the fold and your site visitors may struggle to locate it.
- Link text Link text is designed to take us from one page to the next, so it's important that it stands out ahead of regular text when scanning the screen. As such, link text is assigned a different colour and often underlined on websites - make sure the links on your site stand out too.
Useful program: Vischeck
Vischeck is a tool that will check your web pages (and images) for colour blindness. Simply run a web page through the program and it will change the appearance of the page to that of how it appears to a colour blind web user. Watch out for mixing up those reds and greens!
You can use this handy program at www.vischeck.com/vischeck.
Top link: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0
The W3C, the publishers of the original Web Content Accessibility Guidelines in 1999, are soon to publish version 2.0 of the guidelines. The original guidelines, which are generally regarded as the de facto guidelines for creating accessible websites, have often been criticised for being difficult to interpret and confusing. The new guidelines are set to be officially released later this year and are aiming to be far more easy-to-understand.
Check them out at www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/.
New articles in March
- Writing effective ALT text for images
- Six powerful ways to find link targets
- CSS and round corners: Boxes with curves
Read these and many other articles at www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources.
Webcredible news in March
- Webcredible featured in The Independent newspaper
- Training courses sell out in three days
- Training courses selling faster than hotcakes!
Read these news stories in full at www.webcredible.co.uk/about-us/latest-news.shtml.
We are recruiting!
Due to continued growth, Webcredible currently has two vacancies for Usability Consultants, which we're looking to fill very soon. If you have exceptional communication skills and a strong desire to develop yourself we want to hear from you now! Please consult www.webcredible.co.uk/jobs for further information and details on how to apply.
Training courses
Our first set of April courses sold out in just three working days. The next courses with available places will take place in our training centre in Aldgate, London in late April:
- Web accessibility training - Monday 25th April. To receive a £60 discount on the course, for more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our web accessibility training page.
- Advanced CSS training - Tuesday 26th April. To receive a £60 discount on the course, for more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our advanced CSS training page.
Web accessibility & CSS support packages
We now offer a range of accessibility and CSS support packages, offering you access to one of our accessibility consultants anytime you like. Please read more about this innovative service in our web accessibility and CSS help section.
About Webcredible
Based in London, UK, Webcredible is a user experience consultancy. Tailor-made usability, accessibility & design solutions include:
- User-centered design
- Accessible web design
- CMS services
- Usability
- Accessibility
- Training
- Website review lite
Please contact us on 0870 242 6095 or info at webcredible.co.uk, or consult www.webcredible.co.uk for further information.