Newsletter issue #36 - 1st March 2007
This issue
Hello and welcome to the March edition of the Webcredible newsletter!
In this issue:
- Feature article: 'You Who?' - Trust in Web 2.0
- Top tip: Allow users to resize text
- Useful program: Em calculator
- Top link: Evolt browser archive
- New articles in February
- Webcredible news in February
- We're recruiting!
Enjoy!
Feature article: 'You Who?' - Trust in Web 2.0
As Web 2.0 emerges and becomes more widespread, issues of how to trust websites are evolving. No longer is it enough for people to trust the content you put on your site - they also need to trust user-generated content. Find out how trust on the web is changing and what you need to do to improve the trustworthiness of your site.
Read this article in full at www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/web-credibility/web20-trust.shtml.
Top tip: Allow users to resize text
With an increasingly aging population, in addition to a large number of web users suffering from poor vision, it's becoming increasingly important to ensure the text on your website can be resized by site visitors. Give control back to your site visitors and follow these essential guidelines:
- Use ems, not pixels In order for text to be resized it has to be specified in a relative unit such as ems, rather than a fixed unit like pixels (the measurement of an em is the width and height of the letter M). If you set the body font size in terms of percent and everything else in ems, the font size should look roughly the same across all browsers.
- Don't embed text within images Text embedded within images can't of course be resized. Nowadays there's usually no need to embed text within images, as advanced effects can easily be created with CSS and background images.
- Ensure text doesn't overlap It's all well and good ensuring that text can be resized, but if page sections overlap when the font size is increased then the text can obviously become illegible. To ensure this doesn't happen, use variable widths and heights and/or minimum widths and heights for containers. This way, containers will expand when text is resized, rather than staying fixed and the text spilling out.
- Provide a visible font resizer Unfortunately most web users aren't actually aware they can resize text if they want to. By providing a visible font resizer all users are of course made aware they can increase the font size should they need to.
Useful program: Em calculator
The em calculator is a simple tool that converts pixels into the relative units of em. Specifying text size in pixels, as stated above, is best avoided as the text can't be resized by users with poor vision. If you need to convert your text to ems simply use this handy tool!
You can use this handy program at www.riddle.pl/emcalc.
Top link: Evolt browser archive
The Evolt browser archive provides you access to almost every browser ever made. Want to see how your website looks in older versions of Internet Explorer, for example? Download the files and you'll be up and running with multiple browsers on your computer!
Access this useful site at browsers.evolt.org.
New articles in February
Read this and many other articles at www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources.
Webcredible news in February
- Webcredible is recruiting a PHP developer!
- Ecommerce usability for Valentine etailers report available
Read these news stories in full at www.webcredible.co.uk/about-us/latest-news.shtml.
Vote in our poll
We're running a poll to find out what you do online when looking for insurance. We'd really appreciate it if you took a moment to vote in our poll - it'll only take about 10 seconds of your time!
Put your opinion across and vote in our poll at www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/polls.
We're recruiting!
Webcredible is currently on the look out for an exceptional PHP / MySQL web developer. If you want to join our growing team, working on leading edge projects then send over your CV today! You can read all about this exciting opportunity and apply at www.webcredible.co.uk/jobs/php-developer.shtml.
Training courses
Courses continue to sell out well in advance! Our next training courses will take place in our training centre in Aldgate, London in March and March:
- Usability testing training - Monday 16th April. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our usability testing training page.
- Writing for the web training - Tuesday 20th March & Tuesday 17th April. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our writing for the web training page.
- Web usability training - Wednesday 21st March & Wednesday 18th April. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our web usability training page.
- Web accessibility training - Thursday 22nd March & Thursday 19th April. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our web accessibility training page.
- Advanced CSS training - Friday 23rd March & Friday 20th April. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our advanced CSS training page.
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.