Newsletter issue #18 - 1st September 2005

This issue

Hello and welcome to the September edition of the Webcredible newsletter!

In this issue:

• Feature article: Web journeys
• Top tip: Follow web standards
• Useful program: Alexa toolbar
• Top link: DRC's inaccessible website demonstration
• New articles in August
• Webcredible news in August

Enjoy!

Feature article: Feature article: Web journeys

By looking at how we interact with the world in our everyday life, we can employ the same methods when creating websites, to create a similarly easy user experience. Something as simple as taking a new bus journey to work can provide you with valuable lessons to apply to your website to improve its usability.

Read this article in full at www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/web-usability/web-journeys.shtml.

Top tip: Follow web standards

Developing websites with web standards essentially means following the rules and guidelines set out by the W3C. Among other things, this means using CSS layout (not tables), which usually involves stripping out a massive amount of excess code. During the dot-com boom, web standards were essentially thrust aside in the rush to get sites live. Things have changed now and more and more websites and web developers are embracing web standards. In case you haven't, here are some quick reasons why you should:

1. Smaller file size Smaller file sizes means quicker download time and reduced bandwidth requirements for your website. HTML files on a site following web standards will usually be much smaller than those not following web standards - sometimes by up to 90%, even though the visual appearance of the page doesn't change.
2. Higher search engine ranking As a result of a smaller file size, a website following web standards will achieve a higher search engine ranking. This is because lots of excess code can be stripped out, so the ratio of content to code is extremely high. Search engines can therefore more easily work out what each page is about.
3. Improved accessibility Again, as a result of stripping out excess code, screen readers can far more easily work through web pages. Additionally, by following web standards your site is much more likely to work properly on these mediums. The number of people accessing the web through PDAs and mobile phones is growing at a rapid rate so don't underestimate the importance of this.
4. Easier to maintain By using CSS to control layout, all presentational changes to the site can be made through this one file. Make the change and each and every page on the site will change in a consistent manner.

Useful program: Alexa toolbar

The Alexa toolbar is a lightweight toolbar you can download for your web browser. One of the niftiest features it has is that it displays the traffic rank for each website you visit, showing you how popular that website is. (The Webcredible site is the 40,336th most popular website in the world, last time we looked.)

You can use download this program from download.alexa.com.

Top link: DRC's inaccessible website demonstration

The DRC's inaccessible website demonstration is a really great way for you to put yourself into the shoes of a number or web users with special needs. Through the interactive online examples, you can experience first-hand some of the issues that certain web users may face.

Check out this demonstration at www.drc-gb.org/open4all/newsroom/website1.asp.

New articles in August

• The problem with automated accessibility testing tools
• Ten more CSS tricks you may not know

Read these and many other articles at www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources.

Webcredible news in August

• Web accessibility workshop on 1st September
• Webcredible announces training dates for September

Read these news stories in full at www.webcredible.co.uk/about-us/latest-news.shtml.

Training courses

Courses continue to sell out very quickly! Our next courses with available places will take place in our training centre in Aldgate, London in September:

• Web accessibility training - Thursday 22nd September. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our web accessibility training page.
• Advanced CSS training - Friday 23rd September. 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
  • User research & persona creation
  • Focus groups
  • Card sorting & site map creation
  • Wireframe design & testing
• Accessible web design
  • CSS web design & build
  • CSS / XHTML coding
  • DOM scripting & accessible JavaScript
• CMS services
  • Accessible CMS
  • CMS consulting
• Usability
  • Usability testing
  • Eye tracking
  • Usability website evaluation
  • Ongoing usability support
  • Intranet usability
• Accessibility
  • Web accessibility evaluation
  • Accessibility testing
  • Web accessibility guidelines creation
  • Accessibility & CSS help
• Training
  • Writing for the web training
  • Web usability training
  • Usability testing training
  • Web accessibility training
  • Intermediate CSS training
  • Advanced CSS 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.

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