Newsletter issue #49 - 1st April 2008
This issue
Hello and welcome to the April edition of the Webcredible newsletter!
In this issue:
- Feature article: Social media marketing - a guide
- Top tip: Embed accessibility into your development process
- Useful program: CSS type set
- Top link: Usability of online flight bookings report
- New articles in March
- Webcredible news in March
Enjoy!
Feature article: Social media marketing - a guide
Marketing to social media websites such as Digg and del.icio.us has become an integral part of any online marketing campiagn. This month's feature article looks at what you need to do to get up and running with social media marketing and how you can integrate it into your long-term online strategy...
Read this article in full at www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/search-engine-optimisation/social-media.shtml.
Top tip: Embed accessibility into your development process
Embedding accessibility into your development processes is key to ensuring an accessible site in both the short- and long-term. Building web pages and then checking them at the end for accessibility is nonsensical as you'll of course have to re-hash work you've already done. If instead you embed accessibility into the development process then you'll get it right first time. Here are a few ideas for getting started with this...
- Explain what accessibility is The first stage in getting accessibility embedded within your organisation is to ensure everyone knows what it actually is. Running seminars internally and/or having web managers and developers go on accessibility training courses is a great start. There's also a wealth of free information online so if you read anything that you find interesting and educational then send the link over to your colleagues to encourage knowledge sharing.
- Wins hearts & minds There's no point in people knowing what accessibility is if they're not bought into it. Explaining its many benefits and how implementing accessibility won't significantly add to anyone's workload is a great start. The real key to winning hearts & minds though is getting support from at least one senior manager, and having them champion accessibility internally. Additionally, having a blind person come in, talk about their online experience and demo a screen reader first hand is also great for winning over sceptics.
- Document what needs to be done Now that everyone knows what accessibility is and is bought into it, it's important to ensure the enthusiasm continues over time. If nothing gets written down then it's likely that the interest in accessibility will soon wane. In particular, you should document why you're embedding accessibility into your development processes, how you'll be doing this and who's responsible for what.
Useful program: CSS type set
CSS type set is a nifty program that allows you to apply basic and advanced formatting to text. It then provides you with the CSS code for the formatting that you've used (including some commands that you may not have known existed).
Access this useful program at www.csstypeset.com
Top link: Usability of online flight bookings report
Webcredible's latest white paper benchmarks 20 major travel websites against essential usability guidelines for online flight bookings. Download your free copy of the report today!
Download the free report from www.webcredible.co.uk/travel.
New articles in March
Read these and many other articles at www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources.
Webcredible news in March
- Webcredible gets a new tagline
- Usability for online flight bookings report available for download
- We're recruiting a PR and marketing manager
Read these news stories in full at www.webcredible.co.uk/about-us/latest-news.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 April, May & June:
- Web writing training - Monday 28th April, Monday 19th May & Monday 23rd June. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our intermediate web writing training page.
- Web usability training - Tuesday 29th April, Tuesday 20th May & Tuesday 24th June. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our web usability training page.
- Usability testing training - Wednesday 30th April, Wednesday 21st May & Wednesday 25th June. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our usability testing training page.
- Web accessibility training - Wednesday 30th April, Wednesday 21st May & Wednesday 25th June. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our web accessibility training page.
- Intermediate CSS training - Thursday 1st May, Thursday 22nd May & Thursday 26th June. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our intermediate CSS training page.
- Advanced CSS training - Friday 2nd May, Friday 23rd May & Friday 27th June. 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 research
- User-centered design
- Accessible CSS web design
- Training courses & support
- Website reviews
- Usability lab hire
Please contact us on 020 7423 6320 or info at webcredible.co.uk, or consult www.webcredible.co.uk for further information.
