November 12, 2008 at 10:13 am · Filed under Web_Design
Accessible web design refers to the creation of web pages that are accessible to all users, including users with disabilities. Accessible web design is built in aid of many disabled people including those who are visually impaired (poor eye sight, colour blindness), motor impaired (Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy) and hearing impaired (deaf).
Accessible web design UK
The UK passed a law called “The disability discrimination act” in 1992 making it illegal to discriminate those with disabilities. Although the law does not refer to Internet users and website accessibility, many larger companies are starting to use technology to cater for those with special needs.
With the advance of technology many new products have been created to assist disabled people. The different products available vary from speech recognition software for those who are motor impaired and have difficulties using a mouse, to software that can read web pages or selected parts of the page using synthesised speech.
The importance of accessible web design lays in the fact that a lot of these helpful products will not be fully effective unless the websites are designed to be accessible.
Why should you make your website accessible?
Using accessible web design London based companies and others around the UK have found that rewards outweigh the costs. Companies using accessible web design have the knowledge and comfort that they are providing useful alternatives for people with special requirements. They also have the added benefits of increasing their potential customer base, as customers with disabilities will be more receptive to companies that cater to their needs.
We have established the importance of accessible web design across the globe but the most important factor is how daily tasks we take for granted, can be carried out with relative ease giving the user peace of mind and independence. With the Internet being the most used information resource for people from all walks of life it has become necessary to provide people with disabilities the equal opportunities of accessing information and people at the touch of a button.
Fast becoming an integral part of building a website, accessible web design UK, and globally is a must for all website owners who wish to bridge the gap between web design and web functionality.
Daniel Brudgins is a web accessibility and TYPO3 CMS consultant at Atto New Media Ltd. - who provide TYPO3 development and accessible web design services to customers in the UK.
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September 24, 2008 at 10:10 am · Filed under Web_Design
Designing good websites is not simply a case of throwing a load of funky graphics at the screen, there are 3 main areas to consider, here I give a brief overview of these key areas and explain why they are so important.
Content
The whole point of the majority of websites is to provide content, be it text, pictures, mp3s or videos to users. When you build a site the first thing you should consider is the content. How much is there likely to be, how often will it change, what content do you want the visitor drawn to first and so on. Design the site to fit the content, don’t create a site first and then try to decide where to put everything, it simply wont work.
Additionally content needs to be kept fresh and up to date at all times. You will never get repeat visitors if your content doesnt change, however impressive your site may look.
Accessibility
There is no point in content if people cant access it. Furthermore you do not want to limit accessibility to those people fortunate enough to have the latest browsers & plugins, with high speed connections and with no special requirements.
The World Wide Web Consortium(W3C) publish guidelines to aid developers in creating standards compliant websites by writing clean, browser-friendly code. They also provide automated services for checking that your web pages conform. It is important to note however that compliance with these guidelines does not automatically ensure your site is fully accessible to all potential users. The best way to achieve this is to test your site against the Web Accessibility Initiatives guidelines. These are purely self-tested and if you decide your site has passed you can award it with an A, AA or AAA logo.
Presentation
Presentation has very close connections to certain areas of the accessibility issue. In particular good use of colours is important from both viewpoints. Too many colours makes any site look un-coordinated and messy. Stick to a few basic colours for text, backgrounds, logos etc and use different shades of those colours to add depth. Make sure text colour and background colour are significantly different to make reading the text nice and easy.
Similarly do not use an array of different fonts, stick to one or two throughout the site. Serif fonts such as Impact are good for, surprisingly, making an impact on a visitor whereas sans serif fonts like verdana are much easier on the eye when reading.
Large blocks of text look very unwelcoming to visitors so try to avoid them particularly on the homepage, break text into paragaphs and sections with sub-headers, lists and so forth, use images where appropriate to give the user a break from reading.
Overview
It is important to note that all three of these components are vital in creating good sites but the balance between the three will vary from site to site. Just remember: Plan the design to fit the content; keep content fresh and accessible; make the site pleasing to look at and interact with.
Adam Harding is a freelance Web Designer in East Sussex
Tags: accessibility, content, design, guidelines, presentation, principles, webaccessibility, content, design, guidelines, presentation, principles, webShare This
May 24, 2008 at 8:10 pm · Filed under Web_Design
It is important to pay attention to little details that make the site easier to use by visitors. Sometimes small details make the difference, and the user likes our site better than other sites, just because he feels comfortable navigating it, and finds what he wants easily. Of course, it depends on the audience you expect for your website. For instance, if you have a website for professional designers, then you do not need to keep it that simple. Users will find their way and probably enjoy that sophisticated and strange menu system that is a piece of art. But if you expect a general audience, it is better to keep things nice and simple. The site usage should be intuitive. This is a list of several aspects you should consider:
Tags: accessibility, hosting, internet, user friendly, web design, web hosting, web programmingaccessibility, hosting, internet, user friendly, web design, web hosting, web programming
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