Blog
The Doublespark blog is the place to discover what we’re up to. Read our posts to see what we’re currently working on, what or who’s inspiring us and other inside stuff from all our Doublespark locations. We blog in refreshingly non-geeky technical language and will - from time to time - post tutorials and other useful web design and SEO information on this page. You can subscribe to our RSS feed by clicking here.
A Closer Look at Web Accessibility
Last time I posted about the importance of web accessibility. I mentioned how other users, aside from the disabled and partially disabled, could benefit from web accessibility. As a web designer though that is not very familiar with web accessibility you should realize that there is a pretty wide range of disabilities to address including.
Accessibility Tips Part 4
When talking about accessibility although it is often used to refer to ensuring that web sites are accessible to people with disabilities it actually has a larger scope and actually addresses accessibility of web sites to EVERYBODY. Sure enough when designing web sites the accessibility to the majority of users are always considered, which is why the topic is not really fall under accessibility but usually focuses on usability when it comes to the majority of users.
Accessibility Tips Part 3
Perhaps the tip that beats all accessibility tips is the simplest one - to test your website using a screen reader. Even if you do follow accessibility guidelines chances are something will get overlooked. Testing the site with a screen reader is plain common sense.
Accessibility Tips Part 2
Keep empty form fields empty - Although I have observed the trend of inserting sample text into empty form fields as placeholders there are still websites that do this. This shouldn’t be done since most screen readers (except the very old models) are able to recognize form fields and so prompt users to enter the required information. The problem with putting placeholders inside the form fields is that screen readers usually do not even read out/mention the existence of these placeholders so that users end up not deleting them and thus end up submitting incorrect information when they simply add the right information at the beginning or the end of the placeholder. Note that this is true only for supposedly EMPTY form fields (i.e. name, address, username).
Accessibility Tips Part 1
Last time we talked about the importance of accessibility. This time I’ll be giving some tips that should help you avoid making mistakes when implementing accessibility.
Accessibility for those with Learning Disabilities
When discussing accessibility web designers often take into consideration users that have slow internet connections, use alternative browsers, and other technical factors that might result in difficulty accessing a website. With regards to people with disabilities, although there are still many websites that still do not use alt tags, the needs of the visually impaired are also usually taken into consideration. What is usually left unnoticed are the needs of those with other disabilities such as learning disabilities.
Read more … Accessibility for those with Learning Disabilities
Automated Authoring Software: The Good and the Bad
Benefits of automated authoring tools:
- Programming-free authoring and publishing - Uses easy to learn and use WYSIWYG editing
- Time saver - Automated processes makes content translation faster and everything else faster, which results in saved money and earlier release of product to the market.
- Cost reduction - The in-house production/development of e-learning materials and websites using such tools can be significantly lower than hiring a development team.
- Quality assurance - Automated editing processes ensures that process steps are taken.
- Easier collaboration - Some automated software allows for real-time multi user collaboration.
- Results in documentation consistency - By automating documentation processes you can be sure that you’ll get more consistent and timely results.
Read more … Automated Authoring Software: The Good and the Bad
Designing for the Learning Disabled continuation
- Use visual illustrations - Present visual illustrations whenever appropriate and/or possible. Use pie charts or bar graphs when quoting statistics instead of simply discussing it in paragraph form or listing it down in tables.
- Break information into small chunks - Bullet points are good. Avoid long sentences and paragraphs.
- Good spacing - Use adequate spacing between lines of text as well as between paragraphs. The spacing between lines of text usually depends on the font used so make sure you use a font that is easy on the eyes.
Read more … Designing for the Learning Disabled continuation
Designing for the Learning Disabled
Below are a few tips on designing a website for the learning disabled.
- Be consistent - Make the buttons, links, and the whole appearance of the website as consistent as possible. Aside from the appearance clickable elements should behave as consistently as possible. If you a new tab opens when a button is clicked then use pop-out tabs all throughout. If you make use of drop down menus use them all throughout instead of mixing drop down menus with expandable menus.
- Do not use idioms - Idioms can be confusing and taken literally. Instead use simple everyday language using words in their literal context/meaning.
Helping Users Navigate through Your Page: Structure
One of the most important things that would help your user navigate through your website is making sure that everything is structured and done so in a consistent manner. Each page will have different content but the page structure should be consistent throughout the site. This is very important because inconsistency in page structure will be confusing to your users. Users will tend to look for the same elements at the same area of the page they just viewed so that using different layouts will make it hard to transition from page to page. Since each page will have its own contents it is inevitable that there will be differences but at least make sure that the key/main elements are located in the same place. Aside from consistency in page structure it is important that the page design be made as simple as possible. This will make navigating easier to learn and remember.
Read more … Helping Users Navigate through Your Page: Structure
