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.
What your website design says about you
It is hard to believe that the first proper website went online as recently as 1991 and now there are billions of pages fighting for attention. Of course the Home Page is by far the most important as it is your company’s shop window.
Avoid Using Excessive Web Design Scripts
Turning to the different scripting techniques to make your website stand out above the rest of website designs today may be something that will not always be good.
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.
User Interface Markup Languages Part 2
- Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML) - Powerful XML-based markup user interface markup language and application markup language in one. Has the combined functionality of various user interface markup languages such as XUL, SVG, and CSS. Created by Microsoft.
- OpenLaszlo - Supports Flash. Newest versions 4.x and releases also supports Dynamic HTML (DHTML). As you have already probably deduced from the name it is open-source.
User Interface Markup Languages Part 1
We all know how important the graphical user interface (GUI) is for all websites. Though a website may have excellent content if the user interface is poorly designed users will have an extremely difficult time extracting the information they need or finishing whatever task they were set out to do on that website. The GUI is a factor that largely affects the user satisfaction and as we all know it is the satisfied customer/user that will come back and maybe even spread the news. Because of this GUI is extremely important.
General Purpose, Lightweight, and Content Syndication Markup Languages
This is a partial list of markup languages. The links pointed to are the most authoritative links I could find on each particular markup language. Note that I chose only the more popular markup languages for each category in order to give you an idea of the scope of use of markup languages.
Read more … General Purpose, Lightweight, and Content Syndication Markup Languages
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
