One thing I noticed while watching videos online (YouTube, MetaCafe, Google Video, etc) is that there is rarely any text accompanying the video. It isn’t much of an issue if it’s a prank video or a Japanese game show, but when there’s a lot of speaking parts, there’s rarely any captioning. I wonder what hearing… Continue reading Deaf and online videos
Category: Accessibility
Standards in form fields
I wish there was a consortium for setting standards on form fields. I fill out a lot of forms. As such, I assume that by now I can fill out a basic form asking for contact informaton and I should be able to use my browser’s auto-complete features. Yet, it doesn’t always happen. And it… Continue reading Standards in form fields
Canadian postal codes
One of the frustrations I have with filling out my address in web forms is the postal code field. Often, it is not a problem, but regularly, there are problems. For example, a form for a US-based company may indicate they accept Canadian addresses, but their zip code field is restricted to five characters (the… Continue reading Canadian postal codes
Old folders
Something I have been thinking about lately is the idea of naming folders that make sense in the future. For example, it does not make sense to name a folder “Word documents”; a year from now you might wonder what kind of Word documents are in that folder. A common technique I have seen people… Continue reading Old folders
Recently added files
I’ve been making some changes on our website that last few weeks to help improve the usability of our website and make information available in different ways. Most recently, the feature I added scans a directory for files that have been uploaded in the last seven days. It then lists the filename, adds a link… Continue reading Recently added files
Horizontal Scrolling
I like to use my six-year-old daughter as a reminder of how basic computer users use the web. This morning she was trying to use a site that was designed for a 900×600 browser viewing size. Even though we have our monitor’s resolution set to 1024×768 and our browser is maximised, we also have the… Continue reading Horizontal Scrolling
Restricting Input
My six-year-old daughter was playing on Strudel Doodle this morning. It’s basically an online drawing application where users can submit their drawings for a prize. So my daughter arrived at the page and clicked on “GO DOODLE!”. Then she clicked on the redundant “START DOODLING” button on the following page. Then she clicked on the… Continue reading Restricting Input
Providing English Content
One of the things I find the most frustrating about using the international web is when websites offering English versions do not provide an intuitive way to find the English version.
Don’t Design for Full Screen
Stop making your websites go to full screen automatically! I mean it. Stop it.
Paving Paths and Website Accessibility
I have been working my legs too hard over the last couple of weeks with my non-stop cycling. Last weekend certainly was not enough time to let me legs recuperate. I decided to drive to work this morning in hopes that a third day will be enough to get my legs back to normal.
Anyhow, while walking from my truck to the University of Lethbridge on one of the new paths, I was reflecting on how the path has a lot to do with web design.