W3C

Well, this weeks topic is W3C. What is it? Who is it? What does it do?

W3C stands for World Wide Web Consortium, an international consortium working to develop Web standards. Founded in 1994, their mission, according to the website is:

"To lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing protocols and guidelines that ensure long-term growth for the web."

The goal of W3C's Mobile Web Initiative, launched in 2005, is to make Web access from any kind of device as simple, easy and convenient as Web access from a desktop.

In February of 1997 W3C launched their Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). WAI develops strategies, guidelines, and resources to help make the Web accessible to people with disabilities.

Some highlights are:

• sites and applications that people with disabilities can perceibe, understand, navigaterm and interact with
• browsers and media players that can be used effectively by peopled wiht disabilities and that work well with assistive technologies
• authoring tools and evolving technologies that support production of accessible web content and sites, and can be used effectively by those with disabilities

These disabilities include, but are not limited to:

• Visual
• Hearing
• Physical, Speech
• Cognitive, Nerological

This all sounds really good and I believe the need for these things to be taken into consideration is paramount.

The WAI Online Overview in html slides can be found at: http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wai-overview-slides


* * *

Who knows, maybe web-surfing fridges are going to be all the rage for our children or grandchildren. A little too much if you ask me but then I guess I am a bit of a traditionalist.
I am a bit quiet today as I don't really have anything to say. So I guess I'll say 'Goodbye'.


"Masterpieces are no more than the shipwrecked flotsam of great minds" - Marcel Proust

Pages 37-73

I have to comment momentarily regarding my last post - the page I was on was actually his bio page and not the home page. Frankly though, I do not find the home page that much better however must admit it is better organized. There is no mention of who Mr. Neilsen is or why the site was created but here again are a lot of links - 71 in all!!

Anyway, back to the text book - pages 49- 51 are talking about bulleted lists - and guess what? most of what the text says to do Mr. Neilsen does not do. Page 51 in particular states that bulleted lists should be short - definitely not Mr. Neilsen's way of doing it, he has a HUGE bulleted list on the 'Alertbox' page that must contain at least 50 bullets!!

Mr. Neilsen does not defy the text when it comes to language level things such as simple sentences, strong verbs and active voice - only because he has minimal text on most pages and a number of pages have notext at all!

Now I have combined two assignments into one post - clever eh?

'It's a delicious thing to write. To be no longer yourself but to move in an entire universe of your own creating.' - Gustave Flaubert

Jakob Nielsen

Well this time we are looking at Jakob Nielsen, the "guru of internet usability", so the claim goes. I went to his site ( www.useit.com) and oddly enough I find his website does not hold up to all the hype. I don't like that I have to scroll down quite a ways and there are so many links on the page that it makes up the greater part of the site.

While there is a small bio for the man, there is much more about what people call him and what his professional background is. There is nothing on this main page that gives me a sense of who the man is. There are no particular reasons given as to why one should abide by his statements - you have to read through a plethora of linked articles etc to find out anything. I find this to go against what we are being taught in class. There is no real reason given as to why I should look at the links other than because our class instructor said so (almost reminds me of my Mom many years ago!)

TaTa for now

'Once writing has become your major vice and greatest pleasure only death can stop it.' - Ernest Hemingway