June 2008 Archives

Yes, I know that there are already a million posts around the web on the best Firefox extensions. However, I had a colleague ask me for some resources specific to making a site more Accessible. So I sent her a list of Firefox extensions specific to testing a site for Accessibility, and thought I would share them here as well.

First, here is the list of IT Accessibility Standards for the state of Missouri: http://www.oa.mo.gov/itsd/cio/standards/ITGS0003.pdf. This is the standard that we try to meet with the websites/web apps we develop.

Accessibility related

Accessibility Toolbar

This Mozilla/Firefox Accessibility Extension makes it easier for people with disabilities to view and navigate web content. Developers can use the extension to check their use of structural and styling markup that support functional web accessibility. In addition, it provides link to submit a page to the Functional Accessibility Evaluator at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Fangs Screen Reader Emulator

Creates a textual representation of a web page similar to how the page would be read by a modern screen reader.

Yellowpipe Lynx Viewer Tool 1.2.1

Enables you to see what a page will look like when viewed with Lynx, a text-mode web browser. It is also presumably, how search engines see your site. In addition, it can help determine if web pages are accessible to the vision impaired. Also gives a pretty good idea of how your site will work when javascript is unavailable.

General Web Development

Web Developer Toolbar

Absolutely invaluable collection of tools/utilities for web developers. Way too many features to try and list. If you do web development, you need this extension.

HTML Validator

Performs an inline evaluation/validation of the html code of any page you look at. Essentially, this is the same thing as running your code through the W3C.org’s code Validator, except that it is done locally on your computer. It also allows you to see, at a glance via a status bar icon, if the page you are viewing passes the validator, and if not, how many errors/warnings there are. Having standardized code doesn’t make your site Accessible, but having standardized code makes it easier to make it Accessible.

Firebug

Another invaluable web developer tool. Firebug integrates with Firefox to put a wealth of web development tools at your fingertips while you browse. You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page. I could not live without Firebug and the Web Developer toolbars installed. Well, I could live, but I certainly couldn’t develop nearly as efficiently.

Yslow

YSlow analyzes any web page and generates a grade for each rule (based on Yahoo’s “Rules for High Performance Web Sites”) and an overall grade. If a page can be improved, YSlow lists the specific changes to be made.

It’s the season for those looking for professional development opportunities and there are plenty of conferences around to meet most needs. Yours truly will be speaking at the upcoming CASE Summer Institute in Communications and Marketing being held this year at the lovely University of Vermont in Burlington.

For about 5 days during the first week of August, marketing and communications professionals new to their jobs or new to higher ed will meet to enjoy perhaps one of the most fun conferences I’ve ever attended. Because it’s held over several days, participants get to truly immerse themselves in the experience, get to know the faculty and, most importantly, make other friends within their profession. This is critical for communicators.

Last year I was the rookie on the faculty. This year, I’m a returning team member with a brand spanking new Web workshop to offer attendees. My workshop sessions will include:

• From Conception to Production: The Process of Building a Successful, User-Centered, Web Site

Sites big and small benefit from a sound plan and process. Learn how to organize your team and deliver a site that is within budget, meets goals and places the needs of your visitors first. Included in this session will be insights and resources you can use to make decisions about hiring consultants, selecting a content management system and more.

• Managing the Hybrid Web Team

It’s a new and unexplored world now that communication and technical professionals work together on the same team. How does a communications professional manage technical staff? How can you find a language that both of you can understand? Let’s share some tips, tricks and techniques that will help you hire and manage the hybrid Web team.

• I’ve Collected the Data; Now What Do I Do With It?

You have tons of Web analytics collected over many months or years. Learn how to use this information to “listen to your audience” and create user-centered Web sites.

Other presentations include Marketing Your Institution Online and the perennial favorite, What a Tangled Web We Weave: Campus Politics and the Web.

I was looking back at my presentations folder yesterday and realized the first time I delivered the Campus Politics and the Web presentation was in 2001. Wow. That seems forever ago. The good news is that what I discussed in the 2001 presentation as problems I faced, in 2008 I can stand before people and talk about them in the past tense. It’s nice to make some progress, isn’t it?

I will also be chairing the Online Strategies conference for CASE in Seattle in October. More about that one later.

Whatever you do in your professional life, make sure that continuing education and development are a part of it. For those of us who work in the world of Web, learning is perhaps the most important thing we do.

I recently graduated from the University of Missouri with a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science. Thankfully I didn’t have to look far for a good employment opportunity, and I started working with Web Communications on May 27th.

My job title is Programmer/Analyst, and I will actually be splitting most of my work between two other departments here on campus: The Chancellor’s Diversity Initiative with Rebecca Calvin and the International Center with Kerri Urban. My tasks will include the development of new web-based software, revision and updates of old software, and analysis of third party software to meet their needs. I will also be working with them and the very wonderful, very talented Web Communications staff to migrate some of their web content to the CMS.

Prior to working here I was a student worker for the College of Engineering’s External Relations department, where in a year I did everything from shredding boxes of paper and stuffing envelopes to writing PHP code to parse XML and building MySQL databases.

I have an expansive programming background with experience in a lot of different types of programming languages, such as PHP, Perl, ColdFusion, C/C++, Java, and Visual Basic, and software engineering-related concepts such as database design and normalization, UNIX systems, networking and sockets programming, and other dorky-sounding concepts.

I seem to be settling in pretty well, and I’m looking forward to working with the Chancellor’s Diversity Initiative, International Center, and Web Communications.

It is a great time to be a web developer! We recently mentioned how Opera had released version 9.5 of the Opera browser. Today, the mozilla foundation will release version 3 of Firefox.

To celebrate the release of Firefox version 3, I thought I would provide you with a list of interesting articles and a download of FireFox 3 - Revealed courtesy of Sitepoint.com.

First up, get the most out of Firefox 3 — with this FREE eBook from sitepoint.com!

Next up, webmonkey (yes, they are back!) has a great article on Why You Should Download Firefox 3 Right Now

Last, LifeHacker speed tested the 4 major browsers (Opera 9.5, Safari for windows 3.1.1, Firefox v3 RC3, IE 7) to see which was the fastest in 3 major categories: startup time, Javascript & CSS, and memory use. Speed Testing the Latest Web Browsers

Regardless of which browser you find to be your favorite, the fact that all the major browser vendors are updating their browsers to better support CSS, HTML standards and Javascript will surely make our lives as developers easier and more efficient!

Yesterday we learned that Firefox version 3 finally has an official launch date. But what does that mean to those of us who develop for the Web, and for the end user?

Instead of creating an exhaustive list of the details of version 3, I’ll instead point you to the Field Guide to Firefox 3, by far THE best guide I have seen so far on the new (and in some cases, improved) features in FireFox3.

If you can’t wait for Firefox 3 to arrive, then maybe it’s time you tried out Opera. This new version sports some cool features like:

• A new browser engine
• Opera Link — bookmark syncing
• Opera Dragonfly — a new set of developer tools
• Fraud Protection
• Download Manager with BitTorrent
• Content blocking

We talked about Opera Dragonfly earlier and feel it has some good potential, so go download it and give it a try.

Jason posted a couple of weeks ago about the release candidate for Firefox 3. We now have an official launch date for the final version of Firefox version 3. The Mozilla developers announced last night that it is their “… expectation to ship Firefox 3 this upcoming Tuesday, June 17th.”

My reign as editorial overlord in MU Web Communications comes to a close today. I’m packing a truck and heading to Washington, D.C., for new adventures in employment and rent control. So what have I learned?

• With time, even an acronym-averse individual can learn what all the tech-based acronyms mean. (However, I still tend to glaze over or nod off when people start speaking in acronyms rather than words.)
• Tell a good story and people will still read! Developing and editing Mizzou Wire has been a pleasure, and our readership continues to grow. My replacement, Karen Pojmann, will keep it growing, and you can look for more multimedia work in the future as Shane Epping comes on board full-time.
• Blogging can be a real chore. I didn’t blog on Interface nearly as often as I should have. To be fair, though, I was writing a lot for Mizzou Wire and the Live Wire Blog.
• Having an office full of fellow subversive, sarcastic beings leads to good mental health. Be diplomatic in all things public, knowing that you can alway share a good gripe and laugh with your coworkers.
• Nerf hoop provides a good 15-minute break. I am the Nerf hoop P-I-G champ of the office. Sorry, Jason.
• Starbucks is the new crack — only more expensive.
• Web analytics rock. There’s nothing better than knowing exactly how long people are spending on your page, where they’re coming from, where they’re going, etc.
• MU Web Communications staff rocks even harder. This is a talented group of people, top to bottom, and a great place to work.

That’s it. Farewell.

XPath is possibly the single most important tool you’ll ever use within your XSLT programming. The syntax and techniques used in XPath are inherent in the use of XSLT. In a nutshell, XPath is the portion of XSLT that allows you to “travel” through the node structure and select or match certain nodes. In a way, it resembles folder structures that any web developer should be already familiar with.