Internet Technology Sarah Gaskins

Web Design for Accessibility

Just as equality is an important issue in the offline world, it is also imperative that Internet users have equal access to technologies and information across the web, despite each persons abilities or disabilities. Tim Berners-Lee is even quoted to have said, "The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect."

Some examples of people with various accessibility needs include users with visual impairment or blindness, users with mobility or dexterity impairment, and users with cognitive impairment such as dyslexia or language differences.

To design and develop websites that are accessibly to each of these groups of users and more, it is important to understand specific obstacles to each of these user groups to most efficiently choose and utilize the correct approach and techniques to do so.

Examples of techniques for some of these groups would be:

• Visual Impairment: Using "alt" tags to describe images with text so that screen readers can relay as much useful information as possible audibly.
• Mobility / Dexterity Impairment: Using tab indexes so that people with difficulties using a mouse can navigate to anywhere within the site using a keyboard.

It's also important to design and develop for cross-browser compatibility and multiple environments such as mobile, which is growing at a rapid pace. The growing diversity of operating systems and environments, as well as types of users with various types of impairments, makes it a big responsibility for all designers and developers to do all in their ability to create accessible, usable websites for all.

Developing with Web Standards

In 1998, the Web Standards Project (WaSP) formed with a mission to ensure simple and affordable access to web technologies for all web users. According to WaSP's website, the coalition's efforts include goals to "reduce the cost and complexity of development while increasing the accessibility and long-term viability of any site published on the Web."

Just as any growing team, project or system needs guidance as it develops into a better version of itself, the Web needs guidance as well, which comes in the form of web standards. As the Web has steadily become more and more widely used among society, it is inevitable that users with disabilities will make up a portion of the group that uses the Web every day. For that reason, web standards exist.

The benefits of developing with web standards can be appreciated by developers and end users alike. Some benefits include:

• Accessibility - sites developed in compliance with web standards can be displayed properly regardless of what size screen or which browser the user chooses; they also are compatible with screen readers and other devices used by people with visual impairment or blindness.
• Ease of editing - developers can easily change a site's layout if necessary, or understand each other's work in a collaborative project
• Decreased use of bandwidth - standards compliant sites use cleaner and less code, resulting in quicker load time
• Findability / visibility - search engines can access, evaluate and index information more easily in sites developed according to web standards

Those are just a few of the major benefits -- for both developers and site visitors -- that result from a site developed in compliance with web standards. While we're nowhere near a point where all developers adhere to web standards, it has recently become a topic of increasing importance and discussion. The more quickly we reach a point of agreement and enforce standards, the more quickly developers and end users can mutually enjoy the full potential that the Web has to offer.

Information Architecture

Just a house requires plans and blueprints to result in a successful finished product, so does a website or other information system which stores and delivers content (not necessarily digital). However, I'm going to focus primarily on the Web side of things. So, although an online information system's structure may change more frequently than an offline system, the significant need for IA remains the same. According to Wikipedia, the Information Architecture Institute defines Information architecture as:

1. The structural design of shared information environments.
2. The art and science of organizing and labeling web sites, intranets, online communities, and software to support findability and usability.
3. An emerging community of practice focused on bringing principles of design and architecture to the digital landscape.

Content management is an increasingly necessary skill in these days of the Internet. It takes precise planning and calculated creativity to effectively manage on online information system, which most people would likely agree is a quite popular tool in today's business world. Information architecture (IA) is the key science behind what makes those systems work (or, it's absence is the key reason for those that don't).

Since one of the most important aspects of a website is its usability, we must design its structure -- and plan for its probable restructure in the future -- to accommodate the site's users. Otherwise, well, it inevitably just won't get used.

Write for the Web!

Some major differences exist between writing content for the web and content for print, primarily because people read differently online than they do in print! Although the common goal for content, both online and print, is to provide clear information targeted to specific types of users, the approaches to writing the same content for different media vary greatly.

See some of the differences between print readers and web readers summed up, below!

Print readers:

• Are relaxed and passive readers.
• Read to soak up information.
• Are more absorbed and engaged in the content.
• Take in data as it's presented to them.

Web readers:

• Are distracted and multitasking.
• Usually only want info about how to complete a certain task.
• Are trying to get in, get something done, and get out.
• Read actively, ready to take some kind of action.

So, how do we tailor our content to best fit the needs of an online user?

Things to keep in mind when writing for web:

• Make it easy, and don't make them think! Web users don't read content. They scan. It is important to understand the online user experience and the goals and expectations of online readers. Instead of reading information word for word (as for print), they skip around skimming for something interesting or useful.
• Make sure the user always knows where he or she is, and leave clues about how to get around within the content. Websites are not linear. The content doesn't always have a definable beginning, middle, and end like print material.
• Always use alt text and lead with relevant information. Web content should be accessible by visually impaired users. Online users with visual impairment are able to take in information on the web by using devices such as screen readers, which can be programmed to read only headings, subheadings, and links, or all information on a page.
• Write content that is useful, usable, consistent, current, findable, and engaging.

The rules and standards for writing web content will continue to change and grow, while rules for writing print content will likely remain the same for quite some time. So, it's important to stay updated on what makes a good web writer! Check out these resources for more info:

• Writing for the Web
• Communicate Clearly with Online Customers

Christoper Alexander

Internationally known architect Christopher Alexander is recognized for his theories about design, Alexander developed a “pattern language” enabling any person to “design and build at any scale,” according to Wikipedia.

As one of the first people to use the term “design patterns,” Alexander referred to architectural patterns as having the same problems occurring repetitively through each project. This is what led him to develop the “pattern language.”

As defined by Wikipedia:

A pattern language is a structured method of describing good design practices within a field of expertise. It is characterized by:

1. Noticing and naming the common problems in a field of interest,
2. Describing the key characteristics of effective solutions for meeting some stated goal,
3. Helping the designer move from problem to problem in a logical way, and
4. Allowing for many different paths through the design process.

This pattern language is essentially a collection or network of patterns, each calling upon one another throughout a process. It is easily compared to a sentence in any spoken language, where a collection of words are grouped together to form a sentence.

Alexander decided to leave the design pattern's organizational structure open to the individual pattern author, so long as the patterns make sense to the designer.

One of the biggest pro's of design patterns comes from its name – pattern. Successful designs are able to be recycled or reused, helping to further the success of future designs and avoid problems or obstacles that have already been discovered.

Information Technology Infrastructure Library

According to Wikipedia, "the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a set of concepts and practices for managing Information Technology Services, IT development and IT operations." It's also a service.

It serves as a sort of guiding reference for IT professionals to follow so there may be structure and order in the fast-paced Information Technology field. The ITIL offers comprehensive checklists and outlines detailed descriptions of important IT practices, tasks and procedures that organizations can look to as a guide.

Currently, the ITIL consists of 8 version 2 books including the disciplines of Service Support, Service Delivery, ICT Infrastructure Management, Security Management, The Business Perspective, Application Management, and Software Asset Management.

Specifically, the Service Desk / Service Request Management discipline includes features such as:

• Single point of contact
• Single entry point
• Single exit point
• ease of use
• integrity of data
• streamlined communication channel

The Service Desk's primary functions include incident control and communication.

An example of an ITIL consulting company is Enterprise Consulting Services. ECS is "a boutique consulting firm specializing in IT Service Management consulting, implementation and outsourcing, using the ITIL framework. ECS provides a unique consulting approach for companies determined to reduce the total cost of IT ownership, maximize IT alignment with the business and ensure regulatory compliance."

ECS's client list consists of notable names such as Citibank and Bausch & Lomb. Citibank hired ECS to create a low cost data center to host web based loan delivery systems. With a $4 million O&M budget, ECS managed 30+ vendors, LAN and WAN engineering and administration, telecommunications, voice, hardware and software procurement and security administration.

And, an example of an ITIL help desk (service desk) software would be ManageEngine, which helps make a clear plan of high-level goals to be achieved with the ITIL implementation. By asking the following questions, ManageEngine helps small and medium businesses stay focused and successfully implement ITIL:

• What is the vision?
• Where are we now?
• Where do we want to be?
• How do we get where we want to be?

AKA: Oslo

First surfacing in 2007 under the code name "Oslo," the SQL Server Modeling CTP is a set of software development and system management tools (Microsoft) working together for the common purpose of increasing productivity of IT professionals, including developers and architects, working on .NET applications.

Oslo is composed of three major components:

1. A repository - SQL Server database designed to store model schemas and instances
2. "Quadrant" - a visual modeling tool that interacts with relational data stored in SQL Server databases
3. Modeling language "M" - powerful text based language for defining model schemas and instances. According to Wikipedia, "the 'M' language and its associated tools also simplify the creation of custom domain-specific languages (DSLs) by providing a generic infrastructure engine (parser, lexer, and compiler) that's configured with a specific 'grammar'."

Sharing a goal with BPMN (Business Process Management Notation) of ultimately simplifying development processes, SQL Server Modeling CTP allows for advanced diagramming and enables the development of BPMN workflows and UML (Unified Modeling Language) services.

Google AdWords

From small businesses to big brand powerhouses, online marketing has proven itself to be an effective strategy for those who use it correctly. One popular method of internet marketing that businesses may choose to drive traffic to their web sites is a pay-per-click service called Google AdWords. While immediate results are not typical, it is possible for Google AdWords customers to start seeing an increase in web traffic -- and conversion rates -- within the first few days of creating a campaign.

Here's how it works:
A web site owner who wants to increase visitor traffic would create a Google AdWords campaign, then create an ad within that campaign, and bid on several keywords and key phrases in order to have his or her ad displayed when users search those specific words or phrases. Now, the higher the bid, the more likely the ad will show up on results pages (above organic results or in the right sidebar of Google search results page). Google uses a powerful auction-style system to determine average value of keywords and phrases, and return appropriate ads according to the "highest bidder." That's a summary of how Google AdWords works, and I've included a visual example of a process model below. Click the image to view a larger version.

Example of a Google AdWords process model