LessFuss Design

First week on Twitter

So I’m on Twitter now (@mr_beeps ) (always the early adopter, me), and already it’s changed how I keep in touch with people, how I find news and how I find all that weird stuff on the web. Here’s a few observations from my first week. Continue reading ‘First week on Twitter’ »

Universal Internet Explorer 6 CSS - putting a plaster on the Achilles heel

I’ve been taking a look at Andy Clarke’s new solution to the old Internet Explorer 6 problem - using one universal CSS file for all sites (with ‘a little branding here, or a touch of customization there’) - and I’ve decided I don’t really like it. I don’t like it because it serves web designers and developers, rather than the right people - clients and users. And because I think it will promote laziness when it comes to testing sites in IE6, which - like it or not - will most likely be around for a while yet. Continue reading ‘Universal Internet Explorer 6 CSS - putting a plaster on the Achilles heel’ »

Projects update

Given the last site in my portfolio was from November last year and it’s now almost summer, I’m thinking it looks like I’ve either a) called it a day or b) got no work to be getting on with. Rather than putting up a tumbleweed animation on the homepage, here’s a quick update on what I’m working on instead. Continue reading ‘Projects update’ »

Twitterplan

Who’d have thought it, local government actually using social media for something really useful? Lichfield and Lincoln City councils have proved that you can use Web 2.0 for the good of the people by developing a new Twitter application called Twitterplan . The service Tweets alerts about new planning applications near where you live. Continue reading ‘Twitterplan’ »

Skip links + tabindex = confusion

Adding features that help improve the accessibility of a website is a good thing. But sometimes accessibility features can conflict with each other when used inappropriately. Providing skip links while also setting the tab index on links is a good example of two common accessibility techniques which, if you’re not careful, can end up doing more harm than good. Continue reading ‘Skip links + tabindex = confusion’ »

Naked

No, not me you’ll be disappointed glad to hear, but this blog - it’s the fourth CSS Naked Day today, the annual event from the Gok Wan of web standards, Dustin Diaz . I’m de-robing this blog for the first time to show my support, and to demonstrate that while far from pretty, the site should still at least be usable.

Continue reading ‘Naked’ »

Mock ups the old fashioned way

For a recent project I was asked to come up with some (very) rough design ideas for a site where the client wanted a ‘grungy’ look. Because the client was only after some rough layout ideas and nothing polished, I put aside Photoshop and for the first time in years took to paper, pencil crayon and felt tips. I’d forgotten how enjoyable - and liberating - working with the old traditional media is. But if hand drawing isn’t your thing, but you like the sketched-style wireframes for presenting layout ideas, there’s plenty of good - and reasonably priced - software packages out there. Continue reading ‘Mock ups the old fashioned way’ »

Flash window mode and accessibility

Making a Flash movie accessible can be tricky enough, but before you can allow screen reader users to find their way around your Flash movie, they first have to know its even there. Setting the window mode (wmode) parameter to transparent or opaque is a common practice when embedding Flash - so it behaves itself on-screen - but the setting also renders the movie completely invisible to screen readers and keyboard controls. Continue reading ‘Flash window mode and accessibility’ »

WebAIM accessibility survey results

WebAIM (Web Accessibility In Mind) have published the results of a screen reader user survey they did at the end of 2008. Some of the results confirmed what many of us assume (or are led to believe) about screen reader user behaviour, but others were a bit of a surprise. The full results and some analysis is published on the WebAIM website [external link], here’s my list of the main points of interest. Continue reading ‘WebAIM accessibility survey results’ »

Off to Virgin Money

After seven years at South Norfolk Council I’m leaving to join the E-Commerce Team at Virgin Money. In the end it was an easy decision - not so much to do with it being more money (which nonetheless is very nice), but because it’s a new challenge in a new environment. The council’s been good to me, and I’ve been good to them. Time to move on. Continue reading ‘Off to Virgin Money’ »