The Fanzone!, our site forum and message boards, has undergone a layout design. Based on the BlackBox theme layout by Crip for SMF.
I really like the look of this theme and have modified some of the css to enhance the functionality and overall look of the site in multiple browsers. As far as the available themes this one is a good fit, from my perspective, for our website and its common look and feel.
The first aspect was to remove the fixed width aspect to allow for a more fluid layout by changing the wrapper width to 100%. The next changes were to enhance links so they have a distinctive difference from the text. I Added yellow font color with additional black background for link hover, to highlight and contrast hovered links and added underline to links in post fields, to highlight links. This is most noticeable when hovering over the link.
Check it out and let us know what you think!
Thanks again Crip for the great layout!
The Administrator
"What Happens in Windsor...Stays in Windsor!"
Showing posts with label accessibility. Show all posts
Showing posts with label accessibility. Show all posts
31 August 2008
08 August 2008
14 July 2008
All New Classified Advertising for Adults
We are pleased to, finally, launch our all new classified advertising for mature adults directory. We have been trying out a few different ideas over the past couple of years and have finally decided on our format. Unlike any other classified ad site, we do not hijack our visitors browsers. We have developed a clean, valid, standards compliant format that is easy to utilize, without java tricks.
The simple fact is that over the past few months the previous beta versions were highly visited and ranked in the top 5 for categories with the most unique visitors and page views. Since the redevelopment away from structured tabled layouts has evolved the majority of the site, we could not provide what visitors are looking for, old school classified ads, with type that is large enough to read. This is where our commitment of conformance to a common look and feel for our site as well as the standards compliant, fluid layouts give us the ultimate advantage.
We offer our visitors more content and information about Windsor's red light district than anyone for a reason. Since we have such a vast selection of categories that are all related to mature audiences we had to Launch it as a work in progress, you will help us build the relevant categories. We will start with the basics and visitor feedback will add the rest. Just like the site, this is all new to the Windsor market and will be a shock to the system and we love it!
Below are some of the things that set us apart from any other local 'entertainment' directory, or general directories for that fact:
We offer our loyal visitors:
Get xxx'd and remember:
"What Happens in Windsor...Stays in Windsor!"
The simple fact is that over the past few months the previous beta versions were highly visited and ranked in the top 5 for categories with the most unique visitors and page views. Since the redevelopment away from structured tabled layouts has evolved the majority of the site, we could not provide what visitors are looking for, old school classified ads, with type that is large enough to read. This is where our commitment of conformance to a common look and feel for our site as well as the standards compliant, fluid layouts give us the ultimate advantage.
We offer our visitors more content and information about Windsor's red light district than anyone for a reason. Since we have such a vast selection of categories that are all related to mature audiences we had to Launch it as a work in progress, you will help us build the relevant categories. We will start with the basics and visitor feedback will add the rest. Just like the site, this is all new to the Windsor market and will be a shock to the system and we love it!
Below are some of the things that set us apart from any other local 'entertainment' directory, or general directories for that fact:
We offer our loyal visitors:
- Accessible Web Pages
- Fast Loading Web Pages
- A Common Look and Feel
- Structured and Consistent Navigation
- Title and Link Tags as well as Visual Aids
- More Exclusive Content
- More Choices
- More Exposure to More Adult Activities
- and best of all...Relevance.
- Valid: XHTML PHP, CSS, JavaScript (with noscript options)
- No Minimum Browser or Operating System Requirements
- No Java Runtime applications required
- No JavaScript functions or setting requirements
- No Flash or Media Player downloads required
- No ActiveX Components
- NO INTRUSIVE COOKIES
- More Unique Visits
- More Return Visits
- More Page Views per Visit
- More Peer to Peer Referrals
- More Bookmarking and Sharing
Get xxx'd and remember:
"What Happens in Windsor...Stays in Windsor!"
11 June 2007
The Transition
The transition towards xhtml strict is going well and the new fluid layouts are getting indexed faster than ever. Since this site was launched I have been paying close attention to the types of devices and browsers used to surf the site. The fluid layouts are yeilding an even more diverse audience. We are also noticing more targeted traffic with far less one hit wonders or untargeted visitors. Our visitors stay and navigate through the categories in a wide and dynamic way. The new tableless layouts are also getting indexed better and we are getting awesome placements in several search engines within days in some cases. We have also noticed an increase in alternative browsers especially PDA/Phone browsers. Nice to see more moblie users checking us out!
The ability to draw a significantly large and targeted audience has allowed us to grow even more. The fact that we provide our content based upon our visitors experiences and suggestions is what sets us apart from the rest. The truth is your site does not need to be fancy to produce real results. Having a clear and focused message, presented in a visitor friendly way is the only thing that matters.
I also would like to mention that the concept of developing for multiple browsers tends to increase your website visitors and the amount of search engine crawling of your site. But it also increases the quality of your content. If you design for accessibility you will also receive a more targeted audience due to the ability for a search engines algorithm to match the users search phrase to the most relevent content.
The ability to draw a significantly large and targeted audience has allowed us to grow even more. The fact that we provide our content based upon our visitors experiences and suggestions is what sets us apart from the rest. The truth is your site does not need to be fancy to produce real results. Having a clear and focused message, presented in a visitor friendly way is the only thing that matters.
I also would like to mention that the concept of developing for multiple browsers tends to increase your website visitors and the amount of search engine crawling of your site. But it also increases the quality of your content. If you design for accessibility you will also receive a more targeted audience due to the ability for a search engines algorithm to match the users search phrase to the most relevent content.
04 June 2007
Web-Accessibility
I have recieved a few inquiries about web accessibility and some real life scenerios. Basically if you havent had the chance to read my comprehensive overview regarding accessibility I can briefly sum it up with some examples.
Common scenerio:
Your website is built with flash or relies on images or active scripts, etc.
Things to ponder:
The fact that these variables are mostly ignored in favour of the status quo, build for Internet Explorer and don't worry about the rest. Hey not to really knock IE or Microsoft but they really develop their products with themself in mind first and formost. They are a business and are for profit. The fact is that even by looking at this one site of mine, the stats tell me if I designed only for IE I would miss over 30% of my visitors. My stats show that over 30% of my visitors are using: Firefox, Safari, Netscape, Opera, Mozilla, PDA/Phone, Konqueror, and Camino browsers regularly. Plus those that utilize Linux, FreeBSD and Macintosh systems. Can you afford to lose over 30% right off the top? I can't. Sure I do get more nonconforming, older browsers that you probably do and its because I have opened the door for them. Not to mention my ever growing legion of Mac users! But the internet is designed to open up information and make iot more available, accessible to more than the old traditional marketing solutions.
Shoud an intenet user be excluded due to technical limitations or financial considerations?
To sum it up, if you have a message to convey or a business to promote, how can you not plan for an alternative, not a replacement, to your current internet marketing strategy that may be excluding potential clients or customers. How many more visitors do you really want to close the door on. We know it is rather unintentional considering you most likely have never heard of web-accessibility until now. As a business owner you know how you have the responsibility for your establishment to be accessible to those with disabilities, well guess what next on the horizon. The Internet. Its being done in many countries today and is spreading to the US and Canada, under the radar. It will only take a few more lawsuits under the Americans with Disabilities Act and our own Canadians With Disabilities Provisions. Have you been to a Government of Canada site lately or have you looked into the US section 508 Guidelines? They are redeveloping all of there sites towards accessibility, for good reason. The question is do you want to get the ball rolling before it becomes mandatory?
Give me some feedback on this one.
Common scenerio:
Your website is built with flash or relies on images or active scripts, etc.
Things to ponder:
- What about visitors with older browser or text based browsers? (Will they see your site?)
- What about visitors with dial up or non-traditional connections to the internet? (Will your site load?)
- What if the visitor to your site disables your websites functionality features such as cookies, javascript, reloading, images, etc.? There are tons of privacy and security features for the user to install nowadays, and they use them. (Will your site work?)
- What if the visitor has a visual or physical imparement or disability? (Can they navigate your site?)
The fact that these variables are mostly ignored in favour of the status quo, build for Internet Explorer and don't worry about the rest. Hey not to really knock IE or Microsoft but they really develop their products with themself in mind first and formost. They are a business and are for profit. The fact is that even by looking at this one site of mine, the stats tell me if I designed only for IE I would miss over 30% of my visitors. My stats show that over 30% of my visitors are using: Firefox, Safari, Netscape, Opera, Mozilla, PDA/Phone, Konqueror, and Camino browsers regularly. Plus those that utilize Linux, FreeBSD and Macintosh systems. Can you afford to lose over 30% right off the top? I can't. Sure I do get more nonconforming, older browsers that you probably do and its because I have opened the door for them. Not to mention my ever growing legion of Mac users! But the internet is designed to open up information and make iot more available, accessible to more than the old traditional marketing solutions.
Shoud an intenet user be excluded due to technical limitations or financial considerations?
To sum it up, if you have a message to convey or a business to promote, how can you not plan for an alternative, not a replacement, to your current internet marketing strategy that may be excluding potential clients or customers. How many more visitors do you really want to close the door on. We know it is rather unintentional considering you most likely have never heard of web-accessibility until now. As a business owner you know how you have the responsibility for your establishment to be accessible to those with disabilities, well guess what next on the horizon. The Internet. Its being done in many countries today and is spreading to the US and Canada, under the radar. It will only take a few more lawsuits under the Americans with Disabilities Act and our own Canadians With Disabilities Provisions. Have you been to a Government of Canada site lately or have you looked into the US section 508 Guidelines? They are redeveloping all of there sites towards accessibility, for good reason. The question is do you want to get the ball rolling before it becomes mandatory?
Give me some feedback on this one.
23 May 2007
New Sample's
Check out our sample profile pages. They are standard compliant and W3C valid XHTML, CSS.
- Sample A : This is a 2 column fluid layout with a left side menu column. This layout is shown in blue. View this Example
- Sample B : this is a 2 column fluid layout with a right side menu column. This layout is shown in red. View this Example
- Sample C : This is a 2 column fluid layout with a left side menu column. This layout is shown in black. View this Example
14 May 2007
12 May 2007
Redesign
A little about the sites current upgrades.
As the site traffic has increased and I speak to other web developers I have noticed an increase in non-traditional browsers visiting the site. This began several months ago while beta testing some new css layouts. I noticed that as I re-developed the pages with relative sizes for tables and font sizes, traffic increased a little. As I tweeked the pages and continued to clean up the code to speed up the load times I also noticed another bonus, a big increase in search engine crawls and indexing which helped with rankings as well. The beta testing went better than expected and I was pleased with the results. At the time all of the sites pages were coded in html 4.01 transitional or loose, many did not validate but it didn't seem to matter much, or so I thought. as I began another development project I figured it was time to utilize xhtml strict. Now there were many reasons for the switch to xhtml but the one that stuck with me was cross browser compatability. As the other project developed that project a whole new aspect came to light, accessibility. I will expand on that at another time. But for now the basic fundamentals were to design for cross browser support and graceful degradation, (more browser friendly and give nicer results to mutiple screen widths). The best way to achieve this was to scrap the idea of utilizing tables for page content structure and developing tableless layouts with css. Again I launched a few beta pages, tried to break them with different tools and browsers and noticed a big change in search engine results! The more I developed the style with css coding the cleaner and smaller my pages were which tranlated to faster loading and better search engine results. What a bonus! But an even greater bonus was the increase in text based browsers and handheld devices too! Well that has led me to re-develop before the last redesign was completed but sure saved a lot of double work and a lot of headaches to boot.
As the site traffic has increased and I speak to other web developers I have noticed an increase in non-traditional browsers visiting the site. This began several months ago while beta testing some new css layouts. I noticed that as I re-developed the pages with relative sizes for tables and font sizes, traffic increased a little. As I tweeked the pages and continued to clean up the code to speed up the load times I also noticed another bonus, a big increase in search engine crawls and indexing which helped with rankings as well. The beta testing went better than expected and I was pleased with the results. At the time all of the sites pages were coded in html 4.01 transitional or loose, many did not validate but it didn't seem to matter much, or so I thought. as I began another development project I figured it was time to utilize xhtml strict. Now there were many reasons for the switch to xhtml but the one that stuck with me was cross browser compatability. As the other project developed that project a whole new aspect came to light, accessibility. I will expand on that at another time. But for now the basic fundamentals were to design for cross browser support and graceful degradation, (more browser friendly and give nicer results to mutiple screen widths). The best way to achieve this was to scrap the idea of utilizing tables for page content structure and developing tableless layouts with css. Again I launched a few beta pages, tried to break them with different tools and browsers and noticed a big change in search engine results! The more I developed the style with css coding the cleaner and smaller my pages were which tranlated to faster loading and better search engine results. What a bonus! But an even greater bonus was the increase in text based browsers and handheld devices too! Well that has led me to re-develop before the last redesign was completed but sure saved a lot of double work and a lot of headaches to boot.
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