Hijax – The solution for ajax accessibility
Posted on 16. Apr, 2007 by Dean Whitney in archive and has 0 Comments
One of the prevalent buzz-words in Web 2.0 is “Ajax”. A term originally coined by interactive design guru and Adaptive Path founder Jessie James Garrett; Ajax stands for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. The idea that without Flash we can achieve “desktop application like” behavior – users can interact without refreshing the page - has become a key design pattern in Web 2.0. Ajax accessibility is a hot topic in the interactive world.
Recent litigation involving the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) may soon have companies scrambling to increase accessibility.The question is how do you make Ajax applications accessible? The answer is Hijax: Progressive Enhancement with Ajax. An approach by Jeremy Keith, author of “DOM Scripting: Web Design with JavaScript and the Document Object Model”. Jeremy says:
It’s a very simple idea:
- First, build an old-fashioned website that uses hyperlinks and forms to pass information to the server. The server returns whole new pages with each request.
- Now, use JavaScript to intercept those links and form submissions and pass the information via XMLHttpRequest instead. You can then select which parts of the page need to be updated instead of updating the whole page.
This means that screen readers, text browsers, and mobile devices can still access all the functionality without building separate site versions.
Quick and easy online portfolio
Posted on 26. Mar, 2007 by Dean Whitney in archive and has 0 Comments
If you work in interactive you need a website to get a job. The biggest challenge is for anyone that’s good is finding time. As interactive pros we are always on, always busy. We’ll Carbonmade is a great ‘temporary’ solution.
The site allows you to make quick professional looking online portfolio in no time. Have a job interview in a few hours? Conbonmade is the way to go.
Make your flickr style logo!
Posted on 08. Mar, 2007 by Dean Whitney in archive and has 0 Comments
Just for a laugh, check out the flickr logo makr.
Scribd – Better than Adobe Acrobat for posting documents on your website
Posted on 02. Mar, 2007 by Dean Whitney in archive and has 0 Comments
Techcrunch calls Scribd the “YouTube for documents”. What’s nice is that this free service allows you to upload documents and provide multiple download link formats. Additionally, an added benefit, is if you are publishing whitepapers and other documents to your website it will provide another channel by which your audience may find you. Scribd is a new service but it could become a very useful tool for web publishing. (more…)
Book: The Laws of Simplicity
Posted on 23. Feb, 2007 by Dean Whitney in archive and has 0 Comments
Graphic designer, visual artist and computer scientist John Maeda is the founder of the SIMPLICITY Consortium at the MIT Media Lab where he is a professor of Media Arts and Sciences. His work has been exhibited internationally and in in permanent collections of the Smithsonian Institute’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
His book “The Laws of Simplicity” is a great read for anyone, especially if you are Internet professional. The book explores the question of how we can redefine the notion of “improved” so the it doesn’t always mean something more, something added on. Maeda’s first law is REDUCE. It’s not necessarily beneficial to add technology features. “It’s all about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful”.
The principals in Maeda’s book we see permeating Web 2.0 design trends. Peer to peer sites, Ajax applications and Web 2.0 start-ups all seem to be sporting a new look with large simple text, minimal design elements, short registration forms with large input fields and submit buttons.
In design simple is often harder. Everyone is a designer, not just visual artists. You design the folder layout on your computer, how your desk is arranged, your email signature, your look – this is a great book for making simplicity a focal point, reducing the distracting and increasing the meaningful stuff in our lives.
Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Everything Web 2.0
Posted on 12. Feb, 2007 by Dean Whitney in archive and has 0 Comments
Check out this list of lists – Web 2.0 Trends – A comprehensive list of Web 2.0 Sites, Trends, Companies, Services and more.
Screen capture can add speed and clarity to your daily communication tasks
Posted on 12. Dec, 2006 by Dean Whitney in archive and has 0 Comments
For blogging, writing, creating presentations (PPT), proposals, documentation and even communicating via email a good image capture device is key. 
For a few months now I’ve been using SnagIt and can tell why it got a ”Five Star” rating as one of PC Magazine’s most useful utilities. You can hit your ‘Print Screen’ button and use your cursor to outline any region on the screen. You can also click to capture and entire page, SnagIt will scroll through a webpage no matter how long of a scroll it is. You can also add callouts, borders, drop shadows etc., and SnagIt is a very light wieght application – you won’t have to stop everything and wait for Photoshop to open and drain most of your system memory.
Showing someone exactly what you see on your screen is sometimes the quickest and clearest way to communicate. With SnagIt, you can select anything on your screen – an area, image, article, Web page, or error message – and capture it. Then, save the screen capture to a file, send it to SnagIt’s editor to add professional effects, share it by e-mail, or drop it into PowerPoint®, Word®, or another favorite application.
W3C Working Draft: Widgets 1.0
Posted on 05. Dec, 2006 by Dean Whitney in archive and has 0 Comments
Widgets are usually small client-side applications for displaying and updating remote data, packaged in a way to allow a single download and installation on a client machine. The widget may execute outside of the typical web browser interface. Examples include clocks, stock tickers, news casters, games and weather forecasters. The W3C has begun a mandate to standardize the packaging format, the manifest file and interfaces for working with widgets.
Check it out here: W3C Working Draft: Widgets 1.0
Interview with Brightcove CEO Jeremy Allaire
Posted on 16. Aug, 2006 by Dean Whitney in archive and has 0 Comments
As the host of MITX OnDemand I had the opportunity to interview Jeremy Allaire about the future of internet TV and his latest venture Brightcove.
Corporate Blogging
Posted on 20. Jul, 2006 by Dean Whitney in archive and has 0 Comments
Web 2.0 has introduced a wave of communications tools that are ready for primetime. This has created a need for applying these standards to the corporate intranet. 
Like corporations are becoming flat in in the sense that any employee may be able to view the CEO’s podcast or blog, participate in a wiki or subscribe to a feed based on their information needs. This will provide greater visibility of corporate values and strategic initiates.
For Assurant we introduced the concept of blog integration and video podcasting as part of a strategic initiative. This prototype concept was well recieved but the challenge still lies ahead in implementing such a project within the existing IT infrastructure. 
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