One of the most famously cliched spy movie themes is the absurdly complex method (and accompanying explanation) in which the villain intends to kill the hero. Layer upon layer of killer sharks, laser beams, poisonous gases, and robot assassins employed with the sole intention of killing one fundamentally normal person (albeit a very suave person, of course.) And, naturally, it always fails. Something goes wrong in the system; gross negligence of maintenance causes a malfunction; or some unanticipated exception allows […]
Continue reading “When More is Less” »Category: Web Development
Taking a holistic view of SEO in parts.
A couple years ago, I wrote an article addressing the differences between working in a search engine friendly manner and working on search engine optimization. That article talked extensively about what is included in optimization which is not necessarily a part of being search engine friendly. Shari Thurow, a well-respected researcher in the search engine optimization and usability realm, suggested that separating the two concepts is, in fact, ridiculous. Well, that may be. However, I think that it’s crucial to […]
Continue reading “Taking a holistic view of SEO in parts.” »How NOT to use Post meta fields in WordPress Themes
A little while ago, while working on a site built by another developer, I came across this rather interesting example of how to use custom fields badly in a WordPress theme (abbreviated for, well, brevity): (The original also did this for meta keywords and meta descriptions — but the demonstration of this “logic” only requires one field.) Handwritten title | | | | | And so on. For approximately 40 separate pages. It made my brain hurt. For reference, the […]
Continue reading “How NOT to use Post meta fields in WordPress Themes” »Let’s find a way to do this right!
Most new projects come with some kind of baggage. An old version of the site with, shall we say, incredible code, an expensive CMS (Content Management System) with rotten core HTML (HyperText Markup Language) generation, tools the site owner has fallen in love with which fail to offer even a nod in the direction of accessibility, or demands for some kind of concept which only barely registers as possible within the boundaries of HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) protocol. And, as […]
Continue reading “Let’s find a way to do this right!” »WebAIM Survey on Screen Reader Usage
WebAIM has just published the preliminary results of a survey of screen reader users. With over 1,100 respondents — among whom over 1,000 used a screen reader due to a disability — the survey shows promise of revealing an interesting and valuable perspective on the practical usage of screen readers among disabled populations. Obviously, no survey is perfect — but observing the overall scope of responses can effectively expose some aspects of screen reader usage. In fact, the preliminary results […]
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