A good website is made up of many components, but one that is often underutilized or even forgotten about is accessibility.

Accessibility on the web is defined as being available though sight, hearing or touch, compatible with a keyboard and mouse, user-friendly and easy to understand, and being cross-browser compatible. In other words, the site should work for anyone at any time, regardless of the technology that is being used to access it. The better a site's accessibility, the larger and more diverse audience it will draw.

Here are some key elements to keep in mind to accomplish this goal.

Consistency

Making sure that scripts and CSS styles are consistent throughout a site will go a long way toward its ease of use. Visitors appreciate not having to hunt for simple features, such as a contact form. They also will spend more time on a site that does not require them to visually adjust when moving from one section to another.

Speed

Using a caching solution or a CDN can offset bandwidth usage and speed up a site's performance. Nothing turns away traffic faster than a slow or unresponsive website. When writing the CSS code, use as few classes as possible to accomplish the design goal. The less style code a browser has to process, the faster the site will load. Search engines will also penalize a site for being too slow.

Optimization

All written content should be clear, concise and well structured with proper heading levels such as H1 and H2. Alt attributes should also be used for images to help get their meaning across and to allow software for the visually impaired to read what the image is about. Overall this will improve the site's usability, improve SEO and help to give it a better ranking.

Optimization also applies to code. Adhere to standards and do not use any more HTML or CSS than is absolutely necessary. The code running the backend is just as important as the front-facing design.

Not sure if your site is accessible or not and want some help making sure it goes above and beyond basic Internet making standards? Contact Xcellimark for information on how we can help you with consistency, speed and optimization.
 

One of the most powerful map applications currently available, Google Maps, has revolutionized the way people find businesses and services or trace routes to locations around the world. Its popularity has led many web developers to take advantage of this program by utilizing Google Maps API.

This system offers an easily deployed interface for integrating maps within web content. And the current version has been made even easier to use and is geared especially for mobile content, such as that developed for Android and Apple’s iOS devices.

Overview of Google Maps API
 

Launched in June 2005, Google Maps API allows webmasters to embed a Google Maps interface into an external website. Using the built-in features, customized information can then be added onto the mapping application.

The range of available options is wide but includes geocoding, routing, distance measurements and integration with the popular Street View feature.

The terms of service allow free use on both private and commercial platforms, as long as users are not charged for access to the map. Google offers Google Maps API Premier version for fee-based commercial websites.

API Implementation
 

Google's APIs are built on a JavaScript platform. Basic integration begins with the addition of the Map object into a page’s current HTML. Google offers an in-depth tutorial of this process and subsequent ones on their Maps API webpage.

After the map is deployed on a page, manipulation of it is built upon the event-driven JavaScript language. This includes user-driven events as well as change in state events.

User-driven events are usually the result of clicks on the standard Google Maps user interface, which can be customized but is often left alone, allowing the API to deal with all user actions. Further coding is used to add the aforementioned overlays and services such as routing to the map.

Google Maps API simplifies the process of adding map content to a website. More importantly, the versatility of the API allows new web developers to take advantage of the functionality while veteran JavaScript coders can realize Google Maps full potential.

With the recent release of a more mobile friendly version, the Maps API will continue to be a powerful tool and a popular web application.
 

About a week ago our Lead Developer, Ivan, gave me a quick tour of the backend of one of our clients’ sites. We’re getting ready to push through a redesign and as part of that process we’re changing platforms from Joomla to Drupal.  I was so impressed by its possibilities that I decided to write a short blog post about it.

(Note: We’re currently using Drupal version 6. Version 7 was just released a couple of weeks ago and from what I’ve heard it’s a drastic difference in architecture. The core principles and benefits haven’t changed though and that’s what I’ll be focusing on here.)

Content Management: What is it good for?

There are 2 key selling points of why to use a Content Management System (CMS).

1. A CMS allows for clients and non-developer staff to easily make updates and changes to their website’s content.
2. Using a CMS platform allows you to build a more robust site utilizing available modules and other add-ons – often without advanced programming knowledge.

Drupal for Developers

Historically, Drupal has mostly attracted hard core developers. Although many view it as one of the more powerful platforms, it has had a steeper learning curve. After 10 years of existence, it has grown a large following and cultivated an invaluable community that serves as a knowledge bank to help anyone new to using it. Here are a few benefits that make the time investment worth it.

• Drupal is built for scalability. It is versatile enough to handle all types of sites ranging from local business to global corporations.
• One of the core capabilities of Drupal is being able to run multiple sites off the same install. This provides a centralized location where you can manage elements such as what to share between the sites (e.g. modules, blocks, templates/themes, users).
• With a fully customizable backend, you can easily rebrand the admin area, even creating entire themes just for clients’ access.

Convenience for Clients

Most CMS systems have a relatively simple WYSIWYG (read: What You See Is What You Get) editor that largely mimics typing content in a word processing software like Microsoft Word. It makes it easy for even the least technically savvy user to accomplish their task. Drupal goes a step beyond that basic feature to include others such as these:

• The ability to define user permissions is core to Drupal. With that you can identify which areas are available for editing and limit a lot of the “extra stuff” from showing. Being able to give clients a simplified admin area comes in handy when they are updating their own site content.
• When adding a module from a 3rd party, it will appear as if it’s part of the core. For example, we installed an SEO module to our site and the appropriate fields were available to edit in the same place as the page content. In our experience with Joomla, you edit page text and SEO items (e.g. Meta Descriptions, Keywords, custom URLs, etc.) in two separate areas. Drupal makes for a more efficient workflow having things logically and more centrally located.

These are just a few points that I was able to extract from the 15 minute demo that I got from Ivan. I know there are many levels of features, benefits, and flexibility that I’m not addressing in the least. Despite this not being an in-depth look into all things Drupal (though they’re out there), it seems to be enough to give the green light on digging deeper. It is for me anyway.

If any of you have experience with using Drupal, feel free to share what you like and dislike about it in the comments. I’d love to hear how you’re leveraging it for your own or your clients’ sites.