Dipobau Technology Blog

Due to personal and professional commitments, Web Axe podcasts will now be released once a month.

Original post by dennislembree@yahoo.com (Dennis E. Lembree) and software by Elliott Back

Dennis speaks with Jeffrey Frey and discusses accessible podcasting, guidelines on audio/video web accessibility, and Jeff’s role at Rice University.

Jeff is the Web Services Manager for Enterprise Applications in the Information Technology Department at Rice University. He provides technology solutions for faculty, staff, and students on campus as well as teaches new technology courses at the School of Continuing Studies. He is available for podcasting consulting, is involved in the creation of podcasts for businesses and non-profits, and has owned a technical consulting company and an audio/video recording studio.

Download Web Axe Episode 59 (Jeffrey Frey on Accessible Podcasts)

Links from Jeffrey Frey’s Blog

• Section 508 Compliant Podcasting and Undue Burden
• Section 508 Compliant Podcasting
• Podcast Captioning
• Accessible Podcasts

Transcription and other related services

• Connecticut Secretary
• Noble Transcription Services
• CastingWords
• enablr
• Dragon NaturallySpeaking

From Tom Brinck

Like myself, Tom is from Michigan but now works and lives in the Bay Area in California.

• Design Critique podcast
• Book: Cost Justifying Usability
• Richter scale

Original post by dennislembree@yahoo.com (Dennis E. Lembree) and software by Elliott Back

In his article Outsourcing accessibility testing is essential, web accessibility and usability professional Peter Abrahams discusses why testing a web site for accessibility by an external third party is a good idea.

Although the article is an obvious plug for a particular testing company, the point is quite valid. Testing for web accessibility is a critical step, and a company who specializes in that usually has the best resources to do the most complete job, including testing by people with a variety of disabilities.

Two related points made in the article are:

• Specify that accessibility is essential in your requirements definition.
• Once a site has gone into production it is advisable to re-test it on a regular basis to ensure the continued quality and accessibility.

Original post by dennislembree@yahoo.com (Dennis E. Lembree) and software by Elliott Back

Back in 2005, I purchased shared server space from a well-known hosting company. In an attempt to “save” money, I paid for two years up front, and $268 later, I had my first real home on the Web.

Two short months after that, I came to the harsh realization that my server package was completely inadequate for my needs.

Ouch. Ultimately, a few key details made the difference, and although I learned this stuff the hard (read: the expensive) way, the good news is that you can avoid these same mistakes. You simply need to know where the potential traps are, and that’s precisely what I want to share with you today.

Buying Web hosting is a lot like buying a new car. The sleazebag car salesman wants to sell you on all the crazy new features of a particular model, but all you really care about is whether or not your venti latte will fit in the damn cupholder.

The bottom line is that no matter what you’re purchasing, you’re going to end up with the best result if you’re able to make decisions based on the details that will affect you the most. With that in mind, here are three things you need to know in order to make the best decision about a Web host.

Web Hosting Sin #1: Too Few Databases

All blogging software, all forum software, and darn near every cool Web application you can think of requires a database in order to function. Unfortunately, most shared server packages only offer between 1 and 5 databases, thereby limiting your ability to expand with new sites or to experiment with new ideas.

In my opinion, this is completely unacceptable. If I want to see if I can tie 10 databases into one WordPress installation, then by god, I ought to be able to do that! Sadly, this would be an impossible task with just about every shared server package I’ve ever seen.

Because of this limitation, I have resorted to purchasing more expensive plans that offer more flexibility. Remember my first inadequate server that I told you about earlier? After that terrible experience, I opted for a more expensive server that cost me roughly $550 up front, and the primary reason why I went with the more expensive unit was because I could have unlimited databases.

But seriously, a $300 difference over a few databases?

What a joke.

Web Hosting Sin #2: Too Few Domains Allowed

Probably in an attempt to curb spammers, Web hosting companies usually limit the number of domains you can have on a shared server. Oftentimes, the limit is between 1 and 5 domains, but just like with the databases, this really affects your flexibility over time.

Want to start that new site you’ve been thinking of lately? Too bad, you’ll have to buy new hosting because you’ve already maxed out your domains.

Oh, and here’s another gem from the crazy world of Web hosting… I’ve seen shared server accounts before that would let you have 5 domains but only 1 database. If every site on the planet requires a database to run, how the hell can you run 5 domains with only one database?

Sanity? Anyone?

The bottom line—and the thing you really need to know here—is that good shared server plans will offer you at least 20 domains, and even better ones will let you add as many as you like (usually up to 999).

Web Hosting Sin #3: Crappy Developer Support

So, that new version of WordPress you want to run requires MySQL 4.0 or higher in order to work properly? What a shame, because your junky shared server only runs MySQL 3.23 and hasn’t been updated since 2005.

Of the three cardinal sins I’ve listed here, this one is probably the easiest to avoid. However, developer support is the ultimate litmus test for any Web host, and you can bet your bottom dollar that if the company you’re looking at doesn’t consider developers a priority (we’re a raucous, complaining bunch), then they damn sure won’t consider you a priority.

No matter what hosting package you’re looking at, make absolutely certain that you see support for the following developer tools:

• PHP
• MySQL
• Ruby on Rails
• Python
• CGI
• .htaccess
• cron jobs

The Bottom Line

From a Webmaster’s perspective, hosting is nothing more than a facilitative service. As a result, problems arise whenever you find yourself restricted by the account limitations of your server package.

In my experience, the points listed above have been the most upsetting issues that I’ve encountered with hosting, and as a result, I now buy server space based on these criteria. Most hosting companies will try to sell you on the total amount of space they’re giving you or on the total amount of bandwidth they’ll provide, but be warned! Those are just red herrings that will blind you from the reality that is 1 database on a 5 domain account

Finally, most of you know that bitching about problematic issues like inadequate Web hosts is not my style. On the contrary, I’m all about finding solutions to problems like these, and today, I’m happy to save you the time, energy, and anxiety required to find a good Web host.

Without further ado, here is the best shared server package on the planet—the one that not only satisfies my strict criteria, but also gives you more stuff than you will ever use!

Oh, and did I mention that it’s only $4.95 a month?

Unfortunately, the “we’ve gone completely insane” plan from AN Hosting is only going to be available from now until November 22 Black Friday, November 23, so check it out before they kill the deal!

Original post by Chris Pearson and software by Elliott Back

In my article Business Reasons for Web Accessibility (posted under Web Axe’s sponsor company, CheckEngine USA) I provide several reasons why an accessible web site is good for business (namely, the bottom line—finances). Points for web accessibility benefiting business include:

• Increases Potential Market Share
• Lighter Code Saves Bandwidth
• No Alternative Formats Needed
• Increases Positive Image
• Avoid Lawsuits

Original post by dennislembree@yahoo.com (Dennis E. Lembree) and software by Elliott Back

Without question, getting comments from interested readers is one of the most enjoyable and rewarding aspects of blogging. Unfortunately, interacting with people through comments is an asynchronous task, and this oftentimes makes it difficult to follow the ongoing conversation.

Over the past couple of years, I’ve seen designers and programmers attempt to solve this problem with things like threaded comments or even in-line AJAX commenting. Problem is, solutions like these tend to fall into one of two categories:

1. They are ugly as sin and a nightmare to style.
2. They are technical, complicated, and require you to install a plugin to get the result you want.

Man, oh man… If there’s one thing I hate more than ugly, it’s complicated.

Clearly, we need a comment management solution that is not only stylish, but also simple enough that anyone can execute it.

Don’t be rude… Address your commenters directly!

When you’re out in public and somebody asks you a question, do you:

• Address everyone in the surrounding area with your response, or…
• Answer them directly

Silly question, right? Well, dialogue on the Web is no different, yet you often see Webmasters responding to comments without addressing the person who initially asked the question. And even in those cases where Webmasters do include the name of the addressee, the resulting styling usually leaves something to be desired.

Fortunately, WordPress (and just about every other CMS on the planet) contains comment ID numbers¹, which allow you to link directly to any comment you like. When you respond to people’s questions, you should use this ID to link the commenter’s name to their original question.

From a usability standpoint, this is excellent because it leads readers down a direct path that will help them follow the conversation. Plus, it eliminates the incredibly annoying need to scroll through a long list of comments while looking for the original question.

Check out how this works by looking at a live example of an interactively-linked comment.

A little style makes everything better

Alright, now that you know how to address your readers, you need to add a bit of style to those comment links. However, due to the nature of comments on blogs, there are a couple of design constraints that we’ll need to work with in order to get the most effective, least confusing result.

1. The links to commenters should not clash with regular links that people sometimes post in comments; therefore, they must be styled differently (and possibly behave differently) than normal comment links.
2. The name of the commenter to whom you’re linking should stand out visibly, but the styling should not dominate other important elements (like the name of the person leaving the response, for instance).

On my sample comment, notice how I’ve styled the names of the people I’m addressing in bold. Also, notice how I’ve italicized their names to help differentiate them from my name, which appears at the top of the comment.

Finally, if you mouse over one of the links, you’ll see that it behaves differently than regular links on this site. Again, the entire goal of these commenter links is to foster the conversation and improve usability, so that’s why I’ve taken a minimalist, simplistic approach to styling them.

Enough theory, already—let’s get stylin’. Here’s the CSS I’m using, but keep in mind that your mileage may vary due to the way your anchor tags (<a>) are styled by default.

a.comment_link, a.comment_link:visited {
   color: #222;
   text-decoration: none;
   font-style: italic;
   font-weight: bold;
}

a.comment_link:hover {
   color: #222;
   text-decoration: underline;
}

Once you’ve got those definitions in your stylesheet, all you have to do is put them to use in your comments. A sample of what you would actually write in your comment box to get the desired result might look something like this:

<a class="comment_link" href="comment permalink">Commenter</a>

Keep in mind that with some WordPress themes, the comment_link class may already be in use. If you find that’s the case, simply change it to something like commenter_link… You get the idea

The Bottom Line

You can’t just do one or two things well and have a truly remarkable Web site. If you want to stand apart from the crowd, you need to leverage small details—like better comments, for instance—to place your site in a position to succeed.

Remember, your success on the Web depends on how effectively you can communicate with your audience, and anything you can do to improve that interaction is going to pay dividends down the road.

¹ Well-constructed WordPress themes contain permalinks to each comment. If your theme doesn’t, please consider upgrading to something more robust. I’m partial to these WordPress themes, but that may just be me… ↑

Original post by Chris Pearson and software by Elliott Back

No matter what kind of Web site you run, your goal is always the same: to communicate your message as effectively as possible to your intended audience.

If the content of your site represents your message, then typography is the vehicle through which that message is delivered. Ironically, this is probably the most important area where WordPress themes (and Web sites in general) fall short.

While that’s bad news for the masses, it’s actually great news for you, because I’ve got a 3-column cure for all your typographical woes—the Neoclassical Theme for WordPress.

Because it’s always time to change your image…

Probably the coolest feature of the Neoclassical Theme is the huge rotating header image, which I designed with customization in mind. Even the novices among you will have no trouble placing your own images in the rotator, and once you get the hang of it, you’ll be able to rotate as many images as you like.

The bottom line here is that images are cool. Big images are even cooler. But big images that are randomly generated?

Off the charts.

It’s time to cash in on that link equity

The blogosphere has been abuzz of late with news of Google PageRank updates and, more specifically, with news that the big G may be penalizing people for selling links. Whether or not that’s true should be of little issue to you, primarily because this entire fiasco boils down to one central topic: link equity.

Essentially, link equity is the idea that links have a value—a value that search engines can use to gauge the importance of both your page and the page to which you’re linking. Of course, if you have a link-heavy site, it’s going to be much harder to determine (algorithmically) the true value of a particular link.

Moreover, when you throw in a few paid or sponsored links, especially ones that appear site-wide and have little or no topical relevance, you are muddying your own linking waters.

So, what’s a Webmaster to do?

Ultimately, I would recommend that you rule your site with an iron fist, thinking critically and logically every time you place a link on your site. In the short term, though, you can get a head start on improving your internal link equity by using the Neoclassical Theme on your site.

Generally speaking, WordPress themes have become extremely link-intensive through the incorporation of things like category links, page links, calendars, widgets, etc. Because these types of links tend to appear site-wide, they not only dilute your linking landscape, but they also create a “flat” internal linking structure where it’s incredibly difficult for an algorithm to determine the relative importance of an individual link.

The bottom line is that the Neoclassical Theme is crafted so that your links will pack as much punch as possible. I’ve tried to cut the “link fat” wherever it made sense to do so, and the end result is, I believe, likely the most advanced WordPress theme on the market today in terms of SEO.

Did I mention it also has big header images?

Check out the demo now.

Original post by Chris Pearson and software by Elliott Back