Come a little closer.
Closer still.
Now, look carefully at the screen. You may be able to see some of the thousands of pixels which make up the illusion of text. These are the tiny building blocks manipulated by web designers to display websites. The problem is, there can be a big difference between both the number and density of pixels which each screen displays. (more…)
Election ‘07 was heralded as the first “online election”. For the first time, Irish politicians attempted to connect with voters through various online resources, from Bebo pages to election campaign videos on YouTube. One of the most pervasive features of the various online campaigns was the politician’s blog. All the major parties were represented in the blogosphere, from the top down. Party leaders had their say on Rock The Vote, where the musings of Bertie, Enda, Pat et al could be read. (more…)
Transferring content legibly from the screen to paper has never been a particularly easy task, especially considering the trouble encountered by most web designers dealing with different screen sizes and platforms. Despite this, it makes sense to cater for users who wish to print web content, as it is well known that many people have problems reading large pieces of text from a computer screen. Those web designers who have bothered to cater for users both on the screen and on paper have historically used one of two techniques: (more…)
In recent months, the issue of streaming video has been at the forefront of the web community’s conscience. This is due to the huge growth of sites like YouTube, which Google recently acquired for $1.65 billion, and the new phenomenon of clip-sharing and disposable video. YouTube recently rose to notoriety in Ireland when footage of a girl being attacked in Ballymun was posted on the site. The clip was subsequently removed when the victim’s father made an appeal on the Joe Duffy radio show. (more…)
Over the past number of years, online banking has become one of the most common activities on the Internet. For many people, the bank’s online website has become their “local branch” while for banks, their website is becoming the face of the bank to a growing number of its customers.
Xwerx recently conducted usability testing with members of the public on a number of Irish banking websites and compiled this report based on the findings. It assesses how important usability is in an online banking website, which websites come out on top and what competitors need to do to get there.
Xwerx Online Banking Usability Report
Please note the report is approximately 4.5 MB.
The advantages of the web standards approach are well documented both here on accessible.ie, and elsewhere. However, these discussions normally focus on the advantages the approach brings to the end user. There are also many benefits for the business or individual responsible for the site. (more…)