Nooga Web Design

The web has always been severely lacking in its’ ability to display graphical elements; at least, in comparison to the rich quality of print.  For example, words on a printed page are far more visible and distinct than those on a screen.  As our world becomes more and more addicted to the web it makes sense for us to search out ways of making the screen more comparable to the printed page. 

A more “print” like quality to the web is the dream of every web designer which is why we owe a debt of gratitude to the creators of “sIFR”.  Scalable Inman Flash Replacement or “sIFR” for short is the brain child of Mike Davidson and Mark Wubben.  Although, the concept of “flash replacement” was invented by others before them it was they who perfected it and released it free of charge to the masses.  “sIFR” is their solution to the modern web’s typography woes… for now anyway.  (more…)

It was late in the evening and the already crowded room was becoming even more crowded. This particular meeting of the “Church Council” was one that no one wanted to miss. The topic of discussion was the new building project. The expensive architect was there with his bulletin board size plans and everyone was trying to get a peek before the presentation began. Certain members of the “Building Committee” were already defending the drawings to a few people who did not understand why so much space was being used for the entry way and why the bathrooms would not fit where they were originally intended to be. In an effort to diffuse the situation the architect stepped in and quickly explained that the entry way to a 1000 seat auditorium is required to have a certain amount of space in its’ entry way and that the bathrooms had to be moved and redesigned to make them accessible for people in wheel chairs. The people who raised the questions were good people but it had not even dawned on them to consider whether or not people with disabilities would be able to navigate around in the new space.

Unfortunately, I used to be just like the people who raised the questions in this story. As a beginning web designer, I had never stopped to consider how people with disabilities might have trouble navigating through one of my websites. In fact, I probably never would have come to regard making my websites accessible as an important thing to do had it not been for this research paper assignment. (more…)