Beast-Blog.com
Mike Cherim's Professional and Personal Web Log

Most developers who design sites to be screen reader friendly, aren’t actually screen reader users. I am no exception. Sure I’ve heard recordings of screen readers reading my pages, and I use Opera Voice, and I have a very good idea of what most content will sound like when read by screen readers so I’m not completely blind to the concept, but never have I plunked myself down in front of a computer with screen reader software and played around with it. But I am interested.

Continue reading “Insights Into Screen Reader Usage” »

I was informed by Mike Jolley that my name appears in print in issue 169(?) of .Net Magazine — which apparently goes by the name of “Practical Web Design” in the United States but I wasn’t able to confirm this, even with Google’s help. When Mike told me this and kindly furnished me with a scanned copy I recalled being interviewed some time back. Others interviewed for this article were Dave Barter for Legatio.com and Marcus Graichen for MogMachine.com. .Net spelled my name wrong and didn’t publish my domain properly (no hyphen), but the info was hopefully sound all the same.

Continue reading “Some Web Domain Security Tips” »

The “bold” and “italic” HyperText Markup Language (HTML) elements, expressed as <b> and <i>, respectively, aren’t illegal. In fact they’re legal to use and have distinct semantic purposes. Whether to use them or not should be dictated by said purposes, and nothing else. Right from the start I must say the “bold” and “italic” element names are deceiving because they shouldn’t be used to make “bold” and “italic” text solely for the purpose of making “bold” and “italic” text. That would be a presentational thing and that’s what your Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) is for. Right?

Continue reading “Semantic Use of Bold and Italic Elements” »

If your site isn’t visually accessible, you’re really missing the mark as a quality web developer…

It’s possible to get so caught up in following the rules of web accessibility that one can forget the simplicity of plain old visual accessibility and those it affects. Before I continue further, here’s a warning: this topic reaches deeply into the Camp One “accessibility for all” aspect of web accessibility. Okay, that said, I will make mention that the vast majority of your site’s visitors are of the sighted, mouse-using, up-to-date-browser, JavaScript-enabled, Flash-equipped variety. As a disclaimer I will say this is a hypothesis on my part, but I’ll betcha five bucks it’s true. And, coincidently, it is this very user-group that will benefit most from visual accessibility. That makes it important.

Continue reading “Exploring a Web Site’s Visual Accessibility” »

Call it a pet peeve if you like, but the small comment textareas I see on some blogs are far too small for proper writing and editing. I feel a size of 350 by 150 pixels is about the absolute smallest I care to write in unless I have only a few remarks. Anything smaller is really too difficult to use if I am composing a more in-depth response. A too-small comments box restricts me to four options: to forgo commenting altogether; to struggle through it; to hold back on my comment; or to compose it in a separate program then copy and paste it into the itty-bitty textarea provided by the blogger. I actually prefer none of these.

Continue reading “Small Comment Boxes Need to Grow Up” »

I have been working on creating other tools for web designers to use

I was granted an exclusive interview with none other than the one and only renowned web designer Sigmund Gnoskrept. This is the man who is the mastermind behind the concept of a — and the one who coined the term — “web site” in the late eighties, if that means anything to you. What follows is a transcript of that interview, my questions, followed by his answers. I was surprised by some of his responses, and you may be, too.

Continue reading “Interview with Sigmund Gnoskrept” »

For the past month-and-a-half I’ve been dropping hints about a new site I’ve been working on. Well, it’s done, I’ve flipped the switch, and it’s gone live. I don’t usually post about my creations in my blog (that’s what my projects pages are for), but in this case I am. First of all it’s my company so I have a special attachment to it. Second, I really like it. Third, a number of people have expressed an interest in seeing it once it was done, and last, I made it from WordPress (with the BeastBlog v2 framework) — and if anyone ever questioned the ability of WordPress to be used as a Content Management System (CMS), this site should once and for all answer their question. I works nicely in this role.

Continue reading “Finally… GreenMethods.com v.5” »

To the benefit of the entire industry, I ask that you do the same [help spread the word]

I had once written a text-sizing script, but in the article that accompanied it, I stated I didn’t feel it was really something that was necessary or that should be added to a web page because this is already a function of the browser and really doesn’t bring anything new or marvelous to the table. It’s not that it’s harmful, but rather just needless. Unfortunately, ignorance prevails and lots of people who surf the web don’t know even a fraction of what their browser is capable of. So the responsibility of accommodating the needs of site visitors ends up on the shoulders of the conscientious web developer. But that’s not how it should be.

Continue reading “Feed ‘em for Life: Text Resize” »

On any fixed-width designs I currently create I offer a handheld style sheet for those users who may access these sites via a smart phone or other handheld device. I feel this is needed in this day and age; I want to make sure those skinny screen users have decent experience on my sites and find it accessible and usable. But will this need become less important, even unnecessary in a few years?

Continue reading “The Obsolescence of Handheld Style Sheets?” »