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Re: New WebAIM Site Released

for

From: Jared Smith
Date: Jun 12, 2006 8:40AM

Thank you all for your comments, especially the constructive ones. I'll do
my best to reply to some of your comments.

> It's mentioned that the main tabs employ background images and that if
> CSS is disabled, the plain text of the tabs is visible. But if only
> images are disabled, then the tabs cannot be seen because of the
> indent.

I'm aware of this and will likely be changing it by (unfortunately) adding
an extra, empty span within the navigation to contain the background
images. We tried to avoid extraneous divs and spans where possible,
especially within the template. This case probably necessitates something
being done, though the number that browse full featured sites with
graphics off and styles enabled is very small (though not small enough for
us to neglect them).

> Too many menus. Where do I start?

I must agree that the homepage has a lot of information. We struggled
finding balance between not giving access to site information and
providing too much. Our new design homepage has fewer links and content
than our previous design, but easier access to site content areas, of
which there are more now than before. We found in our previous design that
finding content pieces took sometimes 4 or 5 clicks. Now nearly any page
is available in at most 3 clicks from the home page. We hope that the
segmentation and blocking of the navigation areas is clear. Our use of
link identification is also consistent within the blocks. If it is not,
please suggest how to make it more so.

We also recognize that a small portion of our site visitors actually enter
from the homepage. Those that do enter there were finding it difficult or
burdensome to find content and we believe we have provided mechanisms to
make it easier for them to find what they are looking for, while also
providing links to our products and services, without which, there would
be no site at all. We struggled finding this balance and hope that what is
there now will best serve the majority of our site visitors, who tend to
be more technically astute than the norm.

> Congrats...great stuff. One small question, though: do you think it
> would be possible to add a few simple RewriteRule statements to the
> server

Yep. A few document location have changed. There are some rewrite rules
there now, but many more are in the process of being written. I'm in the
process of fixing a server config file that had redirects from redesigns 4
versions ago and was quite a mess. Most of the links to popular resources
have not changed. Many links however, have changed out of necessity of
keeping the site developers sane - we went from nearly 120 directories to
around 40. In short, the old site was a management nightmare. Yes, this
breaks some rules. Rewrite rules are coming onboard quickly. It's likely
some might be lost in the shuffle.

> and links do not differ sufficiently from text by color.

Which?

> It doesn't fit in a browser window even in fullscreen mode. (Need for
> vertical scrolling is of course acceptable on most pages, but main
> pages should be viewable without scrolling.)

Unless of course there is more information to present than could be
reasonably presented without scrolling, while also maintaining a readable
line length and ample line spacing and white space. We're aware that
OPTIMALLY main pages should not scroll, but are not overly concerned that
ours does. And it is now about 20% of the height of our previous design,
something that we're quite happy with.

> Didn't you consider creating a prototype or a test version and ask for
> comments on in this list or other public review? Sorry if you did -
> somehow I missed it.

We did not solicit public feedback - can you now wonder why? :-) We did
much private testing however. As you well know, site design is not about
pleasing everybody. If it were, sites would NEVER be completed. We did a
lot of testing, received a lot of feedback - some of which was conflicting
(just like these comments are). Ultimately, we implemented what we thought
was best.

> If the forums are not linked to each other, you will have people
> discussing the same topics in different forums.

Probably. Due to the overly technical and sometime (unfortunately) elitist
tone on this e-mail list, we have, out of demand, provided the web-based
forums as an alternative. We hope both can function and flourish, perhaps
each meeting the needs of perhaps a unique audience.

Jared Smith
WebAIM.org