Paintings & blog by Chris Gibbins

I’ve recently been learning about a document management system called “Hummingbird“, and have been thinking about the reasons why companies wish to go through the painful and very costly process of retraining their staff. What is going wrong with the present system of file management?

In addition to the most obvious benefits of strict version control and better findability through a powerful search facility, provided that meta data is added intelligently, the key difference is the restrictions attached to the creation of folder hierarchies. Individual users cannot create there own logical families of files so easily, unless they have “super user” status. Instead they are encouraged through the interface and many form dialogue boxes with required fields, to fill out meta data and place the files as best they can within a predetermined structure. The system could be described as a strictly controlled form of folksonomic tagging.

I wonder how long it will take the employees to appreciate the benefits of this seemingly laborious method of saving new documents and emails?

An international site should ensure that all alt text is translated along with the rest of the content. After all, the end user may well be using a screen reader or other assistive technology to access the site, in a different language to the default. I wonder how many multi-lingual sites actually manage to maintain this good practice. I am also wondering how I can convince my clients to be that thorough with their translations.

Just checked the BBC News site and as I expected, they are meticulous in their management of translations. Every picture has language specific alt text. Of course much of this depends on the level of sophistication of the content management system and the controls in place to ensure such a high level of accessibility.

Is it acceptable to use flag icon links for selecting desired languages? Would certain English speaking countries be offended if they had to click the ‘Union Jack’ even if they weren’t British? What about the many millions of Spanish speakers in South America. Do they mind clicking their coloniser’s flag? Or is it only fare that the country who invented the language be attributed with this honour?

The W3C has a couple of paragraphs to say about the matter: Internationalization Best Practices: Specifying Language in XHTML & HTML Content - Don’t use flags to indicate languages.

The discussions in “Why you should not use a flag as a symbol of language” illustrate the main arguments for and against flag language indicators and buttons. Personally I feel that the flag as a language icon is so recognisable to the majority of users that it is the best option for now. It is so nice to get your meaning across with a 16px by 12px png! If there are objections then we will have to think again and perhaps use text instead.

For the past 2 months I have been designing a multi-lingual web site using Drupal. Working with such a popular open source cms has been so refreshing after spending so much time with another cms called ObTree. With ObTree you feel alone in a place where nobody can hear your frustrations, while in total contrast the Drupal community is thriving and always willing to help. The reason can simply be attributed to the number of individuals involved with such open source projects.

ObTree isn’t totally bad. In terms of it’s object oriented approach it is a very powerful system. It just needs more input and consequently so much more development in resolving bugs and its many usability issues.

The first thing anyone learns about creating accessible web sites is to remember to add descriptive alternative text to all meaningful pictures and images so that those who cannot see them can still understand, depending on the authors interpretation of the imagery. What I have never quite understood is why in the ie browsers a tooltip popped up sharing this supposedly alternative text every time a user hovered over it. I thought this was one behaviour that would be left behind with the new improved ie7, but I was wrong. Personally I find this obtrusive, unsightly and unnecessary. Maybe some disagree with me and find it useful!

This has also lead to the complete misuse by many web designers of the alt text method, to describe destination links instead of the image itself. That is what the title tag has always been there for.

Finally my MA in Interactive Media Publishing is finished. Below you can see the fruit of my labour!

My Major Project: What To-Do - the easy ‘drag and drop’ to-do list (Firefox currently required). Go and have a play. There are a number of enhancements and adjustments that I will continue to carry out including setting up User Registration and Account Management.

My dissertation: “Are blind web users stuck with the poor version of the Rich Internet Application (pdf: 314kb)” investigates the possibilities for Ajax-like behaviour actually benefitting users of assistive technologies.

I have used Writely.com’s Rich Internet Application for a while now, and have been really impressed with how Ajax apps like this one can simulate the functionality of desktop software. However, I have just found another one:
AjaxWrite looks identical to word and includes tabbed browsing of documents rather than many pop up windows, disrupting your desktop. So I will give it a go for a little while. Maybe one day all tools will be online. The major draw back is that the user has no online space to store any documents, unlike Writely. In which case it would be more beneficial to use an open source desktop solution like Open Office.

The company I am currently working for has been battling now for some time to improve it’s web sites look and level of accessibility. And the main reason for this “battle” as far as I can see, is because they have got tied into using a very expensive Content Management System, which they cannot afford to upgrade.

This is one of the biggest dangers of such a solution. CMS’s can be really expensive. Why do Consultants advise them to buy expensive cms’s when there are so many great open source equivalents out there like Drupal and Plone? It makes me wonder whether consultants get commission to promote such systems.

Just came across this interesting website discussing Usability.

The name of the website is a clue to the author’s view on the subject: Usability Must Die.

Have a look at the Usability expert profiles.

Including video clips on the web has always been an overly complicated task because of the many decisions that had to be made.

Which file format should I use?

How large shall I make the video clip?

What frame rate?

Video streaming?

Thankfully, now google video can make everything a whole lot easier, as you can upload any size video to the google servers in any format and then insert the given code onto your web site. Your video clip can then be shown on your page as a SWF file, with the Google servers doing all the work.