Courthouse Webs™ was Guest Speaker at Rotary
- Herb Howell was the guest speaker at the Princeton, Indiana's Rotary meeting on June 1, 2009. The topic centered around creating and updating Web sites to meet internationally-recognized standards of excellence, as established by the The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). »
The "So What?" Factor is raised frequently within Web designer/developer circles. If a site looks fine to people with average vision, why all the fuss about screen readers and Braille machines?
The W3C is Leading the Way for Web Standardization
- The issue discussed was the two-layered nature of a Web site. The graphical design interface of a Web page (the skin) is what people with excellent to average vision "see" when they navigate to a site. The rub is in the nature of the computer code (the skeleton) that makes up the site (behind the scenes) that is viewable to search engine robots, screen readers, Braille readers, and other adaptive technology.
What the Rotary Members Asked
- A rather lively discussion ensued concerning The "So What?" Factor. The "So What?" Factor is raised frequently within Web designer/developer circles. If a site looks fine to people with average vision, why all the fuss about creating sites that effectively reach people who require screen readers and Braille machines?
- From a commercial perspective, if a site is performing well, maybe reaching disabled customers isn't a high priority. A Web site is analogous to a bus when considering it from a broader perspective. Designing a bus that excludes riders does require redress. Federal law requires accessibility on United States' government Web sites. Someday, perhaps, this may extend to all commercial sites. Preparing now is a wise choice, especially when entering into discussions with Web design companies.
Learning to use the Validator is Easy
- The Rotary members in attendance learned that Courthouse Webs is a We Inform™ Agency. All CHW clients are instructed in the use of the W3C's Validator so that they may audit their project at anytime with or without the aid of CHW to determine the state of their site's maturity level. Learn how to audit a Web site, and please begin with ours. We'll show you how. »
Do you need a speaker at your group's event?
- Herb Howell is an experienced public speaker and an expert in many areas of Web Development, Web Design, Web Deployment, and Organic Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing. Please drop us an email if your group wishes to learn more information about Webs and the internet.