Well, Karen Walford's query finally got me out of lurkers mode on this list
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In regard to browser-usage stats, you might have a look at the following web
site, which is chock-full of all sorts of internet usage data. It's free
too, unlike a lot of the commercial data gathering services. It is somewhat
US-oriented, though:
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/user_surveys/
And I agree that accessibility is a major issue for any archaeologist who
wants to communicate on the Net -- it's lovely to talk about interactive web
sites with sound bites and video clips and whatnot -- but only people with
the newer, faster computers and modems can use a lot of the newer software
efficiently. So to me it seems more sensible (and accessible!) to use small
(e.g., fast to download) pictures (which after all archaeologists have
plenty of) and (I hope!) a clean, easy to read page layout as the main
graphic components. For now anyway.
On the other hand, in terms of viewing "basic" graphics (like small pics and
tables), I don't think text-only browsers are too much of a problem, because
few people seem to use them these days (as you will see if you look at the
data on the above site). On my own web site (http://www.webarchaeology.com)
over 95% of people use either Netscape or IE4, and most of those use at
least versions 3.0 and above.
I use a log analysis software package called Web Trends that generates a lot
of this sort of data -- there are a number of other packages available as
well.
cheers,
Carol McDavid
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Carol McDavid
Department of Archaeology
University of Cambridge
[log in to unmask]
http://www.webarchaeology.com
Address in UK:
Clare Hall
Cambridge CB3 9AL
+44 (0)1223 328832
Address in US:
1406 Sul Ross
Houston, TX 77006
+001 (713) 523-2649
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