Yes, I know that I said the last one was a last word, but I had a few spare minutes this morning and thought I'd put this together as it might be useful - hope you find it so. Here are three ways to really improve the site which will be relatively quick and simple and make absolutely no difference to the way it looks for the majority of users. None of them are rocket science and I recognise you might be following them up already, but I think they bear repeating... 1. Take a look at your 'alt' text: Good alt text does not have to describe what it refers to; rather it should be an aesthetic and functional equivalent of the non-text element – usually short and snappy. Longer descriptions should be linked to via the longdesc attribute instead. In particular, items such as spacer images should have alt="" rather than alt="spacer". Most screen readers will then ignore them, rather than reading out the word 'spacer'. Try to avoid phrases like 'click here' as a) it increases the length of the alt text and b) most people who rely on the alt text for navigation will not be using a mouse and find the phrase really rather irritating. When you've changed it, ensure that your alt text makes sense by testing your pages in a text only browser such as Lynx, or in Opera with the images turned off; test again in a screen reader such as PWWebSpeak (a free download) or IBM Home Page Reader (free demo version available to download). 2. Implement an invisible 'skip navigation' link at the top of each page: The simplest way to do this is to use a 1pixel by 1pixel image with no border as the link with the alt text 'Skip Navigation' - this would link to the start of the main content of the page. The idea behind this is that people using screen readers will not have to sit and listen to the entire list of navigation links every time they load a page. 3. Rewrite the text on the 'Accessibility' page: At the moment it tells people how to turn on and off Javascript but doesn't mention why on earth they would want to. It also only lists older browsers - no mention of how to make the changes on IE6 or Netscape 7 which the majority of the users will be using. Cheers, Paul -----Original Message----- From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ellis Mike Sent: 15 June 2004 17:07 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Launch of www.ingenious.org.uk Paul Unfortunately I didn't have the time to take part in the previous discussion, but watched it go past - partly with interest, partly with a "oh here we go again" feeling that often accompanies this debate. What we wanted to do with Ingenious was to step outside the norm and create a site that not only had great, interesting content and showcased a number of our objects, but also did what most Museum sites often fail to believe is important - make it look good as well. The point I've often wanted to make as I watched the "accessibility" discussion roll by is that we have a responsibility to accessibility - yes, to the <2% of people who view our sites with something other than IE; but ALSO to the >90% of people who view them *with* all the necessary plug-ins, browsers, etc The first thing that makes me - and probably the vast majority of human beings with any kind of appreciation of layout, look and feel or colour - turn away from "yet another Museum website" is when it looks horrible. And so, so many of them do. The common response at this point is "well, the two aren't mutually exclusive - why can't it be accessible AND look great?". It's a good point well made, except I really haven't seen a great number of examples where it happens. Net result, ANOTHER website with potentially great content that works in every browser under the sun but that *looks really, really horrible* and, also important, doesn't do anything NEW. My second point (that was number one...) is - of course it passes NOF guidelines - it had to. The whole of the site passes W3C validation for HTML4.0 (even Create! - see http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ingenious.org.uk%2Fcr eate %2F). The one exception is the homepage, and we're working on that as we speak. Third point - it's a work in progress, as any good site should be - not only are we tweaking the code and navigation, we also do rigorous summative evaluation which will pick up on any further issues and bring them back into future phases. Any comments from MCG about Ingenious - and I'm sure there will be some - will of course be fed back into the loop. Let's get out of the rut of killing ourselves for 2% of our audience AT THE EXPENSE of the other 98%. This obviously doesn't mean we should ignore the 2%, but let's move the focus. Then we might stand a chance of building some museum websites that really do some funky stuff. If we don't, I believe that the MCG forum is in danger of becoming very negative, rather than a useful place to discuss new ideas and concepts. Regards Mike Ellis _________________ Web Site Manager Science Museum Exhibition Road London, SW7 2DD 01225 835 447 Please note new email address: [log in to unmask] [existing address will continue to work for forseeable future] http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk http://www.danacentre.org.uk http://www.ingenious.org.uk -----Original Message----- From: Paul Ratcliffe [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: 15 June 2004 15:36 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Launch of www.ingenious.org.uk here we go again... Looks lovely in Internet Explorer 6 for PC but for starters the 'Create' section looks terrible in Netscape 7 and is completely unreadable in Opera. I haven't the time to start on the accessibility issues - why doesn't everyone just read all the e-mails following the launch of the Take One Picture site again... Paul -----Original Message----- From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Ellis Mike Sent: 15 June 2004 15:06 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Launch of www.ingenious.org.uk Celebrating human ingenuity - Ingenious has arrived! Wednesday 9th June marked the launch of www.ingenious.org.uk, a stunning online resource including over 30,000 objects and pictures taken from the Science Museum, the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television and the National Railway Museum. Celebrating and exploring the many feats of human ingenuity that have shaped our lives, www.ingenious.org.uk is a fascinating and absorbing insight into science and culture for everybody interested in human invention. Ingenious.org.uk offers users: > Read - In-depth articles across a range of subjects from 'The Nature And History Of Addiction' to 'Is War The Mother Of Invention? > Debate - Online discussions, including 'Should the state pay to make ugly people beautiful?' led by comedian and actor, Mat Fraser. > See - Access to over 30,000 images from NMSI collections - many are previously unseen > Create - Create your own image library and send e-cards www.ingenious.org.uk is the result of an unprecedented collaboration between the three museums that together form the National Museum of Science & Industry (NMSI). The site has been backed with more than £1 million in lottery good causes money from the New Opportunities Fund. NMSI invites you to log on and browse the site...enjoy! Regards Mike Ellis _________________ Web Site Manager Science Museum Exhibition Road London, SW7 2DD 01225 835 447 Please note new email address: [log in to unmask] [existing address will continue to work for forseeable future] http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk http://www.danacentre.org.uk http://www.ingenious.org.uk This e-mail and attachments are intended for the named addressee only and are confidential. If you have received this e-mail in error please notify the sender immediately, delete the message from your computer system and destroy any copies. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender and may not reflect the views of the National Museum of Science & Industry. 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This email has been scanned for all viruses by the MessageLabs Email Security System. -- This email was forwarded via the University of Cambridge alumni email system Visit http://cantab.net/ to update your forwarding details