Speaking today
September 28, 2006 by ian
I'm speaking to a group today about Internet Marketing, at Adhost Internet Advertising in downtown Seattle. It's booked solid, but they will be recording it. I'll post the recording when I get it.…
I Don't Speak Chinese
September 20, 2006 by ian
A colleague of mine (Lenora Edwards) told me a great story today: A friend of hers signed her daughter up for Chinese language classes. Her daughter didn't want to go. When asked why, she said “Because I don't speak Chineseâ€. Every day I talk to folks who don't want to work with me until they understand internet marketing. In other words, they don't want to learn Chinese until they can already speak it. You see the problem. The solution is easy: Let go. Be ready to learn, and understand that when you work with an internet marketer (or any…
Usability: Error Messages
September 10, 2006 by ian
I just went onto the American Express web site to buy something using my points. The shopping experience was great, right up until I tried to complete my purchase. Then I got a screen that looked like this: Really helpful, guys. Thanks. At that point, I gave up. I'll have to call them, taking up their time and mine. When you build a shopping site, make sure your error messages make sense. That will immediately vault you into the top 5% of all web sites.…
Analysis, and an ADA Checklist
September 8, 2006 by ian
Given the hubbub about NFB v. Target I though it'd be a good idea to provide a basic checklist. In the case, the judge found Target liable for a site that didn't comply with ADA accessibility guidelines. I read the ruling, and the case turns, in part, on the judge's ruling that the ADA applies not only to brick-and-mortar stores, but online sites that provide goods and services, too. But note that the judge's ruling is not the final one. This ruling simply denied Target's request to throw the entire case out. Now the case will proceed, and we'll…
Legal Precedent For Web Accessibility
September 8, 2006 by ian
Is your site accessible? Better check. According to PRNewswire, Target stores lost a lawsuit in which the plaintiffs charged that the site was inaccessible to the blind. The suit alleged that the site violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the California Unruh Civil Rights Act, and the California Disabled Persons Act. Why? Because the site lacks ALT text (the ALT attribute is used for images, so that if the image doesn't appear, the text does) and has other stuff, like image maps, that render the site useless for those using assistive devices. The implications are wide-ranging. The judge…
$20 million to use Google
September 1, 2006 by ian
I typically keep this blog politics-free, and I'm not aiming this at any one party. I'm sure both sides of the aisle are equally clueless. But this story is too much: Pentagon Moves Toward Monitoring Media The contract offers $20 million and 'calls for monitoring the tone of Iraq news stories filed by U.S. and foreign media'. Wow. For $500,000 I'll teach them to use Google. And maybe even teach them to use a blog for the 'Arabic version of the multinational force's web site'. I can save the federal government $19,500,000 in one fell swoop. Long live internet…
