In vancouver at WDN08. Just heard Jeffery Zeldman agree with me on how to get work done. I’m sitting in room 2 right now waiting for Derek Featherstone to talk about Real World Accessibility… should be good, will report back later.

DEREK FEATHERSTONE - REAL WORLD ACCESSIBILITY

  • go beyond the section 508 checklist
  • usability issues magnify with disabled users
  • extra punctuation cases problems [keyword(s):]
  • term “news” implies that there is an archive
  • make sure things have a logical linear flow
  • maintain action focus on a page change (different than a page refresh)

Google maps

  • voice recognition grid for map clicking
  • they use onClick div for map controls
  • ironFeathers replaces this with a styled button element which is more accessible

———–

  • Focus on task by user rather than for a software (jaws)
  • “makes stuff work” rather than “make stuff work for this browser”
  • everyone still uses baseCamp
  • greasemonky is a good solution for individual user needs (js/css)

Proximity

  • WAI:ARIA
  • role=”alert”
  • WAI:ARIA support is coming soon

Sitting in a talk by Tara Hunt right now. about how Web2.0 is more about the people than the technology. Not sure how many notes I can get from this, but so far it’s a good talk.

TARA HUNT - GOVERNMENT 2.0

  • TransitCamp [people wanting to improve transit websites]
  • people “demanding” the web applications [ex. California wildfire google map/flickr tracking photos]
  • fixMyStreet (uk)
  • web mashups to create web 2.0 apps that people want
  • “fair copyright for canada” Facebook group stopped legislation
  • library of congress flickr account

How to encourage collaboration

  1. release an API - make data available
  2. publish everything openly (mockup designs to flickr)
  3. be available for comments/questions
  4. embrace the chaos - don’t be afraid to fail
  5. reward contributors
  6. show progress
  7. take small, simple steps [not shocking to the user and easier to reverse]
  8. reach out to people from different backgrounds
  9. view the public as a partner, not a recipient
  10. run real, open, betas [let people know its a beta and that you want feedback]

Government 2.0 = trust

JONATHAN SNOOK - AJAX FRAMEWORKS

  • Frameworks in 3 layers
  • DOM
  • Application conventions (call to the server)
  • widgets (ex. lightbox)

Popular frameworks

  1. Prototype -> for data heavy stuff
  2. jquery -> heavy DOM work
  3. Extjs -> application widgets
  4. script.aculo.us -> animation
  5. MooTools -> a little bit of everything
  6. YUI -> a lot of everything
  7. Dojo -> application widgets

JARED SPOOL - INTUITIVE DESIGN

  • Designs don’t intuit anything, they just sit there
  • intuitive is personal
  • what users currently know based on past experiences
  • we are constantly using language our users don’t understand
  • intuitive design in evolutionary
  • current knowledge is what the user knows
  • target knowledge is what users need to know to complete a given task
  • The “gap” is the area between current and target knowledge, this is where design happens [trying to bridge the "gap"]
  • a wizard MUST be in the gap
  • hide complexity by upgrading in smaller steps
  • reducing target knowledge is necessary to make design seem intuitive
  • www.uie.com/brainsparks
  • Making things easy to discover
  • “exploratory discoverability” - finding stuff as you go
  • give clues - lack of clues prevents productivity

GINA TRAPINI - BETTER GMAIL