[WSG] WAI: successful Australian (or global) examples

[Ben Webster]

Hey there crew,
 
I'm putting in a tender for some government work and one of 
the requirements is some successful WAI sites that I've been involved in. 

I've actually not been involved in a single one and I think 
this requirement is a little stringent. Has anyone out there been involved in a 
successful example?
 
It doesn't have to be Australian even... I just need some 
examples (or lack of) so I can point out to them that the requirement is a 
little harsh.
 
A bientot,
Benvolio
Ben Webster
--Conversant 
Studios[EMAIL PROTECTED]www.conversantstudios.com.au

Re: [WSG] HTML email - mac testers please

[Ben Webster]

Hey there Mark,

html in emails is a bit trcky and doesn't take too kindly to external css
files or using css for positioning. To cover all bases, I usually code the
emails in html 3.2 - using as much inline crappy html as possible.

It ain't pretty but it works.

Go here for some more info :
http://css-discuss.incutio.com/?page=StyleInEmail

And check here for the nifty little mail program I use called Dada mail :
http://mojo.skazat.com/

As long as you whack in html 3.2 - all will be gravy.

A bientot,
Benvolio

- Original Message - 
From: "Mark Stanton" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, June 10, 2004 1:08 PM
Subject: [WSG] HTML email - mac testers please


> Hi All
>
> I've got an HTML email that I need to prepare for a client. The mockup
> can be seen at:
>
> HTML: http://mark.gruden.com/beerworth/
> CSS: http://mark.gruden.com/beerworth/lib/main.css
>
> We didn't design it, we just did the HTML & CSS work. An initial
> review by the designers (MAC users) has resulted in them coming back
> saying there are padding/margin issues on Safari 1.1.1 and IE 5.2.
> Bascially the blue area on the right side (the bit starting with "You
> are subscribed to...) has a couple of pixels white space at the top &
> bottom. This blue should be sitting flush with the header & footer.
>
> I've tested it on IE 5.1.7 (it looks fine), but don't have access to
> either of these other browsers.
>
> I've got two questions:
>
> 1) What mail client are available on the MAC and what browsers do they
> use for rendering HTML content?
>
> 2) What is causing this issue and what can I do to fix it?
>
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Mark
>
> -- 
> Mark Stanton
> Technical Director
> Gruden Pty Ltd
> Tel: +61 2 9299 9462
> Fax: +61 2 9299 9463
> Mob: +61 410 458 201
> http://www.gruden.com
> mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> *
> The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/
> See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm
> for some hints on posting to the list & getting help
> *
>

*
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See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm
for some hints on posting to the list & getting help
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Re: [WSG] HTML email - mac testers please

[Ben Webster]

Hey there Mark,

html in emails is a bit trcky and doesn't take too kindly to external css
files or using css for positioning. To cover all bases, I usually code the
emails in html 3.2 - using as much inline crappy html as possible.

It ain't pretty but it works.

Go here for some more info :
http://css-discuss.incutio.com/?page=StyleInEmail

And check here for the nifty little mail program I use called Dada mail :
http://mojo.skazat.com/

As long as you whack in html 3.2 - all will be gravy.

A bientot,
Benvolio

- Original Message - 
From: "Mark Stanton" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, June 10, 2004 1:08 PM
Subject: [WSG] HTML email - mac testers please


> Hi All
>
> I've got an HTML email that I need to prepare for a client. The mockup
> can be seen at:
>
> HTML: http://mark.gruden.com/beerworth/
> CSS: http://mark.gruden.com/beerworth/lib/main.css
>
> We didn't design it, we just did the HTML & CSS work. An initial
> review by the designers (MAC users) has resulted in them coming back
> saying there are padding/margin issues on Safari 1.1.1 and IE 5.2.
> Bascially the blue area on the right side (the bit starting with "You
> are subscribed to...) has a couple of pixels white space at the top &
> bottom. This blue should be sitting flush with the header & footer.
>
> I've tested it on IE 5.1.7 (it looks fine), but don't have access to
> either of these other browsers.
>
> I've got two questions:
>
> 1) What mail client are available on the MAC and what browsers do they
> use for rendering HTML content?
>
> 2) What is causing this issue and what can I do to fix it?
>
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Mark
>
> -- 
> Mark Stanton
> Technical Director
> Gruden Pty Ltd
> Tel: +61 2 9299 9462
> Fax: +61 2 9299 9463
> Mob: +61 410 458 201
> http://www.gruden.com
> mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> *
> The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/
> See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm
> for some hints on posting to the list & getting help
> *
>

*
The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/
See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm
for some hints on posting to the list & getting help
* 

Re: [WSG] IE hiding text

[Ben Webster]

Hey there Gary,
 
there's just a small problem with the way your structring your 
background image for the left hand column. For help go here:Faux columns 
- by Dan Cederhomhttp://www.alistapart.com/articles/fauxcolumns/
 
btw - your images and colours look very familiar. A lot like a site I 
posted to the group for feedback a while back:
 
http://www.conversantstudios.com.au/apa/index_01.html
 
If you're going to use the same guff - at least change the name of the 
images to protect the innocent:
 
http://metropolis.muprivate.edu.au/fileadmin/metTempl/foot_terms_of_use.gif
http://www.conversantstudios.com.au/apa/i/foot_terms_of_use.gif
 
Benvolio
 
--+Ben 
WebsterConversant Studios[EMAIL PROTECTED]www.conversantstudios.com.au
 

- Original Message - 
From: "Gary Greer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, May 20, 2004 12:43 PM
Subject: [WSG] IE hiding text
> I'm working on http://metropolis.muprivate.edu.au/index.php?id=456 
- > it's going to be our intranet.> > Looking at it in 
Firefox, it looks fine, but in IE the menu on the left > appears but is 
then overwritten by the background image on the container > div.> 
> Does any one have any suggestions?> > gary> 

Re: [WSG] SMH launch

[Ben Webster]

Hey there Peter,
 
everyone here at my office has had the day in their calendar 
to check out the redesign. Now that the redesign has shipped and you 
can now get your life back... I'd love to hear (if you have time) about the 
process involved in the redesign.
 
There was a report from Forrester last year that a large 
percentage of redesigns make things worse and they cited Macromedia's first 
iteration as an example. They then went on to praise the second redesign - http://www.macromedia.com/homepage/forrester.pdf 
 
From a process point of view, I'd love to know how you 
approached such a huge project.
 
~ How you identified a redesign was necessary
~ How you got buy-in from the key stakeholders that a redesign 
was necessary
~ What were the traget areas you wanted to improve and 
update
~ What kind of useability // surveys // focus groups // lab // 
eye tracking testing you did
~ How you migrated the templates (you guys use Fatwire as the 
backend yeah?)
~ How you went about browser testing and what browsers you 
promised the stakeholders you would test for
~ How rigourous was your test plan
~ How many releases and iterations you did do before 
final release
~ What have been the anectdotal responses from 
users
~ What are the measureable benefits from the 
redesign
 
mmm - so many questions - so little time. I'm sure you're 
going to have a busy couple of weeks so I will understand if you ignore such a 
long list of sticky-beak questions...
 
I would.
 
Personally - I love the redesign. 
 
A bienetot,
Benvolio 
 
- Original Message - 

  From: 
  James 
  Gollan 
  To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
  Sent: Thursday, April 29, 2004 7:02 
  AM
  Subject: [WSG] SMH launch
  
  
  Hey – 
  why has the SMH site gone haywire in IE6?
   
  Only 
  kidding peter – looks great. That was the big 
one!
   
  Well 
  done again
   
  James

Re: [WSG] Horizontal Rule throwing out design

[Ben Webster]

Hey there crew,

I've had this same problem recently and someone on this list helped me out.
I can't remember who though.

I needed to have a repeating image for the hr and the kludge I ended up
using to accomodate IE was:

In my stylesheet:

div.hr {
 margin: 20px 10px 0px 0;
 padding: 0 15px 0 0;
 height: 10px;
 background: #fff url(http://www.omnus.com.au/images/omnus_h_dotted.gif)
repeat-x;
 }

div.hr hr {
 display: none;
 }

and in my code:



For furrher references go here:
http://www.sovavsiti.cz/css/hr.html

Hope this helps,
Benvolio

- Original Message - 
From: "Jason Turnbull" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 2004 2:34 PM
Subject: RE: [WSG] Horizontal Rule throwing out design


> > Jackie Reid wrote:
> > I have included an hr class=clear to the bottom of my wrapper
> > to make the white >background appear.
> > I tried div's & br's and they didnt work. hr did.
>
> That's a bit strange I've never had a  not work
>
> > in firefox the spacing is fine but i can see the hr
> > at the very bottom of the wrapper in ie i cant see
> > the hr but i have too much space at the bottom of the page
> > ...it should only show 5px margin...
> > how do i make them go away...?
>
> I was trying to do this yesterday and eventually went back to using a
> . IE was the only browser causing trouble, and I tried many
> different suggestions I found on the net
>
> I found a post by Eric Meyer to add visibility:hidden, but that still
> takes up space.
>
> So I would also like to hear if anyone has a solution
>
> Regards
> Jason Turnbull
>
>
> *
> The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/
> See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm
> for some hints on posting to the list & getting help
> *
>

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See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm
for some hints on posting to the list & getting help
* 

Re: Opening pages in new windows... was Re: [WSG] XHTML (OT??)

[Ben Webster]

Hey there team,

surely there must be a more specific objective than for the users to simply
stay on the site for as long as possible.

I can assure you that is not the objective of content heavy sites like
smh.com.au

I can think of many good reasons to go to a new window. Here's a good one -
contextual help. Think of the UI for helps screens on your PC // Mac. They
always open a new window into a help centre where you can pose your
question - get your answer and then close the window. This way you're still
at the place you experienced the problem, but you're now armed with the
knowledge to solve it.

For an online eg go here -
https://f2members.f2.com.au/f2Reg/f2members/join.do and click on the
question mark icon.

Benvolio
p.s. I don't work for f2.com.au

- Original Message - 
From: "Chris Stratford" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Monday, February 09, 2004 11:11 AM
Subject: RE: Opening pages in new windows... was Re: [WSG] XHTML (OT??)


>
> Well its more a hobby than a job...
>
> I do work - but its not my primary source of income - that's the parents
> :)
> I still live at home - im 18 and just began university
> (telecommunications engineering @ UTS)
>
> But that's true - if they click out of your website, they will probably
> get lost in a myriad of of links and popups, they will forget there name
> - let alone your website.
>
> That's why all offsite links are new window links.
> :)
>
> -
> Chris Stratford
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> www.neester.com
> -
>
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Michael Zeltner [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: Monday, February 09, 2004 10:46 AM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: Re: Opening pages in new windows... was Re: [WSG] XHTML (OT??)
>
>
> i think it depends on how you see it.
>
> the customer (i presume this is your job) wants the user to stay on the
> site as long as possible. if a site opens in a new window, the
> possibility that user will browse his site again, is much higher than if
>
> he has just the back button.
>
> from the usability/information architecture point, the target="_blank"
> is rather bad imho.
>
> just my 0.02 euro ;)
>
> regards,
> michael
> -- 
> niij 
>
> *
> The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/
> *
>
>
>
> *
> The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/
> *
>

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* 

[WSG] html + css guru contracter

[Ben Webster]

Hey there people,
 
Do you know any contractors that are in Sydney with great html 
// css skills? If they have an IA and design ability - that would be (well 
amazing) great as well.
 
The company I work for - Hothouse Interactive - are looking to 
outsource all the html  // css. The programmers only care about the logic 
and the html suffers ENORMOUSLY.
 
It should work out to about 3 days a week on a contract rate - 
but it will be a bit flood + famine - so it's not a bad gig. For an eg 
of the standard of work go here and click the links => http://www.conversantstudios.com.au/apa/index_01.html
 
If you know anyone who might fit the bill can you forward 
their details to me - or vice versa... my Hothouse details are 
below.
 
Thanks,
Benvolio
 

Ben Webster+61 2 
9432 3671[EMAIL PROTECTED]Hothouse 
Interactive Pty LtdLevel 3, 154 Pacific HighwaySt Leonards NSW 
2067

[WSG] bug check - does it break?

[Ben Webster]

Hey there crew,
 
just finished marking up the templates for a new site we're 
building here at werk. At the moment it validates a-ok - but I was wondering if 
you guys could run your keen eyes over it to see if there are any 
bugs.
 
I've tested the markup in a few browsers - but haven't been 
able to test yet on Win95, 98, 2000, IE5 or Mac OS 8+9.
 
http://conversantstudios.com.au/apa/
http://www.conversantstudios.com.au/apa/index_02.html
http://www.conversantstudios.com.au/apa/index_05.html
 
Let me know what you think,
Benvolio

[WSG] styling hr tags

[Ben Webster]

hey there crew, i'm having a cross-browser issue with styling 
some hr tags. they look fine - ie. the dotted image displays - in 
mozilla//firebird etc but in IE i just get a solid line. go here -> 
http://conversantstudios.com.au/tests/omnus/
css is here -> http://conversantstudios.com.au/tests/omnus/c/screen.css 
and here's the relevant css bit:
 
 hr {

	background: url(../i/omnus_h_dotted.gif) repeat-x;

	height: 1px;

	border: 0;

	margin: 10px 10px 10px 0;

	padding: 0 10px 0 0;

	} 
do i need to add any 
values in the css? thanks, benvolio 
 
--+Ben 
WebsterConversant Studios[EMAIL PROTECTED]www.conversantstudios.com.au

[WSG] Rollover bug in Firebird 0.7

[Ben Webster]

Hey there WSG crew,
 
I'm (fairly) new to the list - and it's great to hear the 
daily in's and out's of other developers strtuggling with similar issues. 

 
I was wondering if anyone could shed any light on a stange bug 
I'm getting in Firebird 0.7 on a PC. 
 
On one of my sites www.thesydneypost.com I'm getting a 
stange effect in the Pyrmont + Roseville styles when you rollover the links in 
the sidebar. I'm using one of the image-replacement techniques to display the 
images:
#sidebar h1 {
padding: 15px 0 0 0;
overflow: hidden;
background-image: url("../i/lh_titles_suburb.gif");
background-repeat: no-repeat;
background-color: #f8f8f7;
height: 0px !important;
height /**/: 15px;
font-size: 12px;
}Any ideas?Benvolio --+Ben WebsterConversant Studios0421 699 494[EMAIL PROTECTED]www.conversantstudios.com.au