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jcm001
Posts: 120
From: Charlotte, NC, USA
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Interesting? Too abstract? - 12/1/2005 21:32:16
I recently redesigned the home page to www.appliedinvestmentresearch.com. What do you think? Interesting? Too abstract? So-So? Thanks for your input. - jcm
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levins
Posts: 272
Joined: 12/12/2001
From: Hartland WI USA
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RE: Interesting? Too abstract? - 12/1/2005 21:34:35
This is the message I receive when I click on the link:
If you see this page it means:
hosting for this domain is not configured
or
there's no such domain registered in Plesk
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Kitka
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From: Australia
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RE: Interesting? Too abstract? - 12/1/2005 22:17:44
I think there is a period accidentally attached to the URL above. Try this one from his profile:
http://www.appliedinvestmentresearch.com/
_____________________________
Kitka
**It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.**
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jcm001
Posts: 120
From: Charlotte, NC, USA
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RE: Interesting? Too abstract? - 12/1/2005 22:31:16
Oops...thanks for the catch Kitka. Yes, there was an additional . at the end of the URL. www.appliedinvestmentresearch.com is (should be - ha!) correct.
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Tailslide
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RE: Interesting? Too abstract? - 12/2/2005 3:25:28
I agree with Nicole about the Alt tags plus I'd stick in a row of text navigation down the bottom somewhere as without images, there's nowhere to go.
Something else you might want to think about - this may well affect your search engine ranking as search engines like lots of content on a page - unless that is of course not a problem for you (loads and loads of backlinks instead?).
_____________________________
"My strategy is so simple an idiot could have devised it"
Little Blue Plane Web Design | Blood, Sweat & Rust - A Land Rover restoration project
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spitfire
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RE: Interesting? Too abstract? - 12/2/2005 7:02:01
Hi
That is different, like it a lot, good colourisation and iconisation.
B..u..t..
IE is my browser of choice, how weird is that? but not so weird that I would ever allow it to play with activeX, Javascript and the like. Anyhow, when I opened the page, I instinctively thought I must be missing something because it seemed incomplete.
Fallback on Firefox then, so it was only the scrolling marquee! phew paranoia not justified .
The marquee is nicely done, except there is a disconcerting flicker on the text over the dark(ish) blue background. Some people, such as those who suffer from epilepsy, could have problems with that. I have almost 20/20 vision but found the green text (particularly against blue) difficult to make out. Thank goodness the markets are rising. If any were falling which would presumably be indicated with red text that would not be good (and not only financially) because any red against blue (and vice versa) will cause very odd, floating-type sensations for nearly everyone, as a previous poster to this thread can testify .
The icons are innovative, but (imho) what they represent is not readily identifiable. It's better in IE since the introduction(?) perhaps they were there all the time of the alt tags. But you are forcing IE visitors to spend quite a bit of time hovering over them to find what they may be looking for.
Did you know, however, that Firefox does absolutely zilch with the alt tag? Turns its back on it - refuses to play ball. It is correct, however, because alt tag is not meant to be used for tool-tips. Firefox, correctly, responds to the <title> tag to throw up a nifty tool-tip. That sometimes means developers will do this: alt="The Digital Economy" (for IE) AND title="The Digital Economy" (for Firefox). Developers who care for visitors that may be using screen-readers will appreciate they will hear "The Digital Economy" twice.
An acceptable way of indicating what the icons mean is: alt="" title="The Digital Economy". IE will look for title text first and, if it is present, will use it for the tool tip in preference to alt text. If screen-reader users know enough about their software to turn on alt text in the first place, they will be savvy enough to turn on title at the same time. So, on the accessibility side you could consider using alt to describe the icon and title to say what it means/links to.
Please don't take my comments as criticism: I wouldn't have bothered to write this screed if I didn't think you had something going for you there.
Cheers
Spit
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jcm001
Posts: 120
From: Charlotte, NC, USA
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RE: Interesting? Too abstract? - 12/2/2005 10:47:43
Thanks for the comments and helping me calibrate my site. The previous version was starting to seem too much like an ocean of words and numbers. It looks like I may have taken it too far in the other direction…not enough text. I’m going to add a navigation menu at the bottom of the home page's main table, or perhaps directly underneath the icons themselves, when I get a chance.
Nicoleoz. The alt tags were already there. At the same time, I had noticed that the mouseover effect I was looking for hadn’t taken hold in FireFox and Opera. Thanks for clearing that up for me spitfire. I’ve added the title tags as you suggested. This brings up some important questions for me…
Is the continuous treatment of exceptions between browsers now a de facto requirement for anyone managing a website? Or, do site builds with later versions of FP automatically account for browser compatibility issues? I have to admit, I’ve never been crazy about trying to build a table within a table just to get borders to appear in FireFox. The exceptions that I’m aware of between Opera and IE are somewhat minor.
Yes…I’m still hanging on to FP2000 – even in light of that apparently useful CSS code. Ha! Is it time for me to upgrade?
Separately, I’ve taken note of the accessibility issues you mentioned spitfire. Thanks. I agree with you about the flickering bottom-half of the ticker bar. I’m going to see what I can do to fix that. I’ve tested the site on two separate flat panels and a regular monitor. That flickering effect seems strongest on the flat panels, and is much less noticeable on the conventional monitor. Weird. Maybe altering the ticker speed will help.
Even though I am familiar with that floaty effect you referenced, this was the first time I’ve had a comment about the colorization of the bottom bar though. The red down and green up colorization is at least something of an accepted convention. At the same time, the dark blue is part of my site’s theme! I’m feeling somewhat cornered on that one. :)
As always: Thanks again for the thoughtful replies.
Regards - jcm
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dpf
Posts: 7126
Joined: 11/12/2003
From: India-napolis
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RE: Interesting? Too abstract? - 12/2/2005 10:50:59
quote:
Yes…I’m still hanging on to FP2000 – even in light of that apparently useful CSS code. Ha! Is it time for me to upgrade? immediately!!!!! at least go from 2000 to 2002 which wa a great improvment and with 2003 out there, you can find 2002 very cheap!
_____________________________
Dan
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spitfire
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RE: Interesting? Too abstract? - 12/2/2005 13:44:28
quote:
ORIGINAL: jcm001
Is the continuous treatment of exceptions between browsers now a de facto requirement for anyone managing a website?
They should be and increasingly will be. But it depends where you are sitting. I'm assuming the other pages are the existing site and I have to say are full of IE proprietary stuff that is not, or is incompletely, understood by the other browsers. The pages do not sport doctypes which tell all the browsers which coding rules you are following. At the risk of stepping on Tailslide's toes (one of her favourite subjects) read this article http://www.alistapart.com/articles/doctype/
OK so unless you are the boss/person who quards the cheque-book, you ain't going to get approval for a complete re-write. That would just be like trying to turn an oil tanker around in mid-stream. But a course or two, better still personal study, for you/your coding team in hand-coding html and css (not as horrific as it sounds), could equip you far better when the time comes to make the site standards compliant and viewable by all (or nearly all) site visitors.
quote:
Or, do site builds with later versions of FP automatically account for browser compatibility issues? I have to admit, I’ve never been crazy about trying to build a table within a table just to get borders to appear in FireFox. The exceptions that I’m aware of between Opera and IE are somewhat minor.
FP (all versions) can only be *relied* upon to produce code that is more or less understood by IE. I don't think the FP people are pulling out the stops for cross-browser compatibility though. IE and Opera used to appear to react in similar ways, but, I think you'll find the current and last couple of versions of Opera are very compliant to coding standards in the same way as are Firefox, Netscape and the rest (with the exception of Mac IE5, of course).
quote:
Even though I am familiar with that floaty effect you referenced, this was the first time I’ve had a comment about the colorization of the bottom bar though. The red down and green up colorization is at least something of an accepted convention. At the same time, the dark blue is part of my site’s theme! I’m feeling somewhat cornered on that one. :)
I guessed as much, but it rated a mention - a real bummer isn't it
Spit
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Tailslide
Posts: 6270
Joined: 5/10/2005
From: Out here on the raggedy edge
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RE: Interesting? Too abstract? - 12/2/2005 17:02:53
quote:
ORIGINAL: spitfire
At the risk of stepping on Tailslide's toes (one of her favourite subjects) read this article http://www.alistapart.com/articles/doctype/
I'm delighted to share nagging duties regarding DOCTYPES and other interesting stuff. I'll do Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays - you can do Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and Sunday can be our day off!
_____________________________
"My strategy is so simple an idiot could have devised it"
Little Blue Plane Web Design | Blood, Sweat & Rust - A Land Rover restoration project
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dpf
Posts: 7126
Joined: 11/12/2003
From: India-napolis
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RE: Interesting? Too abstract? - 12/2/2005 17:09:10
quote:
and Sunday can be our day off!
..so you two will be in quirks mode on Sunday?
_____________________________
Dan
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jcm001
Posts: 120
From: Charlotte, NC, USA
Status: offline
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RE: Interesting? Too abstract? - 12/3/2005 10:27:17
Yesterday I added a text navigation menu to the home page just beneath the icon group. I spent some time contemplating it and felt the page seemed a bit text heavy on the lower half of the page. So...I finally added a cool (OK...at least I think it's cool) javascript to help build a float in menu. Thx again all.
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