Web and New Media

Web design inspiration galleries

2006-12-11T11:08:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. Lots of useful links from Danny Sanchez: a "fabulous Flickr gallery featuring screenshots for design inspiration." also: "CSS-Galleries, Web Creme, CoolHomePages, and, in case you’ve been living under a rock, the CSS Zen Garden." And: "Unmatched Style and Most Inspired"

Wikipedia mark II: Citizendium

2006-12-06T13:57:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. The founders of Wikipedia are launching a new project which aims to tackle some of its criticisms. Citizendium uses the same idea but with academic 'constables' ensuring that the information is accurate. The current holding page explains: "It will begin life as a "progressive fork" of Wikipedia. But we expect it to take on a life of its own and, perhaps, to become the flagship of a new set of responsibly-managed free knowledge projects."

Microsoft's 7 Laws of Identity

2006-10-26T08:21:00.000Z

[Tags: new media]. High concept stuff here in an era where our personal identities and privacy are increasingly important. Microsoft's laws are summarised below, but you may want to read (and re-read) the original document.

The Laws of Identity

1. User Control and Consent

Technical identity systems must only reveal information identifying a user with the user's consent. (Blogosphere discussion starts here...)
2. Minimal Disclosure for a Constrained Use

The solution that discloses the least amount of identifying information and best limits its use is the most stable long-term solution. (Starts here...)
3. Justifiable Parties

Digital identity systems must be designed so the disclosure of identifying information is limited to parties having a necessary and justifiable place in a given identity relationship. (Starts here...)
4. Directed Identity

A universal identity system must support both "omni-directional" identifiers for use by public entities and "unidirectional" identifiers for use by private entities, thus facilitating discovery while preventing unnecessary release of correlation handles. (Starts here...)
5. Pluralism of Operators and Technologies

A universal identity system must channel and enable the inter-working of multiple identity technologies run by multiple identity providers. (Starts here...)

6. Human Integration

The universal identity metasystem must define the human user to be a component of the distributed system integrated through unambiguous human-machine communication mechanisms offering protection against identity attacks. (Starts here...)
7. Consistent Experience Across Contexts

Nine skills that separate good and great designers

2006-10-05T08:29:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. Here's a great analysis of what makes great design, complete with PDF slides, and an mp3 sound file that narrates them (there are a lot of examples that need explanation).

Search Engine Preparation Tool

2006-10-03T08:47:00.000Z

Interactive PR: Search Engine Preparation Tool

Serving up content for mobiles

2006-09-29T11:24:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. If you're producing content for mobile consider using a mobile style sheet to present it. A comment by Staci Wolfe, however, says "it might not be as easy as it sounds...

http://www.htmldog.com/ptg/archives/000055.php
http://alistapart.com/articles/flexiblelayouts/
http://www.macedition.com/cb/resources/handheldbrowsercsssupport.html

12 Lessons for Those Afraid of CSS and Standards

2006-09-28T08:36:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, css]. Excellent article about CSS from the reliable A List Apart - my favourite quote: "Perfection is not when there’s nothing to add, but when there’s nothing to take away"

The Future of the Internet II

2006-09-26T09:57:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. From Poynter:

"the Pew Internet & American Life project released an intriguing new report, The Future of the Internet II, by Lee Rainie. A survey of 742 "internet leaders, activists, and analysts" from around the world yielded some consensus on several predictions. Here are a few of the things this report claims might come to pass by 2020:

"A low-cost global network will be thriving and creating new opportunities in a 'flattening' world." (As long as net neutrality doesn't hit the skids, I guess.)

"A significant 42% of survey respondents were pessimistic about humans’ ability to control the technology in the future. [They] agreed that dangers and dependencies will grow beyond our ability to stay in charge of technology. This was one of the major surprises in the survey."

"Tech 'refuseniks' will emerge as a cultural group characterized by their choice to live off the network. Some will do this as a benign way to limit information overload, while others will commit acts of violence and terror against technology-inspired change."

The future ratings battle

2006-09-22T11:18:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. Do you still watch television on your TV? How quaint.

Did you wait till 9pm on Thursday to watch Extras? How ‘2004’.

Television is changing, and it’s not just a matter of a different screen. Broadcasters, having been eyeing up the web with vague distrust for several years, are finally getting their head around this strange new beast, and the way that we are watching television is set to change radically as a result.

The BBC, as always, is one of the pioneers. New digital channels BBC3 and BBC4 in particular last year piloted the idea of screening full episodes of programmes such as The Mighty Boosh online before they even go to air. Not a massive risk, you might think, given the small audiences the channels were getting – but it paid off handsomely, tapping into the target audience’s preference for on demand media.

Channel 4 was not slow to catch on, giving fans of Lost access to every episode of Season One online, and allowing users to watch whole episodes of programmes ranging from Decoding Da Vinci to The Album Chart Show - mounting a significant battle with freelance producers for online rights in the process.

They were wise to do so.

A recent Ofcom report revealed “striking evidence that a new ‘networked generation’ is turning away from television, radio and newspapers in favour of online services, including downloadable content.” The 16-24 year old generation do not sit around the box.

Another report, from The Center for Media Research, this week released a list of the top ten online broadcast media destinations in America. What struck me most? The lack of broadcasters: only four of those listed – NBC Universal, Nickelodeon, CBS and Gannett Broadcasting – are traditional broadcasters. Of the others one was from outside the US – the BBC – and the other five were non-traditional broadcasters such as Yahoo! TV (at number one), AOL, MSN and TV.com.

This is the future ratings battle, and already big names are being left behind. It won’t be long before the battle stretches across the Atlantic. ITV and Channel 5 had better catch up soon.

Related links:
Breakfast launches video podcast (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/breakfast/5331500.stm)
C4 Agrees New Producer Rights Deal With Pact (http://www.netribution.co.uk/2/content/view/640/182/)
Ofcom Communications Market Report reveals new industry trends and changes in consumer behaviour (http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/news/2006/08/nr_20060810)

Paul Bradshaw leads the degree in web and new media at UCE Birmingham’s media department (www.mediacourses.com). He also blogs on online journalism (http://ojournalism.blogspot.com), interactive pr (http://interactivepr.blogspot.com), and web and new media (http://webandnewmedia.blogspot.com).

Site map creator

2006-08-15T11:26:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. Here's a great tool from AuditmyPC.com which will create a site map for you. It's a Java applet so you'll need Java enabled, and your site needs to be live for it to crawl. Oh, and another thing: it uses page titles to create the map, so make sure all your pages are titled meaningfully.

And for those who want to target Google, they do another site map maker specifically for that search engine.

A page that randomly selects its content

2006-08-02T11:00:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, PHP]. Well I'm currently working on a site redesign and I want my journalism portfolio index page to randomly select an article from those on the site. A quick search on "PHP random content selector" brings up this tutorial from SitePoint on using CSS and Perl to hide all articles but one (randomly). Let me know if it's useful.

Oh, and while I was at it, I also found this article on using PHP to randomly select a stylesheet too.

CSS and Links

2006-07-31T12:46:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. Here's a very clear tutorial on using CSS to customise the appearance of links, including styling specific links within other styles (e.g. if you want links on the navigation bar to look different to links elsewhere)

Fix Your Site With the Right DOCTYPE

2006-07-26T12:25:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. It's amazing what a difference it makes when you define your DOCTYPE correctly. Internet Explorer and Firefox, for example, agree on how to present it (mostly). My advice: set your doctype before you do anything else, as you can find that your carefully crafted CSS suddenly looks very different with an XHTML doctype compared to the HTML doctype.

If this doesn't make much sense, read the much more extensive and better-written article by Jeffrey Zeldman, and check out the W3C page that gives you the code needed.

Digital image mangement and stock upload

2006-07-19T13:25:00.000Z

[Tags: new media].

An interesting program thats in it infancy - Prostockmaster allows digital photographers to manage, organise and upload their imagery onto multiple stock sites in one convenient package.

You must be a registered contributor to the stock sites it uses and the current version does not support submission to the best stock library, Alamy* , but it still looks like an interesting and innovative piece of software none the less.

An article from someone who uses prostockmaster can be found here.

Cheers

Jam

*Shameless plug

Build your own wiki

2006-07-04T08:39:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. I've been scouring the web for help on creating your own wiki website, and discovered this useful article at sitepoint, which covers a lot of stuff about definition before, on page 4, finally giving a list of wiki software you can use to create your own.

It's also worth checking out Xwiki.com, which promises to provide you with your own wiki - and on first impressions, looks pretty good, with plenty of editing controls.

Teens turn away from e-mail

2006-06-14T11:13:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. Typing, clicking, and waiting for a reply is "too complicated", apparently, as instant messaging and SMS increases their appeal.

New Online TV Network Aims for Young, Affluent

2006-06-13T14:46:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, online media]. Another day, another new online TV station. Brandweek reports on "Code.tv, an online television network set up by two former executives at MTV.

"The venture aims to fill what its creators say is an underserved television demographic, 25-to-49-year-olds who earn $100,000 or more a year. There are about 5 million such people in the U.S., said Joseph Varet, co-founder and CEO.“That’s a decent sized audience, but it’s too small to support a 24 hour
cable channel,” Varet said. “We don’t have to fill airtime because it’s on demand.”"

Meanwhile, the latest IWantMedia mailing contains a number of other stories about online TV. Here's the rundown:

Former Elle publisher John Rollins is joining ManiaTV.com, which offers original online television programming.

http://www.boston.com/business/personaltech/articles/2006/06/12/internet_stealth_company_steps_out/

http://www.wwd.com/issue/article/107013

Study: Web is the No. 1 media

2006-06-07T08:29:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. ...at work, and no. 2 at home, according to this CNET piece.

F-Shaped Pattern For Reading Web Content

2006-06-05T14:34:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. On paper it's from top left to bottom right, but online it seems we read differently: an F-shaped pattern according to Jakob Nielsen (image is from his site) who sums up the implications as follows:

Users won't read your text thoroughly in a word-by-word manner. Exhaustive reading is rare, especially when prospective customers are conducting their initial research to compile a shortlist of vendors. Yes, some people will read more, but most won't.
The first two paragraphs must state the most important information. There's some hope that users will actually read this material, though they'll probably read more of the first paragraph than the second.
Start subheads, paragraphs, and bullet points with information-carrying words that users will notice when scanning down the left side of your content in the final stem of their F-behavior. They'll read the third word on a line much less often than the first two words.

More TV on the web

2006-06-01T07:20:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. I Want Media reports: "The latest trends among local television news stations: distributing programs via mobile devices and the Web as they try to hold onto fickle audiences. "This is absolutely going to be a vital part of any station's future," says Steve Safran, head of digital media at New England Cable News."
http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2006/05/31/local_tv_news_when_you_want_it/

how much does web design pay?

2006-05-31T11:15:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. From £13K to £40K according to this useful breakdown by Giant Mouse.

Image maps made accessible

2006-05-16T15:47:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, accessibility]. This article is pretty mind-blowing: it shows how you can create an accessible image map using CSS and definition lists. I'm going to lie down now.

Using definitions, abbreviations and acronyms

2006-05-16T15:37:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. Have you ever been on a website and seen a word with a dotted underline? Then you move your mouse over that word and a definition appears over it? (If not, check out A List Apart, which does it a lot - or see http://www.slais.ubc.ca/courses/libr500/02-03-wt1/www/C_Walker/intro.htm)

This is how you do it:
In your HTML, use one of the following tags before your word: <acronym title="TYPE TITLE HERE">or <abbr title="TYPE
ABBREVIATION HERE">- and close the tag afterwards, i.e. </acronym>or
</abbr>

In your CSS, include the following:
abbr, acronym
{
border-bottom: 1px dotted #333;
cursor: help;
}

Putting RSS feeds on your webpage - and create your own content management system

2006-05-11T12:05:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, RSS, PHP]. There's a very useful page at http://www.rss-specifications.com/displaying-rss-feeds.htm about various ways of putting RSS feeds on your site. The first few only allow you to use feeds that have been pre-approved by the likes of feedroll, but go a bit further and the most useful link is to Feedforall.com (who the writer does marketing for). Takes a bit of playing around, but not too much to get it to work well - the most work lies in creating a template for your feeds to sit in.

The great thing about this is that by using a blogging site and then displaying the feed on your own template, you can effectively have your own content management system (CMS), albeit a very basic one, and not too different to simply changing the blog template.

Giant Mouse squeaks about this blog

2006-05-10T10:14:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. Had an interesting email today from Iain at GiantMouse.co.uk, who's very nicely reviewed this blog and thereby given me ample reason to return the favour. Despite my initial suspicions that this was a form of link farming, it turns out that GiantMouse.co.uk looks like being quite a useful resource for the budding web designer, with very clear and simple articles on subjects from improving your Google ranking to working out how much a site will cost. Well worth exploring.

Target sued over web accessibility

2006-05-09T08:17:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, accessibility]. The story is a couple months old, but still important: in America the National Federation of the Blind is sueing Target. "The lawsuit alleges that Target's Web site, Target.com, fails to include features such as an invisible code embedded beneath images that would enable blind customers to use the screen-reading software." (

You can also find reports at http://www.out-law.com/page-6634, http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1139837720306 and CNET.

Actionscript Cheat Sheets

2006-05-09T08:05:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, Flash]. Thanks to Flash Insider for directing me to this excellent link: "ActionScriptCheatSheet.com has put together some great single page cheat sheets for ActionScript. Currently, he's posting sheets for AS3 (so far, he's posted sheets for Top Level Classes, Packages and the Display Package), but there's an older AS2 sheet as well if you're still not on the beta bandwagon"

Will licensing kill the online radio star?

2006-05-05T08:29:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. "New rules on royalties are stifling British internet radio stations while allowing foreign rivals to broadcast into the UK unhindered," reports The Guardian.

Usability news

2006-04-26T08:33:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. This from the latest email newsletter to USABILITY-NEWS@JISCMAIL.AC.UK:

------ LATEST NEWS ------

* Honda Website gets Impromptu Test and comes out Poorly
Source: UN, 24 April 2006
William Hudson of Syntagm asked members of the London Usability mailing list to try the following task, after his own experiences with the Honda website.
http://www.usabilitynews.com/news/article3074.asp

* Young British People neglect Health and Lifestyle through Impatience
Source: UN, 21 April 2006
Some colourful, but slightly dubious, statistics from easyMoney.com about young people's impatience.
http://www.usabilitynews.com/news/article3059.asp

* UK Design Council takes Design to Social Issues
Source: UN, 20 April 2006
A new design discipline is emerging. It builds on traditional design skills to address social and economic issues says the latest report from RED.
http://www.usabilitynews.com/news/article3078.asp

* Media: SonicRim on Postdesign, where People do it for Themselves
Source: SonicRim, 20 April 2006
"Beyond User-Centered Design" is about 'Postdesign': 'We are heading into a world where relationships matter more than objects and human experience is what matters most of all.'
http://www.usabilitynews.com/news/article3075.asp

* Media: Electronicstalk reports on Philips' Shopping Phones
Source: Electronicstalk, 19 April 2006
Philips and Visa International have released a usability study of contactless payment technology.
http://www.usabilitynews.com/news/article3080.asp

------ EVENTS ------

* Web Design for Usability - London
Date: 11 May 2006
Syntagm is running a one-day course on usable web design in Central London on 11 May 2006. BHCIG or UK UPA members will receive a 5%. There is also currently a three for the price of two special offer.
http://www.usabilitynews.com/news/article3044.asp

* Card Sorting for Navigation Design - London
Date: 8 June 2006
Attendees will get first-hand experience of analyzing, conducting and participating in card sorts using data from existing, high-profile web sites. This half-day workshop is suitable for usability specialists and information architects.
http://www.usabilitynews.com/news/article3045.asp

* Human Computer Interaction Exhibition - Liverpool, UK
Date: 31 March 2006 to 28 May 2006
John Moores University and FACT (www.fact.co.uk) present an unforgettable experience of interactivity and usability.
http://www.usabilitynews.com/news/article3082.asp

* UKUPA 'What does PAS 78 mean for accessibility?' - London
Date: 28 April 2006
This is a chance to put questions to some of the people involved in writing and reviewing PAS 78 and debate what the implications are and what will it mean for designers, developers and testers?
http://www.usabilitynews.com/news/article3089.asp

* Ethnography and how it can inform Design - Cambridge, UK
Date: 8 May 2006
Louise Ferguson looks at the nature of ethnography and what it can offer the user experience and design community and their clients.
http://www.usabilitynews.com/news/article3085.asp

How to go to university

2006-04-25T15:42:00.000Z

Andrew Dubber has posted a fantastic post entitled 'How to go to university' on his blog. It may sound obvious, but advice like 'turn up' and 'read books' is really worth listening to...

Principles and Elements of Design

2006-04-18T08:17:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. Here's a great article by Joshua David McClurg-Genevese applying design principles to the web. Make sure to check out his last three articles too.

Seven signs of amateur design

2006-04-13T08:19:00.000Z

[Tags: design]. There are certain techniques that scream 'amateur' and should be avoided at all costs. These are the strange inspirations that take a mysterious hold of people when they first sit in front of Microsoft Word or Adobe Photoshop to create a poster or a logo.

And so, continuing my theme of sevens, here I present my guide to the seven things that I hope I will never see again, anywhere, but know full well I'll see again, everywhere.

1. Comic Sans

When Microsoft invented the Comic Sans font and put it on every machine, they created a monster. For some reason, people saw this and thought that a font that looked as if it was written by a 10-year-old would really convey the professionalism of their business. Such is the hatred for Comic Sans you will find countless sites and messageboards devoted to just how badly used it is.

2. Gradients

Hey, look! It starts blue, then changes to purple! Wow.
Yes, that's very nice. But why are you using it? Are you designing for a hippy commune? Are you living in the '60s? No. Does it make the design more readable? Does it give it more impact? No. One of the basics of good design is contrast. Gradients have no contrast: they slowly change from one colour to another. So get it out of your system, then get it out of your design. Gradients suck.

3. Putting boxes around everything

This is a particular weakness in amateur publication design: "Here's an article; I'd better put a box around it so that people know it's separate from any other articles. Here's a headline: better put a box around it..." Have you ever looked at a professional newspaper? Do they put big clumsy boxes around everything? Of course not. They rely on more subtle ways to distinguish one article from another, like white space, a grid format, or at the most a hairline, or a faintly coloured background. Look at other publications and learn what works.

4. 12pt Times New Roman

I understand. For years you've been conditioned to submit essays and reports in 12pt Times New Roman. You've not thought about using anything but the default font and size in Word, and frankly, such is the conformism in schools that you'd probably be expelled for differing for the norm. But in the professional world you need to stand out, and 12pt Times New Roman screams "boring", "ordinary", and "lazy". Simply using a different font (not Arial - it's almost as overused) will make your work stand out as having had at least a modicum of thought paid to it.

5. Word templates and other templates

Again, another technique that screams "boring", "ordinary", and "lazy". The problem with templates is: everyone uses them. As a result: no one stands out. If you're applying for a job, or wanting a design that will stand out from the rest, don't use a template. As an employer, I saw CV after CV with that dour grey globe in the top corner and the same text formatting: the applicants had all used the same Word template. It's not the best first impression to make.

6. Underlining as a method of emphasis

Underlining was never intended to be used to emphasise text - it was a printer's mark that said "make this bold". Yes, it does emphasise text - slightly - but there are much, much better ways of doing so. Instead, if you want to emphasise text, make it bold, and if it's a heading, make it bigger. You should also try making it a different font to body text - or even a different colour.

7. Word Art

Good typography apparently isn't enough for some people. Oh no. Let's make that word 3D. And have it shrinking as you get to the end of it. And put a little metallic effect on it too. Yes, that'll make it look better. No. It looks rubbish.

Search engine for your site - or sites

2006-04-13T08:06:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. If you want to add a search box for your site take a look at Rollyo. The great thing about the site is that, as well as creating your own search box, it's added to a publicly-available list of search boxes, so other people can find your site. You can also set up search boxes that only search a particular range of sites - so if you run more than one (like me), you can have a search box that will search them all - and nothing else. I've copied the code for one below:

Disney TV shows go free online

2006-04-12T08:14:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. "Disney is to make hit shows such as Lost and Desperate Housewives available for free on the internet as part of an advertiser-funded trial," reports the Guardian. "In another move to expand its appeal on the web, Disney is also launching an online soap channel, Soapnetic, for Verizon internet subscribers"

Meanwhile, the Online Publishers Association newsletter reports:

"Online video explosion takes on TV upfronts
"Watching video online used to be an oddity, with flickering postage-sized images that gurgled and froze. Fast-forward to 2006 with the online video revolution in full swing, and Netizens are making it a regular part of their online life (see research item below). With the growth in viewership has also come a booming demand for ad
inventory on online videos. AdAge has run multiple stories on the push for a
"digital upfront" this spring, as well as a change in mindset by advertisers and
agencies who consider the television just one of many venues for video ads.
American Express calls the category "rolling video stock" while MediaVest
reorganized its buyers as "video investment and activation units," AdAge
reported. "Broadcast is not dying; broadcast still works," MediaVest's Donna
Speciale said. "But we have to follow the consumer to where he or she is getting
content and that means being video-neutral."
One video site Heavy.com is going to approach advertisers for special digital upfront deals for its slate of new online "shows." AdAge notes that the digital upfront idea isn't new, and that AOL, Yahoo, MSN and other video-rich sites have sold out inventory in advance for certain categories. The demand for online video ad inventory has also led to a new in-stream ad network from Advertising.com, which will supply 61 million ad impressions per month. Advertising.com has signed up 30 publishers, compared to rival Instream's 50 publishers, ClickZ reports. Plus, NYTimes.com said it would add more original video to its home page and section front pages in order to satisfy the massive demand for video inventory. "Pre-roll inventory is very, very, very much in demand," AccuSteam iMedia Research's Paul Palumbo said.
»
Marketers, Media Buyers Reorganize for New Video Age (AdAge)
»
Web Sellers Build Own 'Upfronts' (AdAge)
»
Advertising.com Launches Pre-Roll Video Network (ClickZ)
»
NYTimes.com Builds Original Video Inventory to Satisfy Advertiser Demand (ClickZ)
»
Cable networks tout new media for content and advertising (Broadcast & Cable)
»
YouTube's 'Bowiechick' and the spiders from marketing (News.com)"

Headline for Google Web Newspaper Article Journalism

2006-04-09T13:11:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media].

An unexpected effect of web and new media on newspapers: puns have fallen out of favour, and simplicity and clarity of message are now the order of the day where newspaper headlines are concerned.

According to this New York Times article (free registration required), Google is now the intended audience for headlines. Search engines deliver around 30% of a newspaper's online traffic, and therefore readers and so advertisers.

This might also be worth considering when coming up with blog post headings (such as the exaggerated example above) or when titling web pages...

Seven 'Don'ts' of good web design

2006-04-04T14:47:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. Following my seven tips for good web design, here are my seven don'ts of web design.

1. Don't begin designing on-screen

Computers help us do things better - but they also take more time and narrow our options. Designing on-screen takes longer than a quick sketch on paper, and you'll find yourself limited by your technical skills. Speed things up by brainstorming ideas on paper first - this way you can make lots of mistakes and learn from them; you can explore lots of different ways of doing things without getting drawn down one path too soon; and you set yourself a clear objective before you sit down to fiddle with the tools on a web design or graphics package.

2. Don't overload us with fonts, sizes and colours

Consider two the magic number. Stick to two fonts, in two sizes, and two colours. Keep your images to one of two sizes. The consistency will make your page look professional, and make it clear and easy to use; the contrast will allow you to draw the user in - so, for instance, you might have a 'normal' font and a 'headline' font; a 'normal' size and a 'headline' size; a 'normal' colour and a 'highlight' colour. Simple.

3. Don't use fonts that aren't web friendly

When it comes to text, stick to Arial, Times, Helvetica, Verdana, Georgia and Courier - if you're using Dreamweaver the list of fonts should already be there on the Property palette. You might be tempted to use something more unusual, but your typographical skills will be wasted: unless the font is on the user's computer, it won't display at all.

4. Don't change layout between pages

As soon as a user enters your site they are learning how to use it. They'll want to know where the navigation is, and where the content is. If you move things between pages they have to re-learn all over again, and this frustrates them. Chances are, they won't stick around. Make things easy for your user by keeping your layout consistent.

5. Don't leave webpages as 'Untitled Document'

A webpage title serves a number of functions. It's very important in being listed by search engines; it's the title that is used when someone bookmarks your site; and it's the phrase that runs across the top of the screen when they're looking at your page. Having that say 'Untitled Document' makes you look unprofessional. So make sure you title your document: in Dreamweaver you can do this in the 'Title' box near the top of the screen; in HTML look for the title tag.

6. Don't stop at your first attempt

You first page design might look good. It might even look great. But your second attempt will look even better, and your third better still. The secret to great design is re-design: tweak, tweak and tweak again and you'll have something to be proud of.

7. Don't use more than seven main navigation buttons

Too many buttons and you confuse the user - see this website for an extreme example. Our short-term memories will only hold around seven items, so stick to seven or less. Why do you think this list is only seven tips long?

Seven tips for good web design

2006-04-03T14:47:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. Thanks to Jill Barrow at Thomas Telford School for prompting me to write this little list of tips. These are more conceptual than technical, but if all you want is technical skill, go and buy a book on Dreamweaver.

Tip 1: Know your objectives

Before you do anything, write down what you want your website to achieve. Do you want to sell products? Communicate information? Do you want to get people talking? Keep it simple and write it at the top of every page of planning. Whenever you're unsure what to do about a problem this will help you decide.

Tip 2: Think like your audience

What other sites do your audience like - and why? Why is your audience going to your site? Make it as easy as possible for them to get to what they want. Talk to them - and listen.

Tip 3: Have a brand idea

Write down five adjectives that describe how you want the site to look and feel. Do you want it to be modern, or traditional? New, or established? Authoritative, or radical? Funky? Friendly? Cutting-edge? This is your brand, and when you produce draft designs ask yourself: does this fit my brand?

Tip 4: Keep colour simple

A base colour and a second for emphasis is enough - if you're not convinced, look at famous logos and designs: Coca Cola (red and white), McDonalds (red and yellow), Orange (white and, er, orange). There are lots of websites that will help you choose colour schemes - explore them. You'll also find more advice on intelligent use of colour at Web Design From Scratch.

Tip 5: Use layout conventions

Most websites stick to a common layout with navigation down the left or, less often, along the top. Like having a contents page near the beginning of a magazine, users are used to this and get frustrated if navigation isn't where they expect it. Unless you've got a very good reason, stick to these conventions.

Tip 6: One point of contrast

Once you've settled on your layout try to keep your elements consistent - images should be the same size, text should be the same size. Then pick one element and make it bigger and bolder. This is your headline story, or your product of the day. By making it bigger you give your user an entry point into your page - but stop there. If you make any other elements big and bold too you'll lose any impact, so only do it once.

Tip 7: Test it.

On yourself and on other people. Set your users tasks and watch what they do - then redesign your site if you think it will make it easier for them to do what they want to do with it.

Great web design site

2006-03-31T08:50:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. Thanks to Mindy McAdams for pointing out this one: Web Design From Scratch is an excellent resource for all aspects of web design, from the design process itself to graphic design, site architecture, HTML and CSS.

PAS 78 Guide to Good Practice in Commissioning Accessible Websites

2006-03-13T13:46:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media, accessibility]. Here's a document you should be familiar with if you're commissioning people to design websites - the PAS 78 Guide to Good Practice in Commissioning Accessible Websites. It "outlines good practice in commissioning websites that are accessible to and usable by disabled people". What a shame, then, that the BSI are charging £30 for businesses to access it themselves...

Interactive PR: Bad use of Flash

2006-03-13T08:48:00.000Z

On my other site, Interactive PR, I write about Bad use of Flash

Sharing and streaming video

2006-03-08T15:53:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. Here's a useful site if you want to stream media - Grouper. It's currently in beta but allows you to stream media to your own networks of up to 50 people. Also worth checking out is imeem, which also sells the whole personal networking thing.

Open Source online shop/e-commerce facility

2006-03-08T14:55:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. If you're looking to set up an e-commerce project, it may be worth investigating osCommerce, an open source "set of out-of-the-box online shopping cart functionality that allows store owners to setup, run, and maintain their online stores with minimum effort and with no costs, license fees, or limitations involved."

Feedback is generally positive, although users must login before purchasing, which can drive away customers.

Online video and TV finally converge

2006-03-06T09:02:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. From the 27th February Online Publisher's Association mailing:

"Online video and TV finally converge
We've heard so much about convergence and the digital living room, that we can be excused for not believing it would ever come. But now, after years of fits and starts, true convergence is starting to happen as TV content and online video are blurring their boundaries. DirecTV is offering a service for broadband users to download video to special boxes so it can provide a type of pay-per-view experience. NBC debuted a new TV show, "Conviction," via free iTunes downloads. The Wall Street Journal recently looked at this growing convergence in two separate articles. "A range of manufacturers and service providers are pushing devices such as new set-top boxes and specialized PCs to allow consumers to watch video from the Internet on their actual TV sets," wrote Kevin Delaney and Bobby White in one article. "But, in the meantime, consumers appear increasingly willing to view videos on their computer screens."

The other Journal article looked at the "industry land grab" happening among video startups online as online video goes mainstream. Taking center stage was Brightcove, a video startup that has helped Reuters distribute its video reports to any site that wants to run a player -- including the conservative blog Wizbang. Plus, Brightcove and other video sites such as YouTube promise to let anyone get their independent video in front of millions of people without traditional distribution. "Once, producers of films, TV shows and video material relied on other big companies -- broadcast networks, cable systems -- to get shows in front of an audience," wrote WSJ's Peter Grant. "Now, these new forms of distribution could turn anyone into a producer with a nearly endless array of possible outlets." The only downside? News.com reports all this online video is straining the Net's backbone.

» Choices Expand for Watching TV on Your PC (WSJ; paid subscription required)

» Online Video Goes Mainstream, Sparking an Industry Land Grab (WSJ; paid subscription required)

» NBC launches new show with iTunes promo (Reuters)

» Satellite-TV Firm Prepares to Offer Video Downloads (WSJ; paid subscription required)

» TV catches the Net video bug (News.com)

» Net video explosion triggers traffic jam worries (News.com)
"

Google Gmail for domains

2006-03-03T08:43:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. Google are now offering Gmail for domains - as reported at Marketing Blog, who remarks:

"Features include:A control panel where you can, “create new users, modify
or suspend accounts, create aliases and lists, and customize the look and feel
of Gmail for marketingblog.com. You can even upload whole lists of new users
with the bulk upload feature, and assign administrative rights to multiple
accounts.”"

I'm not sure how many people would use this - do you need to own the domain? I'm assuming so, in which case you'd also own the email addresses and be able to redirect them (including to a Gmail account). I can see a certain advantage for companies too small to own an email server but too big to want to simply redirect.

A meta-bookmarkleter?

2006-02-23T09:39:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media, bookmarklets, social bookmarking]. Social bookmarking site Ma.gnolia has helped me find OnlyWire, a site that allows you to simultaneously bookmark to a dozen or so sites, including Del.icio.us, Blinklist, Furl, Spurl, and too many to list here, most of which I wasn't aware of. Well worth a try.

Web 3.0

2006-02-21T09:50:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. Jeffrey Zeldman has written one of the best articles I've read on the hype surrounding Web 2.0. For my part, I remember people bandying around "Web 2.0" five years ago, when I was Editor of Internet Monthly, when it was used to mean websites that used more than just HTML. Now it seems to mean using other people's APIs and tools like AJAX. Why? Zeldman sums it up brilliantly:

"As the first properly valued “Web 2.0” properties began to find buyers, a frenzy like the old one popped hideously back to life. Yahoo spent how much? Google bought what? Here was real blood in the water.
"But how to persuade the other sharks in the tank that this blood feast was different from the previous boom-and-bust? Easy: Dismiss everything that came before as “Web 1.0.”"

Screencasting

2006-02-09T14:03:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. A word for the day: "A screencast is a digital recording of computer screen output, often containing audio narration," says Wikipedia. "The term was coined by columnist Jon Udell in 2004 in an article [1] describing the benefits of using the technique as a way to show other users applications he found interesting. Since then, the term has gained widespread use, and the use of screencasts has itself become more popular."

Photography and new media advice sessions

2006-02-01T10:29:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. From a mailing:

"Arts Council England, West Midlands are offering the opportunity to discuss future projects and work plans for artists and arts organisations looking to apply for Arts Council funding. The sessions are aimed at photographers and new media artists (visual arts, performance practices, interdisciplinary activity, etc) living in the West Midlands and will give advice on how funding from Arts Council England can support a project, rather than a general portfolio session. You will need to bring examples of your work and have downloaded and looked at the new Grants for the arts information pack prior to your appointment. The sessions will be held on 6 March. To book a half hour appointment with Anna Douglas (Officer) or Meave Haughey (Assistant) phone Emily Malcolm, Arts Administrator on 0121 631 5739."

talk: Intellectual Property in emerging new media

2006-02-01T09:27:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. There's a free talk on the changing field of Intellectual Property in emerging new media on 13 February, with a special focus on podcasting: more info at www.thecreativehub.org. "Alongside an experienced podcaster who runs a regular review show for emerging bands, we also have a lawyer who specialises in IP for creative industries - so you can treat the Q&A as a free legal consultation if you have any specific queries. ... Drop a quick email to info@thecreativehub.org if you’d like to attend; should be an interesting one."

Video hosting online

2006-02-01T09:01:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. Another online video hosting service to add to your favourites alongside Google Video: YouTube allows you to upload and tag your own videos - and share them with whoever you want. Or you can browse the videos others have downloaded: the site offers links to recently viewed, featured videos, and 'channels' based on particular interests, including videoblogging and short movies.

Drop-down menus and accessibility (or lack of)

2006-01-20T11:19:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, accessibility]. Thanks to Hannah Watson for posing a question about drop down menus and accessibility that prompted me to find this page that confirms:

"Dropdown menus for navigation are a bad idea and cause serious usability problems...
"For a detailed discussion of the drawbacks of navigational drop down menus, as well as an advice on fixing some of the worst problem if you have been forced to use them, please check http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/forms/navmenu.html"

Internet users judge Web sites in less than a blink

2006-01-19T12:30:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. Here's the rundown:

" TORONTO (Reuters) - Internet users can give Web sites a thumbs up or thumbs down in less than the blink of an eye, according to a study by Canadian researchers.

"In just a brief one-twentieth of a second -- less than half the time it takes to blink -- people make aesthetic judgments that influence the rest of their experience with an Internet site."

Sadly...

"the results did not show how to win a positive reaction from users, said Lindgaard, a psychology professor at Carleton University in Ottawa. "When we looked at the Web sites that we tested, there is really nothing there that tells us what leads to dislike or to like.""

New Music Strategies: Webcasting rates

2005-12-15T16:53:00.000Z

New Music Strategies: Webcasting rates

Solving (almost) the alt tag problem with CSS backgrounds

2005-12-14T11:45:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, css]. This article on using background-image to replace text may be a couple years old, but it's had all that time to be tested and updated accordingly. It's very useful if you really want to use images rather than text, but want screen readers to be able to read the images. Sadly, many screen readers don't play along with the Fahrner Image Replacement (FIR) method outlined, and so you're left with a series of alternatives listed at the end of the article as follows:

"Leahy/Langridge Image Replacement (LIR)
This method eliminates the span by setting height of the parent element to 0 and overflow to hidden, which hides the text. Then it uses top padding to force the element to the height of the image in the background. Conceived at similar times by Seamus Leahy and Stuart Langridge.
"Rundle’s Text-Indent Method
Mike Rundle devised a simple method of using the CSS text-indent property to shift contained text outside the visible element window.
"Cover-up Method
Another method devised by both Petr Stanicek (a.k.a. “Pixy”) and Tom Gilder uses an empty span element to position a background image on top of the text, allowing the text to show up when images are turned off (or don’t load) in the browser.

"For further reading on the subject of FIR, refer to the previously mentioned article, Facts and Opinion About Fahrner Image Replacement, and Dave Shea’s In Defense of Fahrner Image Replacement at Digital Web."

The best Flash thing I've seen all week

2005-12-09T12:10:00.000Z

[Tags: Flash]. This is a great idea - it's called PocketMod and it uses Flash to allow you to create your own mini-book, the contents of which you choose from a number of options. For instance, you might have a to-do list on the front page, followed by four pages of storyboard templates you can fill in, a grid to sketch on, a diary page for the week, and a Su Doku puzzle on the back page. Once you've dragged your choices onto the grid, just click Print and you get a page that you can fold up and cut to create a customised pocketbook.

Other inclusions you can choose include lines, tables, music tab sheets, calendars for months or years, shopping lists, formulas, conversion tables, and a folding guide.

It's difficult to communicate just how clever this is - just pop along to http://pocketmod.com/app/index.html to see it in action and try it out.

And if you're pleased with that, you will also want to look at the beta version of PDFtoPocketMod (zip file). It allows you to convert a PDF file into the pocketmod format - this takes some getting used to but allows you to take 8 page documents and make them pocket sized! Fantastic. I'm off to lie down.

Interesting research within creative industry

2005-12-08T19:29:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media].

This got mailed round to me at work today, found it interesting and worth a read!

http://www.trendwatchgraphicarts.com/fastfacts.html

JA

Web video and FLV encoders

2005-12-08T15:31:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, streaming]. There's an interesting post over at the graphic-webdesign@yahoogroups.com mailing list about streaming media, including the following useful reply (and accompanying links) to a question about streaming some DVD material:

"I am using flv movies, and if you want to compare to a WMA (like I did) you will probably determine that the flv method is faster and looks better. It is "pseudo" streaming as well.

Plus, I found a free way to make them:
the free encoder is here:
Riva ( http://www.rivavx.com/index.php?encoder&L=3 ) and here is a free player as well:
http://www.jeroenwijering.com/?item=Flash+FLV+Player
--
Mary
www.webie-design.com
www.sw-wa.com - Free web site directory for SW Washington"

On that subject, you might also want to check out the FLV player you can download from http://www.flashguru.co.uk/free-tool-flash-video-player/

Stock Photography for Web Developers

2005-12-07T10:20:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. I've discovered a great collection of articles at WebReference on stock photography. Frustratingly, however, there are no links between each of the articles (you'd think a website about web design would know better). So, collected here for your convenience are links to all five parts:

How devices support Flash Lite

2005-12-05T12:13:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, Flash]. Useful database on what mobile phones support Flash Lite (and what parts of that)

Introducing Ajax

2005-12-05T11:39:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. This is worth brushing up on if you're interested in web design - Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) - from Wikipedia:

"a combination of:
XHTML (or HTML) and CSS for marking
up and styling information
The Document Object
Model manipulated through JavaScript to dynamically
display and interact with the information presented
The XMLHttpRequest object to
exchange data asynchronously with the web server. (XML is commonly used, although any
format will work, including preformatted HTML, plain text, JSON and even EBML). In some Ajax frameworks and
in some situations, an IFrame object is used instead of the XMLHttpRequest
object to exchange data with the web server. "

Also worth reading is 10 Places You Must Use Ajax by Alex Bosworth. In short:

Form driven interaction.
Deep hierarchical tree navigation.
Rapid user-to-user communication.
Voting, Yes/No boxes, Ratings submissions.
Filtering and involved data manipulation.
Commonly entered text hints/autocompletion.

Yes, that's right - there are only six...

Animation and games festival

2005-12-02T11:28:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media, animation]. If you're interested in animation or computer games you might want to pop up to Middlesbrough on February 6-10. The festival "acts to provide animators, directors, students, artists, designers, writers and educators with a forum in which they can share their knowledge and skills and promote the art of animation." See the animex website.

European Web use rockets

2005-12-02T11:22:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. That's according to The European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA) trade group, and articles in Journalism.co.uk and the Guardian. Says the former:

One quarter of Europeans are now 'super web users', spending at least 16 hours online every week.

Broadband users spend even more time online; 31 per cent average more than 16 hours each week.

Web use has increased by 17 per cent in just one year, outstripping growth in all other media.

UK users average 11 hours each week. Thirteen per cent of web users contribute to blogs regularly and 12 per cent download podcasts regularly.

Best of British web design

2005-12-02T10:59:00.000Z

[Tags: web design]. At least that's what this site is trying to showcase, and it does a pretty good job too. You can sort sites by rating, name or agency, and submit your own if you're feeling confident.

Flash messing with your mind

2005-12-02T10:53:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, flash]. Yugop.com has some mind-boggling Flash experiments from some draggable balls to a typographic book search application. Yep.

Today's bad design award goes to...

2005-12-01T16:31:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, usability]. ...the University of Central Lancashire jobs page: you can imagine them asking themselves: "How are people going to want to look for the job they're after? Oh, by closing date of course." Yes, what a logical way to order your jobs - and even worse, they're not even arranged in alphabetical order within that category, so you have to go through a list of 20 jobs to try to find yours.

CSS Beauty

2005-12-01T15:19:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, CSS]. Here's a great site that showcases great design using CSS. There's plenty of code that you can acquire and adapt for your own uses, too. Well worth bookmarking.

Another online source for sound effects

2005-11-24T13:34:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, audio]. From webcast-l-bounces@commedia.org.uk on behalf of Bill Best:

"The Freesound Project [1] aims to create a huge collaborative database
of audio snippets, samples, recordings, bleeps - not songs - released
under the Creative Commons Sampling Plus License [2]. The Freesound
Project provides new and interesting ways of accessing and browsing
these samples. In less than 7 months it has over 30,000 users and has
collected more than 10,000 samples that have been added by various
people around the world. The Geotagged Samples [3] are highly recommended.

[1] http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/
[2] http://creativecommons.org/licenses/sampling+/1.0/
[3] http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/geotagsView.php

[At the time of writing the Freesound Project server is not available
due to too many visitors]."

Interactive PR: Tool to help come up with keywords

2005-11-24T09:59:00.000Z

Interactive PR: Tool to help come up with keywords

BBC2 first to broadcast simultaneously online

2005-11-24T09:49:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. "next year as part of the BBC's efforts to reach viewers via the internet and mobile phones," reports The Guardian. "[BBC2's controller, Roly] Keating said trials indicated that shows benefited from being available over the web."

What is a Web proposal?

2005-11-23T15:40:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. There's an interesting forum going on at About.com about what you should put into a website proposal (the design of these forums isn't the best - click on the 'next' icon below the message to see replies). Reply no.4 points to Creative Latitude and their rate calculator (Excel file) - there are also plenty of other helpful documents on their Resources page, including a website briefing questionnaire.

Another useful response goes as follows:

"I'm the head web designer for an action sports ad agency, and I've been doing this for a while. When we do a web proposal, we first put together a site map of the work we propose doing. Then in the proposal itself, we list exactly what work we are doing for them, line by line, with the price for each item (based on hourly, but give a hard price-clients need that) and if there are multiple aspects to each item, list them. This is basically a simple outline and you can put it together in MS Word. Put your grand total at the bottom.
"NEVER do a design comp or mock up without getting your first payment (50% for new clients). If you don't stick hard and fast to that rule, you WILL get screwed sooner or later, especially doing freelance. People had told me that, but I learned the hard way."

Media students 'most employable' - and a strengthening jobs market for IT graduates

2005-11-23T15:28:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, media]. That's the verdict of a recent survey of over 200,000 ex-students. "What Do Graduates Do?" "reveals that media graduates have among the highest employment rates," reports the BBC, which also notes "a strengthening jobs market for IT graduates".

Test how type will look on screen

2005-11-22T15:15:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, css]. Another great recommendation from Ideabook - the Typetester, which allows you to compare up to three fonts and type settings - including leading, spacing, tracking and colour - against each other on the screen.

Even better, and shamefully under-highlighted, you can get the CSS code for your final choice (the links are hidden in the top right corner)

ShaunInman.com

2005-11-22T15:10:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. Ideabook.com's latest briefing highlights ShaunInman.com as follows: "Interesting navigation solution--click the "Navigate/Search" tab at the top of the screen.
Here > http://www.shauninman.com/" - one problem: if you have to tell people where the navigation is, it means they can't find it by themselves. Cut piece of design, though.

Web TV tipped to reach 9m by 2009

2005-11-22T13:58:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, streaming]. So reports The Guardian:

"The latest report from market researchers Screen Digest claims Europe will have 8.7 million internet TV subscribers by 2009 - nearly 10% of the pay-TV market.

"Daniel Schmitt, the author of the report, believes telecommunications companies such as BT and France Telecom would benefit most from growth in TV over the internet, or IPTV, which is delivered down high-speed phone lines."

CMYK to RGB convertor

2005-11-22T13:51:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media]. Here's a useful site if you have a CMYK (print) colour that you'd like to convert to a web-safe colour.

Grand Theft Auto Goes Flash

2005-11-22T10:15:00.000Z

Grand Theft Auto makes it onto the PSP with it's own set of new stories, but that's enough about the game, check out the flash site.
I like it, but then I like the game.

Check it out at: http://www.rockstargames.com/libertycitystories/gta_lcs.html
[Tags: web design, new media].

Accessibility Is Not Enough

2005-11-21T15:58:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, accessibility]. So says Jakob Nielsen in his latest Alertbox. Here's his concluding par:

"When you want to improve your website for users with disabilities, remember the real goal: to help them better use the site. Accessibility is a necessary, but not nearly sufficient, objective. Your main focus should be on the site's usability for disabled users, with an emphasis on how well the design helps them accomplish typical tasks."

Streaming with Orb.com

2005-11-21T15:19:00.000Z

[Tags: streaming]. Here's another site for streaming: Orb.com. Seems to be a more personal than broadcast service, but worth checking out if you're interested in that sort of thing.

Screen reader simulation site - and tips

2005-11-18T13:22:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, accessibility]. Casting around for screen reader software I came across this fantastic simulation of how pages sound to a person browsing using a screen reader - plus some tasks you can try to undertake. Well worth a visit.

While you're on that trip - have a read of Trenton Moss's article 'Seven Screen Reader Usability Tips' for some advice on designing with screen readers in mind.

New Web and New Media mailing list

2005-11-18T12:33:00.000Z

For some reason the Yahoo! Groups mailing list for this blog (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/webandnewmedia/) has stopped working (it's the same for sister blogs Interactive PR and Online Journalism Blog), so - off to Google Groups I've gone. If you want to sign up for email updates when new messages are posted register at http://groups.google.com/group/Web-and-New-Media

test - ignore

2005-11-18T12:31:00.000Z

[Tags: web design, new media.

TV shows on the web in America

2005-11-18T09:51:00.000Z

[Tags: TV online]. Another online media article, this one about TV shows on the web in America. Here's my usual key quote:

"[The examples given] do more than repurpose made-for-TV format on the Web. They add extra video content, interaction among audience members, and cutesy add-ons like games and polls. The TechWeb article points to a significant stat that surely has motivated content dealmakers:

More than 94 million people, or 56 percent of the online U.S. population, have watched streaming video online, according to Web metrics firm ComScore Networks. Over the last three months ending in June, the average consumer watched 73 minutes of online video a month.

In addition to a sizable audience, there’s the not-so-insignificant fact that publishers and advertisers are getting more comfortable with video ad formats on the Web. AOL’s advertising model incorporates streaming advertising within the content, banners and sponsorships."

Analogue is the new digital

2005-11-18T09:34:00.000Z

...as Ofcom announces it will sell analogue spectrum when it is freed up by the switch off of analogue television, "a move eagerly awaited by technology, telecoms and broadcasting companies".

Premiership games could be bought by ISPs

2005-11-18T09:28:00.000Z

[Tags: webdesign]. Premier League games could be bought for online broadcast following a new TV agreement that will put an end to Sky's monopoly on coverage. The Guardian reports on the agreement with the following key paragraph:

"The Premier League will also encourage bids from new entrants such as BT, France Télécom and AOL by making all the packages "platform neutral" for the first time. That means that instead of hiving off new media rights into a separate package, it is understood winning bidders will be able to distribute games as they see fit. As such, a telecoms company could choose to boost take-up of broadband by screening games exclusively over the internet."

This won't be until 2007, however, so until then you might have to rely on those Chinese websites...

A resource for those wanting to learn to stream

2005-11-17T16:17:00.000Z

[Tags: webdesign]. I do love the Internet Media Service mailing list, especially when it throws up posts like this:

"Just found this:

> The Streaming Suitcase is a resource for those wanting to learn to stream. The material is all licensed under Creative Commons and is free to download and distribute.
>
> The manuals are all available online, and can be downloaded in PDF, or output in a print friendly format. The manuals will also be updated periodically so check them for updates.
>
> The glossary has the basic jargon needed to learn streaming.
>
> Tools in the menu above has some bandwidth calculators and links to other handy streaming tools.

http://www.streamingsuitcase.com/

Bill Best"

America still owns the internet

2005-11-17T16:01:00.000Z

[Tags: newmedia]. The not-hugely-surprising outcome of talks about who controls the internet has ended in a deal which basically amounts to the US continuing to be in control, with a new body that has no teeth allowed to talk about things. From The Guardian:

"The US government will retain overall control of the technology which powers the internet - its domain name system, root servers and the oversight of the California-based, not-for-profit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) which looks after it all - for the foreseeable future.

"An Internet Governance Forum will be created to discuss and decide upon the over-reaching issues of the internet, but, crucially, will not have any oversight powers. Governments have also agreed to work within existing organisations and infrastructures to gradually transform the way the internet is run."

C4 in dispute with producers over web rights

2005-11-17T13:23:00.000Z

[Tags: mediaonline]. Article from The Guardian on interesting conflicts over the right to show programmes online:

"Eager to develop its own online operation and to shore up its ratings, Channel 4 is arguing for a 30-day hiatus between a show's first screening on TV and its reversion to the programme producer.
"Since a change in regulations last year, broadcasters' control of shows is now limited to their first screening and one repeat. After that, the rights revert to the maker, who can sell them to channels overseas or broker a DVD distribution deal."

Google Launches Google Base

2005-11-17T10:28:00.000Z

As Google spreads its arms to envelop everything in the world, here's the latest project: Google Base. How do you describe it? Poynter says it's "a way for anyone to post almost anything to Google", which is as good a description as ever. Currently there are a number of 'item types' that you can pre-select, ranging from course schedules to jobs, recipes, and services - but there's also the option to enter your own item type. Perhaps I should enter something suitably unusual, like "personal habit".

I'm not sure if this is an attempt to move into the territory of sites like del.icio.us (articles and news are included), or more likely a way of further categorising content beyond simple websites (it allows you to search wanted ads, or personal profiles, or jobs), or even more likely a way to extend its reach into classified ads, recruitment and anything else that anyone can think of.

The best way to understand it is to add something yourself, like a personal profile. Even then, I'm still not sure how this is going to work...

Avid Editing Software for Free

2005-11-17T09:13:00.000Z

Avid Editing Software For Free

Budding young, old or middle aged editing boffins, looking for free editing software then look no further than Avid Free DV.
Avid Free DV is a basic non-linear editing software package available for free download from the Avid Website.

I'm using Avid Xpress Pro HD which is an extremely good piece of software, but for home movies and short films Avid Free DV could be your non-linear answer.
I've just downloaded a version myself and will feed back to you about it's features, good and bad.

Remember to spread the word, free software is never a bad thing.

Web stats from Google

2005-11-15T09:44:00.000Z

[Tags: webdesign]. Google have announced a web analytics service which "tells you everything you want to know about how your visitors found you and how they interact with your site. You'll be able to focus your marketing resources on campaigns and initiatives that deliver ROI, and improve your site to convert more visitors."

In other words, it's a web stats service, but a pretty impressive one. The reports page includes a lovely world map showing where your visitors come from - and there are sections for reports on 'Marketing Optimisation' and 'Content Optimisation'. As I've only just set it up I've yet to see exactly what these do.

Good designs

2005-11-14T13:58:00.000Z

[Tags: webdesign]. One great source of design inspiration is Chuck Green's Ideabook.com - here's some nice examples of site design from a recent mailing:

"Design ideas

"Nice combination of images and solid colors. Great photography.
Here > http://www.lushcafe.com

"More beautiful photography. This time black and white.
Here > http://www.niebaum-coppola.com

"Very nice example of web story telling.
Here > http://www.homesoflastingcharacter.com"

Flash Menu Bar Design

2005-11-14T13:53:00.000Z

Here's a great website that show's the use of flash on it's menu bar.

http://www.vugames.com/downloads.do

[Tags: webdesign].

A former student blogs

2005-11-14T10:56:00.000Z

[Tags: webdesign]. 2005 graduate James Allsworth has been making us all jealous by taking jobs in far flung climes and then telling all on his blog, http://jamaway.blogspot.com/ - take a look and feel free to post comments telling him how sunny it is in Perry Barr and really we're not interested in going to Singapore. No way sirree.

The tab interface gone insane

2005-11-14T10:39:00.000Z

[Tags: webdesign]. Now while tabs can provide a useful interface for any website - Amazon being one of the best examples - you can go a bit too far with it. Consider this example from the the West Midlands European Structural Fund Programmes. Just looking at it makes me feel confused (click for bigger version).

How to solve the problem with disappearing columns in Blogger

2005-11-14T10:17:00.000Z

[Tags: webdesign]. My colleague Caroline Wilson recently had a problem with her blog where the outside column (About Me, Links, etc.) was shunted down to the bottom of the page for no apparent reason.

Well, now she's solved it.

The cause was a link address so long that it ran into the column and forced the contents downwards. The solution: change the link text (but not the link) by putting a gap where a line break is needed.

There's also another possible solution: use TinyURL.com. This site helpfully assigns you a brief URL where you don't want to have to type out a hefty database-generated address.

(note: HTML will see a hyphen in an address as a natural break and put anything following it on a new line without affecting the link - but that's assuming the address has a hyphen in it, and at the right place)

New media and control

2005-11-14T09:41:00.000Z

[Tags: newmedia]. There's a lengthy and fascinating article on the Media Guardian site about the Paris riots, related arrests of bloggers for inciting violence, and politicians advertising opportunistically on Google for keywords including "riots", among other things. Here's an indicative quote:

"the arrest last week of at least three young bloggers for allegedly using their sites to incite violence precisely highlights the confusion this new medium brings. So does a controversial government official's use of internet search advertising to push his inflammatory agenda. And so does old French media's fear that covering this explosive story would only favour the politicians they do not favour.

"Taken together, this illustrates how media used to be all about control - with journalists and governments managing the messages - but now are all about the loss of control. The audience took over the internet and blurred all the old lines: where is that line now between witnessing and reporting, between communications and conspiracy, between inciting violence and expressing rage, between speech and crime?"

The dangers of automated email promotions

2005-11-10T16:19:00.000Z

[Tags: webdesign]. I received the following email from Amazon today which raised a smile:

"Dear Amazon.co.uk Customer,
We've noticed that customers who have purchased Hot Fuss by The Killers have also ordered Hot Fuss by The Killers. For this reason, you might like to know that Hot Fuss will be released on November 21, 2005. You can pre-order your copy for just GBP 11.99 by following the link below."

Something for Nothing: No preowned games for Playstation 3

2005-11-10T12:00:00.000Z

Lee Aplin's post on No preowned games for Playstation 3 raises the old spectre of Digital Rights Management, but with a new twist that begs the question: why would Sony stop us taking a game to our friends' house to play?

Webandnewmedia.co.uk

2005-11-10T10:42:00.000Z

[Tags: SEO]. Well I said I needed to buy a proper domain name for this site, and I had a sneaky feeling webandnewmedia.co.uk wouldn't be registered, so off I went to snap it up and point it here. I've done the same for interactivepr.co.uk (aka interactivepr.blogspot.com) and onlinejournalismblog.co.uk (aka ojournalism.blogspot.com)

If you need an easier-to-remember address, now you have one - and hopefully it should mean better search engine listings too...

New Designers website

2005-11-10T10:40:00.000Z

[Tags: design]. From the latest Arts Council West Midlands bulletin:

New Designers website

"New Designers has helped thousands of graduates to launch their careers over the past 20 years, and has recently launched a new website to help designers get started in the industry. The website contains a comprehensive online directory of new design talent and enables designers to publicise their work and develop contacts with potential employers, galleries, manufacturers and retailers throughout the year. Designers will be able to create and manage their own mini-website, and receive details of placements and job opportunities. For more information visit http://www.newdesignersonline.co.uk/page.cfm/link=24

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