#30658
Make the Best Use of Asynchronous Callbacks
It takes some finesse to make the best use of asynchronous callbacks for Ajax data sources in JavaScript applications. This tip discusses why you should use asynchronous callbacks for Ajax data sources and gives examples of coordinating the readiness of mutually dependent application data sources that may become ready at undefined times with asynchronous calls.
Mertz, David. IBM (2007). Articles>Web Design>Programming>Ajax
#32060
Make Your Content Work for You: Creating and Promoting Viral Content
With the cost of quality traffic rising and reaching and maintaining top search engine position becoming more and more difficult as EVERYONE is moving to the net, viral content blows up one of the most spouted off cliche of all time… “NOTHING IS FREE”. The exposure and added traffic that an amazing piece of content can generate is free. That’s the beauty… with a truly viral piece of content, everyone else does your promotion for you, letting you sit back and enjoy the ride.
Robbins, Kyle. ReEncoded (2008). Articles>Web Design>Writing>Rhetoric
#14886
Both Congress and the Bush administration have made more accessible Web sites a core mandate of e-government. The law known as Section 508 requires agencies to make information technology, including Web sites, accessible to people with disabilities. It forced many Webmasters to think seriously about Web design and usability for the first time. But talking about usability and making sure it happens are two different things. Usability means more than coming up with a good site design. It requires follow-through, and that's where many agencies — short-staffed and with little time or money for training — often come up short.
Robinson, Brian. Federal Computer Week (2002). Articles>Usability>Web Design>Section 508
#21063
Words, graphics, and photographs are the tools used to communicate with customers, and a Web site is one way to deliver that message. We need to choose our words carefully.
Allen, Cliff. Allen.com (2001). Articles>Web Design>Writing
#31129
Making the Writing "Easy to Scan"
Give the reader the ability to quickly peruse the information presented and extract the information they need. For example, if there is a lot of information, and the reader is required to scroll the screen to see content 'below the fold', an overview would probably be a very good idea. Contrariwise, if the article is short, and can be quickly scanned (especially if you can do so without scrolling the page), providing an overview might be counterproductive.
Rockley Group, The (2008). Articles>Web Design>Writing
#30166
Managing a Large Web Page Project 
Web page projects can be completed in minimal time if you have your team's buy-in. You need a team leader that finds creative ways to energize the team and has excellent organizational and communication skills. Standards, spreadsheets, and databases, and a knowledgeable technical and creative group provide essential tools to success. But, enthusiasm and synergy are the key components that make the project work, with upper management behind you all the way. Completion of the project finds excellent bonuses for a job well done!
Ricks, Debra. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Web Design>Project Management
#18978
Map-Based Horizontal Navigation in Educational Hypertext 
The paper discusses the problem of horizontal (non-hierarchical) navigation in modern educational courseware. It considers why horizontal links disappear, how to support horizontal navigation in modern hyper-courseware, and looks at our earlier attempts to provide horizontal navigation in Web-based electronic textbooks. Map-based navigation -- a new approach to support horizontal navigation in open corpus educational courseware -- which we are currently investigating, is presented. We describe the mechanism behind this approach, present a system, KnowledgeSea, that implements this approach, and provide some results from a classroom study of this system.
Brusilovsky, Peter and Riccardo Rizzo. Journal of Digital Information (2002). Articles>Web Design>User Interface
#22062
Review: Mapping Websites: Digital Media Design 
When we are trying to envision the structure of a Web site, we may sketch diagrams on white boards, create outlines, fill whole walls with yellow stickies. Kahn and Lenk offer many sophisticated ways of visualizing your site. If you are planning a new site or reorganizing an existing site, this book provides an historical context for your information architecture, in-depth studies of complex sites, and a wide range of inspiring diagrams and site maps.
Price, Jonathan R. Technical Communication Online (2002). Articles>Reviews>Information Design>Web Design
#26333
Mask Your Web Server for Enhanced Security
Masking or anonymizing a Web server involves removing identifying details that intruders could use to detect your OS and Web server vendor and version.
Lima, Joe and Thomas Powell. evolt (2005). Articles>Web Design>Security
#28465
Mastering Ajax, Part 1: Introduction to Ajax
Ajax, which consists of HTML, JavaScript™ technology, DHTML, and DOM, is an outstanding approach that helps you transform clunky Web interfaces into interactive Ajax applications. The author, an Ajax expert, demonstrates how these technologies work together -- from an overview to a detailed look -- to make extremely efficient Web development an easy reality. He also unveils the central concepts of Ajax, including the XMLHttpRequest object.
McLaughlin, Brett D. IBM (2006). Articles>Web Design>Interaction Design>Ajax
#27051
Mastering Ajax, Part 1: Introduction to Ajax
Ajax, which consists of HTML, JavaScript™ technology, DHTML, and DOM, is an outstanding approach that helps you transform clunky Web interfaces into interactive Ajax applications. The author, an Ajax expert, demonstrates how these technologies work together -- from an overview to a detailed look -- to make extremely efficient Web development an easy reality. He also unveils the central concepts of Ajax, including the XMLHttpRequest object.
McLaughlin, Brett D. IBM (2006). Articles>Web Design>Interaction Design>Ajax
#27050
Mastering Ajax, Part 2: Make Asynchronous Requests with JavaScript and Ajax
Most Web applications use a request/response model that gets an entire HTML page from the server. The result is a back-and-forth that usually involves clicking a button, waiting for the server, clicking another button, and then waiting some more. With Ajax and the XMLHttpRequest object, you can use a request/response model that never leaves users waiting for a server to respond. In this article, Brett McLaughlin shows you how to create XMLHttpRequest instances in a cross-browser way, construct and send requests, and respond to the server.
McLaughlin, Brett D. IBM (2006). Articles>Web Design>Interaction Design>Ajax
#26891
Mastering Ajax, Part 3: Advanced Requests and Responses in Ajax
For many Web developers, making simple requests and receiving simple responses is all they'll ever need, but for developers who want to master Ajax, a complete understanding of HTTP status codes, ready states, and the XMLHttpRequest object is required. In this article, Brett McLaughlin will show you the different status codes and demonstrate how browsers handle each and he will showcase the lesser-used HTTP requests that you can make with Ajax.
McLaughlin, Brett D. IBM (2006). Articles>Web Design>DHTML>Ajax
#22250
Review: Mastering HTML and XHTML
In this book, the Rays have put together most (if not everything) that you need to know to create HTML/XHTML documents. Although not groundbreaking, the information is presented in a straightforward style and arranged in an easily accessible manner. Basically, it's a 'one-stop' reference for prospective coders.
Staples, Jeff. Technical Communication Online (2004). Articles>Reviews>Web Design>HTML
#31560
Measuring Search Engine Marketing ROI
Spending on search engine marketing (SEM) is rising dramatically, yet surprisingly few companies are measuring the effectiveness of their campaigns. In a short survey conducted by web analytics vendor NetIQ, more than 800 participants responded to questions about their search engine marketing efforts and their attempts to measure success. The survey responses provide interesting insights into the state of search engine marketing ROI.
Sherman, Chris. Communication World Bulletin (2003). Articles>Web Design>Marketing>Assessment
#31412
Measuring the Influence of Blogs on Consumers, the Media and Corporate Reputation
According to the report "State of the News Media 2005" from the Project for Excellence in Journalism, "more than a third of Americans, some 36 percent, are regular consumers of four or more different kinds of news outlets—network news, local TV, newspapers, cable, radio, the Internet and magazines."
Woods, Julie. Business Communication World (2005). Articles>Web Design>Audience Analysis>Blogging
#19023
Measuring User Motivation from Server Log Files 
Estimating user interest and motivation by just counting page requests from a World Wide Web server log (or 'hits') provides a distorted metric of user activity. Some of the reasons why this metric is unreliable are that the path dependent nature of hyperlink usability treats index and navigational aid pages as equal to the goal, because differenes in web browsers can determine how effectively users can percieve content and navigational alternatives, and because the poorly designed structure and content of the documents themselves can inhibit users from finding what they are looking for. This paper proposes that measures of how much time users spend looking at a page are better estimates of user interest than page hits, providing simple human factors principles have been applied. An extended example of how this method might be used to collect and analyze data is also included. The types of decisions that can be made by authors and system administrators based on a time-based metric of user interest is summarized.
Fuller, Rodney and Johannes J. de Graaff. Microsoft (1996). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Log Analysis
#27519
The keywords and phrases you use in your Meta description tag don't affect your page's ranking in the search engines (for the most part), but this tag can still come in handy in your overall SEO campaigns.
Whalen, Jill. High Rankings Advisor (2004). Articles>Web Design>Metadata>Search Engine Optimization
#18309
This article provides an overview of work completed at Tsinghua University Library in which a metadata framework was developed to aid in the preservation of digital resources. The metadata framework is used for the creation of metadata to describe resources, and includes an encoding standard used to store metadata and resource structures in information systems. The author points out that the Tsinghua University Library metadata framework provides a successful digital preservation solution that may be an appropriate solution for other organizations as well.
Niu, Jinfang. D-Lib Magazine (2002). Articles>Information Design>Web Design>Metadata
#31913
Middle-Aged Users' Declining Web Performance
Between the ages of 25 and 60, people's ability to use websites declines by 0.8% per year — mostly because they spend more time per page, but also because of navigation difficulties.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2008). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Elderly
#27639
Migrating from HTML to XHTML and XML - Part II
This is the second part of a two-part article describing a detailed methodology for migrating HTML files to the structure and flexibility of XHTML and/or XML.
James-Tanny, Char. WritersUA (2006). Articles>Web Design>Standards>XHTML
#27808
Million Dollar Web Usability Tips
What has long been a struggle for UEX professionals can actually be a great tool to demonstrate the importance of your role. We have found a way, using tools that you may already have, to support the users' needs that can positively impact your company’s bottom line.
Remus, Jacqueline and Jessyca Frederick. Usability Interface (2006). Articles>Web Design>Usability>User Experience
#25078
Mobile Phone Games Designed for Girls
Unlike many game developers, one company creates games primarily targeted at young women and girls. MiniFizz is certainly not just a traditional boys’ game painted pink.
Allaeys, Sabine. Usability Interface (2004). Articles>User Centered Design>Wireless Web>Games
#21369
The world of mobile phones is a jungle of technologies with few established standards that, in some ways, resembles the early days of personal computing. Here the author presents an impressionistic landscape of this world, a glimpse of the near future, and thoughts on what it might mean for IAs.
Smith, Shawn. Boxes and Arrows (2002). Articles>Information Design>Wireless Web
#27866
The Moment of Truth: How Much Does Culture Matter to You?
Whether we like it or not, offshoring is here to stay. 'If' or 'when' to offshore is no longer an issue. The heart of the discussion is 'how much' – how much we can afford to offshore or, more precisely, how much we can afford to keep. The User Experience (UX) profession has gone a long way in making the distinction between software design and UX design known. Will we be able to hold on to that distinction when it comes to offshoring?
Gorlenko, Lada. uiGarden (2006). Articles>Web Design>Outsourcing>Offshoring
