blog archive.

A new version of the South West's best information guide for adults seeking training and education resources has just been launched - both as a CD-ROM and on the web.


i-point has been acting as a signpost for adults in the old Avon area for over a year, developing from an original static desktop installation to include a fully accessible public website for use in higher education facilities. It is currently installed at over two thousand workstations throughout the West of England in locations including libraries, colleges and Job Centres.

Version 4 shows further improvements to content and design, includes a new course search facility and a Mac compatible version of the desktop based application.

Users are also now able to make a request for advice or book an appointment with an adviser via i-point. All of the enquiries can be handled by administrators via a back-end enquiry management system. Each enquiry is automatically assigned to the relevant branch to be dealt with, based on the location of the user.

Thousands of the new CD-ROMs are being distributed now, so expect them to turn up in a location near you soon.

Advice published by the Central Office of Information back in June appears to be filtering through to key decision makers throughout the land. The new documentation sets out the minimum standard of accessibility that all public sector web content must reach before December 2009. Failure to comply may result in websites losing their .gov status.

Having received an increasing number of enquiries regarding website accessibility from the public sector, we are offering a free consultation to any public sector organisation wishing to know more about how these guidelines will affect them.

Please contact us here or call: 0117 949 8008 for more information.

Youth Unlimited have just unveiled a brand new section of their website, 'Fun Stuff'.

Here you can play football, tetris, or shoot muppets from cannons, and there's even a full version of the most played electronic game on earth – Pacman!  Visitors possessing a competitive streak will be able to pit their skills against the best to score high on the leader boards, or choose instead to focus on the quiz section.  To gain the top marks in the quiz zone you will need to answer as many questions right per round as possible.  The prize?  Winning the Youth Unlimited Mastermind title!

A podcast section has also been uploaded, where you can listen to podcasts created by young people from across the area.  Most youth centres in South Gloucestershire have podcast factories where anyone can make their own.  All subjects and themes are welcome, so we're expecting to see a stream of plays, comedies, interviews and dialogues appearing on the site soon.

Sustrans asked us earlier this year to come up with a few new ideas for their online shop.  Here are some of the things they liked most:

• updated 'look and feel' in line with their current branding
• enhanced product search option
• intuitive navigation around the product areas
• inclusion of a 'quickshop' option, for people wanting to buy stuff in a hurry
• creation of personalised user accounts, complete with wish lists and order history
• installation of special offers and promotion areas
• integration of a bespoke management system to help Sustrans administrators update the product catalogue easily

A new flash map will also help visitors find cycle route maps throughout the UK and mainland Europe.

The product catalogue has been fully revised and updated, so there's no better time to visit the site.

We are currently looking for a full-time Studio Manager to work with our team of friendly designers and developers!

Ideally we would like someone withover three years commercial experience in web site production - specialising either on the design or development side of things. The role will be a combination of 'hands on' project work and managing the schedules for individuals and the team as a whole - as well as working closely with our business development team on pitches, project plans etc.

A job spec is available for anyone interested - please get in touch via email if you'd like further information

Last week, the BBC introduced a trial of a new web page linking technology, which enables links to be placed in the text of the article (like this one), but unlike their regular behaviour of taking you to a new page, or opening a new tab, the new method displays a summary of the article in an attractive pop-up region.

You can see a few examples in this story about NASA's Orion ship - at least until the trial finishes.

The BBC's primary reasoning for this, as far as I can tell, is to give the user relevant links in the text, without the possible distraction of finding yourself flying off to an external site in the middle of reading a sentence (possibly unlike Orion, which has been delayed.)

The technology the BBC are using (called Apture) is somewhat interesting: for example, Wikipedia articles are summarised into pages, and files such as PDFs are converted (to Flash in the case of PDFs) to retain the same look and feel as the regular links.

Whilst the overall appearance is quite "whizzy", some people have been complaining that there's nothing wrong with the traditional way of hyperlinking and that the Apture method causes (or may cause) problems with the site's accessibility, and/or older or more obscure web browsers.

The trial was announced on a blog article by Steve Herrmann last week, many people have commented, and Steve has replied, promising they will take all comments into account at the end of trial.

Whatever you may think of the technology itself, I applaud the BBC for the openness of the trial process, listening to the comments of the public, and for getting stuck into trialing new web technologies.

For the record, the links in this blog article are the good "old-fashioned" method!

 

Interesting reading..

According to The Central Office of Information, all public sector websites will need to comply with strict web accessibility standards by next December, or risk losing their .gov status.

Minimum standards can be viewed here.

Can I just say how amazing it is to be British right now?!

Chris Hoy - sir, we love you

Christine Ohuruogu - you're amazing!

Becky Adlington - they should make you a dame!

Ok, so we've seen the most stunning performances from Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt but the Brits have brought it home.  Team GB - we are all so proud of you!!!!