Many of you may not know what I mean when I say “Why aren’t web browsers like TVs?”. The point that I am arguing is how come every show you watch on television will look the same on any TV (Except of course 3D). Yet web browsers like: Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, and Internet Explorer are all able to have there own attributes and standards.

The reason that allows TVs to display the same picture with no differences on 100′s if not 1000′s of different brands and makes of TVs is that TV content itself is only optimized for one format. Meaning it won’t change depending on the TV you are using. Where as on your computer, the web browser will change what is being displayed depending on the web browser you are using.

Give the website designer and developer some gratitude

If you didn’t already know… When a website developer is developing a website they have to take into careful consideration to make sure your website is going too look the same in all the main browsers. In some cases this even involves writing special lines of code just so that the one browser that seeks to be unique will be able to display your website effectively and correctly.

My Point

What I am getting at with the post is why can’t a web designer/developer create a website in accordance too guidelines that will display the same in every browser. Just imagine watching a Two and a Half Men segment and seeing Jake Harper with only one leg… But then coming to knowledge that you only saw him with one leg because the TV screen you were using had a bug or wasn’t programmed to display such a thing. This is what website designers and developers have to deal with day in day out. We design a layout that works and looks great! But when that same layout is tested in a different browser we often get different results.

What can we do to help

You can encourage friends and family to upgrade their web browsers to the latest versions available. But the biggest movement in web browsing technology is to get every browser following the exact same guidelines. This will help us fellow designers and developers greatly and will also benefit the customer as their website will cost less because there is less work to be done.

Flash websites are the websites were pages flip, twirl and music blasts from your speakers, and you sit there for what seems a life time waiting for it to load. Web designers over the years had been trying to convince clients into flash websites as it gives them more freedom and creativeness to do what they please. But are now finally coming to the renationalisation of just how bad flash websites really are.

User accessibility

The facts when building a website with flash:

• Flash doesn’t offer speech options for the blind
• The iPhone/iPad is unable to show flash websites
• Text size is not changeable for people with poor vision
• Flash websites also requite ActiveX plugins to be installed on their computer

I find it hard to believe that such a platform (flash) does not support these key accessibility features and trust me there is a lot more of them.

Search engine accessibility

After spending a few thousand getting a flash website built I’d assume you would want to have a good ranking on Google? Well considering Google ranks websites that are most relevant to what is being searched by analyzing the content. The chances of your website being ranked high or even in the first 1-4 pages are now very slim. The reasons for this are that how is it possible for Google to read the content on your flash website as the content is apart of a movie. No matter how smart Google technology may be, as of now it is impossible for Google to be able to read text that is essentially an image.

But I love flash!?

Flash is a dying platform and is slowly being used less and less, but for you who just can’t get enough of the smooth transitions and animations of flash the answer is HTML 5. It has the capabilities of flash while also being 100% user and search engine accessible.

HTML 5

To view HTML 5 software you need to have the HTML 5 compliant browser i.e (latest versions of) Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari.
Download latest version of Firefox (Recommended)

Examples of HTML 5

• Sketching in 3D
• Chrysaora
• WebGL Water
• Gravity Google
• HTML5 Text Effects

So if you are needing a website for your business please ensure that you do not get a flash website, for the sake of yourself and others it is a bad idea.

Although Yahoo and Bing have too came out saying that they no longer support the meta tag “keywords” as again it was being abused by people. Yahoo did say that they still index your keywords, but then go onto state that it won’t help you at all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK7IPbnmvVU

I am still going to use keywords through out my website and clients websites even if the 3 main search engines have bluntly said they are useless. Because even if only 5% of search engines use keywords, that is still 5% of an advantage to my clients. The tag isn’t going to be doing any harm sitting there not being used. So why not take advantage of what is there… Even if the advantage is a slim one?

The main factor that stands out to most is the cost difference between a freelancer and an agency. Reasons for this are that the larger companies are going to have to pay overheads. As a result this extra cost is going to be added onto you… the client. Which goes to show why when you choose a freelancer it is going to be more affordable as you are just paying for his or hers skills, not all the extra rates and charges that a large agency is going to add onto the cost.

Time

If a freelancer is working on your project the time it takes to complete your project is usually shorter. This is because often a freelancer will only have one project going on at one time and will be able to concentrate on yours. Unlike for example a web designer working in a design agency where he or she may have several other tasks that need to be completed.

Quality

The advantage you have as the client when choosing a freelancer is knowing whether you like their work or not? You have the ability to look through their portfolio and most often you will get an idea of whether he or she is the right person to be working on your project. Where as if you were to choose a agency you don’t know who is going to be working on it, or what their skill level is etc.
Yes you could look at an agencies portfolio, but how are you to know whether or not that the person who has designed 95% of those designs is still working for that company? At least with a freelancer you know it is his or her own work, and from here you can make the decision whether or not they are the right person for your project.

Your work is important to a freelancer

Most of the time a freelancer is going to be less busy than an agency and will be working only on one project at a time. Unlike firms where they will have many projects on the go at once. This often leads to the agency prioritizing their work on the amount of money they will be receiving from the clients. So if your project is going to cost $2000 and there is another client who’s project is going to cost $15,000… I bet you can guess which one they are going to be concentrating on the most.

Broome Accountants

Broome Accountants

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