A few months back I launched a long overdue redesign of this site. I’ve often thought of the content on my site as information layers, like the strata you would see in a cross section of the earth. Perhaps it’s an expression of my subconscious memories of growing up in the midwest where the earth and agriculture are a central part of life. Though I’ve long since moved away, the landscape still drives my aesthetic. Similarly, web pages stack content sections. A blog post, for example, would have a layer for the article, a layer for meta data like tags, and yet another layer for comments.
Aarron Walter
Color Mixing With RGBa
Dive Into the Modern Web Workshop at Web Directions USA
I’m co-presenting with Leslie Jensen-Inman and Glenda Sims a workshop called “Dive Into the Modern Web” today at Web Directions US in Atlanta, GA. This workshop will help educators and self-guided learners get up to speed with the changing landscape of the modern Web.
Beyond Usability on The Big Web Show
I had the pleasure of speaking with Dan Benjamin and Jeffrey Zeldman on The Big Web Show about findability, web standards, usability, and emotional design. Have a listen, won’t you?
Findability/SEO Cheat Sheet: Guide to Web Standards SEO
When I was researching my book, I asked a group of my students at The Art Institute of Atlanta what sorts of content they’d hope to find in a book exploring findability and SEO through web standards. Thinking like students with limited time to work on their projects, they all agreed that “the book should include coverage of what needs to be prioritized, and what can be done later if you run out of time”. Brilliant idea! I never would have thought of that. Well it’s covered in chapter 9 thanks to them.
As I was running through my table of contents with them, they pointed out that it’s all useful info, but it would be nice if there were a quick reference that you could just print out and keep nearby as you start new projects. That way you don’t miss any of the important stuff you should be doing to make your site findable.
I’ve created what I think is a pretty comprehensive findability strategy cheat sheet that will guide you through all of the stuff you should be doing when creating new websites or even redesign existing ones. All of the advice follows industry best practices and web standards, and have references to the places in my book or in the 5 free online chapters where you’ll find detailed explanation and examples of how to do this stuff.
I hope you find it useful!
Tim Berners-Lee Video: The Semantic Web
I recently ran across a wonderful video on YouTube in which Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the Wold Wide Web, speaks about the idea of the Semantic Web. It’s a simple, yet elegant concept that has yet to come to fruition as Berners-Lee had originally dreamed.
Win an Autographed Copy of Building Findable Websites
To celebrate the release of my new book Building Findable Websites: Web Standards SEO and Beyond, I’m giving away an autographed copy to one lucky winner.
What's it Like to Write a Book?
At SXSW last year I met Michael Nolan – senior acquisitions editor for Peachpit Press – and pitched him my idea for the book Building Findable Websites. Almost one year later the book is in print and on its way to a bookstore near you. read on »
A Brief Interview With Jeffrey Zeldman
In preparation for An Event Apart New Orleans where I’ll be speaking about how to make websites more findable with web standards, Jeffrey Zeldman conducted a brief interview with me consisting of just one, simple question.
