Archive for January, 2008
W3C Publishes First Public Working Draft of HTML 5
The W3C announced today that after nine months, the HTML Working Group has published the first working draft of HTML 5: A vocabulary and associated APIs for HTML and XHTML. “HTML is of course a very important standard,” said Tim Berners-Lee, author of the first version of HTML and W3C Director. “I am glad to see that the community of developers, including browser vendors, is working together to create the best possible path for the Web…”
Firefox struggling amongst business users?
An article in ComputerWorld describes some of the obstacles Firefox is facing while competing with Internet Explorer for business use. From the article:
Janco Associates Inc. in Park City, Utah, currently gives Firefox a 16% usage share among visitors to 17 business-to-business Web sites that it monitors.
Curiously, these metrics seem to be supported by several sites we monitor: The Enterprise Resource Planning site, likely used heavily by a business audience, shows Firefox to be used by 18% of its visitors, while other ITS sites show the metrics for Firefox to be anywhere between 39 and 56%.
Options for event registration functionality
We recently found a great hosted solution for event registration for a client needing this functionality. Web Services built the client’s site which is managed using Adobe® Contribute™, so finding a plug-in or component to address this need was not an option. The free service met virtually all the needs of our client. Among the features provided by EventBrite.com are:
- Highly customizable look and feel of the front-end registration piece
- Tools to promote and email an audience about the event as well as keep track of registrants
- The ability to charge for event and collect payment through several sources including PayPal and Google Checkout
- Customizable event URLs and password-protected events
We also discovered a solution here on campus provided by Research Information Systems.
New Year’s Resolution: Make your content sparkle!
A while ago, I put together a Top 10 list of tips for Writing for the Web. This was created primarily as a resource for ITS staff as they maintain their Web pages, but we’re happy to share it with anyone who wants a few new ideas or old classics. It’s compiled from general knowledge and best practices in the industry.
A lot of times, content is almost an afterthought when putting together a new site. This year, make your content read as well as your site looks.
