Responsive/Adaptive Web Design: Do I need it?

Posted on May 20, 2013 by John Brandt

Multiple devices showing web sitesThere has been a lot of chatter in the web design world recently about something called Responsive/adaptive web design. I have merged these two somewhat distinct methods into one, just briefly, to answer the question as to whether you “need this” or not. I’ll get to the differences in a little bit.

To put it most simply, both of these methodologies do something to make your web site easier to read and easier to navigate on a mobile or handheld device. In other words, these techniques provide a variation on the layout of your web site designed to make them look better on the smaller screen on these smaller devices.

To answer the question – Do I need this? – The answer is a qualified, maybe!

Depending on what statistical research study you read, anywhere from 40 to 60% of all traffic on the web is coming through smaller devices; and the number is climbing. People are in love with their smartphones and tablets and use them everywhere for everything. The question remains, are all these smartphone/tablet loving folks regularly visiting YOUR web site, and what kind of experience are they having once they get there? Basically there are two things you will need to determine to answer the question (do I need this?). First, what does my website look like on a mobile/handheld device? And second, are visitors to my site using mobile/handheld devices?

The first question is the easier to determine. If you don’t have a smartphone or tablet (that would make you a rather unique individual these days) you can borrow one from a friend or take a trip to the local electronics store and play with one of these devices they have on display. You might be surprised to find your website looks just fine on the mobile device. If your web site happens to be posted on a WordPress installation and you are using one of the default themes, you might find you already have a responsive/adaptive site! But you might also find that you need a magnifying glass to view anything on your site! In this case, we need to answer the second question.

The most efficient way to find out who is visiting your website, and what kind of device they are using, is to check your analytics and log files. If you are a jebswebs customer and agreed to add Google Analytics (GA) to your site, you can easily get this information from your GA account. A quick check of my GA account for this blog shows that in the past month just under 12% of my visitors were using mobile/tablet devices. Further analysis showed no difference in bounce rate between the two. Oh, and yes, I have an adaptive/responsive theme for this blog. I should also note that this percentage has grown dramatically in the past 2-3 years.

To answer the question for my own site, I think the answer is yes, I need an adaptive/response design for my site. Would I mind if 12% of my visitors were having a bad experience with my website? You bet I would mind.

But if the number of mobile users were small, say, under 3%, maybe I would not care so much, particularly if it was going to cost me a lot to upgrade the website.

There are definitely more things to be considered in answering this question. If your website is just a personal blog or a place to show off pictures of your grandchildren, to probably doesn’t matter. But if your site is related to e-commerce and you are making your living through it…then most definitely, any percentage of lost business is a problem.

Regarding the differences between Adaptive and Responsive Design, and which one is better, I have provided some excellent resources below where the authors have done a great job explaining things.

I will also leave the discussion as to which is the preferred method to others to debate. Suffice it to say, there are a lot of opinions out there. If you want to discuss what’s best for you, give me a shout!

Resources about Responsive and Adaptive Web Design

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Photo credit: Image licensed under Creative Commons by Muhammad Rafizeldi

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Learning Management System Accessibility

Posted on May 16, 2013 by John Brandt

Road sign: Accessible RouteThe following is from Hadi Rangin who is the Information Technology & Collaboration Coordinator at the University of Illinois. He and some colleagued co-authored a report about the accessibility of the leading Learning Management Systems (LMS) including Blackboard, Desired2Learn, Moodle, and SAKAI. In his blog he writes:

Learning management systems have become the primary delivery platform in most higher education systems for course-related activities such as lecture presentations, readings and assignments, discussions, and quizzes. Until a few years ago, access for learners and instructors with disabilities was either poorly supported or not considered at all in many popular tools. Due to lack of, or limited, accessibility in learning management systems, students were not able to fully or independently participate in key course activities.

Thanks to the hard work of various LMS accessibility working groups and their open-source and vendor developer partners, many LMS vendors have begun to understand the need for universal usability of their tools. Although LMS vendors have begun providing accessibility features that allow users with disabilities access, we are still far from achieving full accessibility of learning management systems….

Read the rest of Hadi’s blog.

Read the entire report: A Comparison of Learning Management System Accessibility.

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Latest Low Vision Survey Results

Posted on May 5, 2013 by John Brandt

a Blackberry smartphone with high contrast displayOur friends at WebAIM have once again endeavored to provide us with some research on the needs of internet users who have low vision. But this time they cast their net a bit wider to get a more complete picture.

In the past, the WebAIM surveyed users of screen readers, asking about preferences and the software that was being used. In this latest survey, conducted in March of this year, the survey included many users of low vision that use screen magnification assistive technology (AT) in addition to screen readers. Nearly half of the respondents indicated the use of screen magnification software with 40% reporting that their primary AT was “ZoomText.”

The survey report concludes with this statement:

This data shows very diverse demographics and opinions among those with low vision. Respondents used a wide variety of assistive technologies, with most respondents using multiple technologies. For designers and developers, there is no single tool, technique, or approach to meeting the needs of this population. And great care should be taken in implementing solutions for this audience which may impact usability or accessibility for other site users.

Read the full report on the WebAIM website…

 

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Redmond we have a problem…

Posted on May 4, 2013 by John Brandt

Guy with sunglassesOn a bit of a lark I downloaded and installed the Free One Month Trial of MS Office 2013 – aka Office Home 365. Honestly, I really don’t understand the MS business plan other than they and the other software makers are apparently running scared from Google and have openly embraced all things “cloud.”

I had pretty much decided I would not purchase the new version but did feel I needed to at least test the new version to see how it behaved especially regarding the ability to create accessible documents. The only way to do this was to try it and the Free One Month offer seemed like a good deal.

My initial reaction to the product had been pretty positive until I began to get some eye strain from all the “white” that was produced on the screen. Some of the applications in the Office 2013 were worse than others. This morning I tried out Outlook and had to run and find some sunglasses.

In search of a resolution, I did a quick Google search “add some color to MS Office 2013″ and boy did I get an eye-full! It seems NO ONE is happy with the new color scheme that the MS geniuses foisted upon us. With the help of some noble folks, I did find some settings changes that make the problem a bit more tolerable, but it is still pretty bad. What is most amazing is that the many, many complaints about the “lack of color” issue began appearing last summer when the version was still being released in preview. You would have thought the geniuses would have had it fixed by now.

Anyway, if you are considering the plunge to MS Office 2013, be forewarned and read some of the reviews (see links below). And be prepared to get out the Foster Grants!

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Photo credit: Image licensed under Creative Commons by Marcus Vegas

 

 

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Feds Launch Social Media Accessibility Toolkit

Posted on April 18, 2013 by John Brandt

From the Job Accommodations Network (JAN):

Twitter logo“In collaboration with the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) has embarked on an effort to make social media content accessible to all users, including people with disabilities. As you know, more and more organizations are using social media to conduct outreach, recruit job candidates and encourage workplace productivity. But not all social media content is accessible to people with certain disabilities, which limits the reach and effectiveness of these platforms.

As part of our commitment to accessible technology, GSA and ODEP are working to collect best practices that companies, government agencies and individuals can use to ensure their social media content is accessible to all who need it. These efforts have fostered an online toolkit called ‘Improving the Accessibility of Social Media in Government.’

The toolkit may be found at the federal government’s ‘How to’ website…

By working together, we can ensure that social media platforms become tools of inclusion, empowering all of us to excel and fully participate – in life, and in the workplace.”

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