Cheesetoast

Brain Food for Web Developers

Navigation

October 29, 2010
by Graham
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Website Navigation

Web pages are more than just a collection of pages containing useful information and forms for interaction. They are a network of interrelated nodes that have been structured and organised so that users can find what they are looking for. Since the structure of websites varies so much, users are forced to relearn how to navigate around them. Users frequently have trouble deciding which page within a site to visit next. This decision usually involves an understanding of their current location within the site, and for poorly constructed sites this can be difficult to determine. One possible reason for this could be that developers design the navigation system around the assumption that users will first visit the home page when they enter the site. This is not always true, as users may be linked to any page on the site from a bookmark, url or search engine result. Continue reading

Internet

October 29, 2010
by Graham
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Accessibility Online

For people with disabilities surfing the web can be difficult, if not impossible. Common tasks that most people take for granted such as reading, typing or online purchasing can become complex, time consuming endeavours for people who are less capable.
Making websites usable involves taking into consideration the disabilities of the users. Continue reading

Printer

August 18, 2010
by Graham
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Printing Web Pages with the CSS Media Query

Although nowadays it’s becoming more acceptable for people to read text from a screen (especially with the release of high resolution e-readers such as the iPad and the Kindle) it’s still very important that people have the option of printing a paper copy.
This article will walk through some of the easy steps involved in creating a printer friendly version of your webpages. To see this method in action, take a look at this demo. Continue reading

Table Code

July 18, 2010
by Graham
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Why Tables for Layout Are Unprofessional

I was recently asked to write some HTML for a e-mail newsletter and I was forced to recall what it was like to design layout using tables (bleh!). Of course there are still some designers out there who argue that using tables for layout is just fine and that harking on about divs and the semantic web is overreacting. Admittedly, it’s very quick and easy to come up the desired structure using a GUI like Dreamweaver, but it’s just not good practice.
I’ve compiled a list of reasons why tables should NOT be used for layout. Continue reading

June 29, 2010
by Graham
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CSS3 Text Background

The other day I came across an interesting post by Trent Walton that demonstrates good use of CSS3 and its wekbit aminations over selectable text. It is accomplished through the use of background clipping, transparent text and webkit animations. If you want to … Continue reading