Lost in Translation

One of the purposes of this blog is to clear up technology myths. I ran across an interesting article that just screamed to be written about in this blog.

This piece of “news” was released a few days ago: EXCLUSIVE: W.H. collects Web users’ data without notice.

In a nutshell, the article says “The White House is collecting and storing comments and videos placed on its social-networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube without notifying or asking the consent of the site users, a failure that appears to run counter to President Obama’s promise of a transparent government and his pledge to protect privacy on the Internet.”

The article gives reactions from various groups who feel there is something sinister going on.

Bear with me. This post isn’t about politics. It’s actually about technology and business practices. And why this is actually not news.

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Due to a comment on the last post I wrote on the subject of accessibility, I realize there are some myths to be addressed on the subject.

Myth #1: Accessibility will cost more

Actually, it shouldn’t. A properly educated and trained designer will do this for you as they go. This shouldn’t be an extra. It should certainly not be something done after a site is created. To be fair, making a site, then fixing it for accessibility later could cost you some money. Just like having someone make a site who doesn’t know how to keep it search engine friendly, and then you pay again later for SEO. If you start out with a well-trained designer you can get it right the first time.

Myth #2: But I don’t want a second website!
There is also a common misconception that you will have one site, and a second “accessible” site. This is not and should not be the case. Ideally, you would have one very nice, accessible website. You shouldn’t have to pay for two. (Admittedly, if you insist on using certain non-accessible technologies, you will likely have to pay for a second site.)
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There is a lot of information and misinformation out there about SEO (Search Engine Optimization). There are companies and individuals claiming to be experts that give advice and do things for clients that will hurt more than help. And remember: there are also a lot of old websites out there. I’ve seen more new sites than I can count that parrot outdated information.

So rather than work from secondhand information, take it straight from the horse’s mouth.

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That really is a good question!

A lot of website owners enter into their site ownership with the best of intentions.
They’ve got lots of plans for that new site! But I frequently see those intentions get stampeded by the reality of day-to-day activities.

So time goes by and before you know it, we see information on the site such as sales events that are a year old. That has your visitors wondering if you’re even still in business!

What does this have to do with blogs? Everything.

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When I wrote this article on Flash, I realized that I should add that audio is another reason Flash isn’t good for every site. But there’s enough on the audio subject to cover in a separate post, and it is not always a Flash issue. So here it is.

Some people really want sound on their own sites. They want music playing, or sound effects when people mouse over navigation buttons, or a person who pops up and speaks about their business.

Most web surfer hate this. Seriously.

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