Content Management Systems are great tools that allow you almost complete control over your website content. However, we’ve found that a lot of users find a number of these systems difficult to use.
As a result we have been conducting some heuristic evaluations of some of the more popular Open Source systems to determine what the most significant issues are.
First off, we had a look at Joomla!
The long standing questions – What is Flash? Should we use it and if we do what are the implications? For years we advised people to steer clear of flash because the search engines just could not get to grips with it but now its quite popular to add a small element of flash to enhance the look and feel of a website. We do still advise on the best use of flash becuase it can cause problems for users especially if they do not have flash player downloaded onto their computer. So to answer the questions:
What is Flash? a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages.
Should we use Flash? What are the Implications? Yes, why not as long as it enhances the sales message and does not take from it. There are different ways to integrate flash into a website and here are out thoughts:
Flash introductions – pure vanity? You know the scene – floating images combining to form a one image over a few seconds, and you search frantically for the ‘skip’ button. Bad news when research confirms you have only seconds to grab the attention of your visitor. As well as being almost universally disliked by web users, this combination of Flash and ‘splash page’ can also block search engine crawlers.
Flash built websites - This was a short lived fad in the late 1990s. Building your whole website in flash means high costs, poor usability and visibility on search engines. Some agencies used bad practice to ensure that flash sites were visible to search engines and lets just say, they did not like it much.
Flash navigation - just don’t do it. Bad for usability, accessibility and search engine performance.
Flash banners or embedded flash objects - This option is very popular and does not really affect search engine performance unless it is very heavy, you will need alternative content to remain accessibility compliant. Ensure it does not distract from the most important thing, the sales message. Good if you are selling a moving part that you need to demonstrate.
Given that Ireland’s terrestrial broadband is second only to Greece and Mexico as the worst quality in the developed world, how will this be affected by the news that the preferred tenderer to replace the debacle that was the rural broadband scheme is a mobile provider 3. Looks like things can only get worse out here in the sticks… Much as we all love to blame Eircom for that farce which is our digital economy, at least they might provide an infrastructure based upon the type of speeds and consistency that the rest of Europe enjoys.
Broadband? Sure you would have to go to Dublin for that….
Seduced as I was by a reasonable fare versus the escalating costs of diesel and the thorny carbon footprint issue I decided today that the train was the way to travel and it was about time to test out the relatively new online reservation service from Irish Rail.. After researching routes and times I decided on Templemore as a starting and finishing point in order to get me to Birr from Cork for a nights frenetic networking courtesy of the local County Enterprise Boards.
Acquiring a booking is a pretty user friendly experience. I missed only something telling me how the tickets would be delivered and assumed til a relatively late stage in the process that I would get a Ryanair type e-ticket. When asked for my full address I began to be concerned and sure enough they still like to deliver your tickets by snail mail. As my trip was booked only a few hours in advance I opted to collect tickets at Templemore. A link invited me to check the ticket office opening times. Aha! Been caught on that one already so I carefully checked.
Templemore is a nice station with two bridges, lots of wheeelchair access, pretty strong 3G signal and a smashing ticket office man – but absolutely no chance of issuing a ticket from an internet booking. Why? That smashing ticket office man has not been trained in the system, not even trained to log on to the shiny new computer in his office. He is despondent but after a little while he cheers up when I suggest that as I am changing at Thurles I could pick it up there instead.
So here I am about to get on a train with a piece of paper that says on no account does it qualify as a railway ticket on my way to meet Annie in the Thurles ticket office. How risque! Perhaps I will be prosecuted before I get rescued by Annie.
And probably all because training is the HR department and systems are the IT department. Folks please get your act together, one with out the other is about as much use as a chocolate teapot!
This weekend among the usual mix of emails from the website came a real blast from the past. Way back in the distant mist of time the original SitesToGo logo was designed by Henry Iles, a graphic designer that I worked with during my not for profit days.
The ethical marketer’s dream, this guy once fell out with me when our Japanese colleagues insisted on replacing an artistic egg (a fertility symbol in Japan which is not quite appropriate for a Youth Hostel!) with a geisha (which offended Henry). The Japanese won but only just…
Not surprised then to find he is now attached to In Control a Uk based charity working dedicated to helping to change the system of social care. Like Microboards here in Ireland. Putting people with disabilities in control of their relationship with authorities. The Microboard website will go live shortly but I have suggested they comment on this blog to get the information out their a bit sooner.