Bobby

Skip to report

URL tested: http://www.themaninblue.com/, February 18, 2004 7:02:01 AM EST
Watchfire Bobby Core v4.0.1, WAI Content Accessibility Guidelines 1999/05/05, Support Level: AAA

Note: To ensure that the marked up report is readable, all stylesheets and scripts are removed. The page may not appear as expected.


David Newton
Psychedelic illustration by David Newton. I particularly like Higher Nature.
16 February 2004, 17:29

Yoko Ikeno
Yoko's clean, fashion-based illustration incorporates 1920's class with modern style.
16 February 2004, 14:03

Butterfly nebula
The Universe, as per usual, provides the greatest spectacles.
16 February 2004, 13:03

Gallery of computation
Jared Tarbell has started up a gallery of scientifically based abstract images using Flash and proce55ing technologies. Some really complex, high-quality and beautiful pieces of art. (NOTE: Flash)
04 February 2004, 16:46

Hop David
In the tradition of MC Escher, Hop David creates algorithmic art. I particularly like the renaissance stylings of Tunnel.
04 February 2004, 11:53

Visit the Link archives

 

Priority Accessibility Error - Manual Check NeededPriority Accessibility Error - Manual Check NeededProject: USB Phone

USB Phone

"Drive people to buy the product!" was the brief. One day was the time line. This was made easier by the fact that it was a re-design of the site – so I knew what content I had to work with – and I only had to supply the XHTML/CSS templates for the PHP coders, but it was still a pretty tight deadline. In the end I feel that the new pages significantly increase the impact of the information and present it in a much more attractive manner – conducive to a better branding experience and instilling greater faith in the product from the client, and hence more purchases.

View the full project

 

 

Priority Accessibility Error - Manual Check NeededPriority Accessibility Error - Manual Check NeededA Blue Perspective: On the road

On the road
12 February 2004 | 1 comment

This is my fourth day of travelling interstate. 4 days, 4 flights; one more.

I'm not what you'd call an experienced traveller – last time I flew was ten years ago – and combined with my recent acquisition of a G4 PowerBook (on loan) it's made for a rather adventurous few days; it's also allowed me to experience firsthand the inefficiencies of real life.

After having become accustomed to communicating digitally with people all over the world – e-mailing, messaging, writing weblogs, reading weblogs – the analog version seems ... well, a waste of time. But people demand the immediacy of physical presence, especially in business. Waiting in flight terminals, cramped leg space, $4.00 water, the mobius strips that Brisbane calls city streets; all endured so that you can shake someone's hand and monitor their facial tics. Granted, talking to a real person often helps to grab (or force) people's attention, but this trip has shown me that the Internet truly brings people together in a way that cannot be achieved traditionally.

Even though my head is 38,000 feet above where it would normally be, I can communicate – via my web site – exactly as I would if I were at home in my pyjamas. Something trivial, I know, for people used to mobile computing, but having been anchored to my clunky desktop for the past however many years, it is a personal revelation.

Not only can I communicate from anywhere, but I can communicate to anyone. With a real-world presentation, you can only communicate as loud as you can shout. By writing this here I can communicate across continents, tirelessly, and while I'm asleep.

And yet, looking around on the plane, you see hundreds of people slaves to the same fact: there is an indefinable something about being there, something which digital hasn't yet – and may never – replace. Video conferencing, VoIP, e-mail; they're options but not replacements, and as tiring as the real thing may be, Boeing isn't going out of business anytime soon.

 

 

Priority Accessibility Error - Manual Check NeededPriority Accessibility Error - Manual Check NeededA Blue Perspective: Web Standards Awards

Web Standards Awards
11 February 2004 | 3 comments

Standards, awards, the Web. A combination that sprang into my mind in December, but had long ago sprung into the mind of Johan Edlund. Following on from Andy Budd's introduction, the three of us decided that a site was needed that communicated the best of the Standards-compliant best, and thereby communicated the benefits and possibilities of Standards themselves.

Two months on, www.webstandardsawards.com goes live today and hopefully its debut can act as a psuedo-official validation of the proposition that semantic, Standards-compliant sites are equally as "gee-wow!" as the Flash sites and table frankensteins on other awards sites.

Gushing, praise filled e-mails can be directed to Johan for the gorgeous design of the site itself, and while you're typing you can admire Andy's backend. If you have any qualms with the clumsy words that blemish their work, flame me.

General awards are handed out irregularly, but generally tri-daily, and we have the monthly big award that will be decided by mystery big-name guests. (OK, we don't have anyone, no one, zip, but we're hoping for big, Welsh-length names *cough* Zeldman *cough*)

 

 

Priority Accessibility Error - Manual Check NeededPriority Accessibility Error - Manual Check NeededA Blue Perspective: Separate meaning from language

Separate meaning from language
6 February 2004 | 4 comments

The virtues of separating document structure from style are well documented, and in fact is the cornerstone of the XML/CSS pairing. The aim is to keep data entirely isolated from the way it is presented, allowing the data to be visually reformatted for different purposes without having to affect the data itself – as the CSS Zen Garden demonstrates well.

While trying to find out exactly what an Estonian web site was saying about me, it struck me that a similar division exists between meaning and language. Essentially when you speak/write you are communicating meaning using a semantic construct, such as the English language. "I'm hungry" has the same meaning whether you say it in English or Chinese, it is merely the way that the writer represents it that differs.

Just as style sheets allows us to alternately view XML as a graphical web page or as text on a palmtop, if we encoded our communications as pure meaning then we should be able to write "language sheets" that display that meaning in a particular language. Granted, such language sheets would be incredibly more complex than any existing style sheets, but it would give rise to a truly accessible Internet, with no boundaries to content whatsoever, irrespective of whether you speak only Ancient Sumerian or l33t. Could you imagine opening up Opera and visiting a web page with your custom language sheet, being oblivious to what native language the author might arbitrarily communicate in?

I know, it begins to get into Star Trek Universal Translator territory, and way too far into linguistics for me to actually appreciate the difficulty, but I see it as the last true barrier to creating a unified World Web (and Google's language tools just don't cut it), so energise, Geordi!

(If you're using your Original Star Trek Language Sheet that should read as "beam me up, Scotty!", but this page defaults to Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Visit the Perspective archives

 


About this report

Not Bobby AAA ApprovedThis page does not yet meet the requirements for Bobby AAA Approved status. To be Bobby AAA Approved, a page must pass all of the Priority 1,2 and 3 accessibility checkpoints established in W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0. For more information on the report, please read "How to Read the Bobby Report".

Priority 2 Accessibility | Priority 3 Accessibility

Follow the links in guideline titles for detailed information about the error.

Priority 1 Accessibility

Priority 1 User Checks

User checks are triggered by something specific on the page; however, you need to determine manually whether they apply and, if applicable, whether your page meets the requirements. Bobby A Approval requires that all user checks pass. Even if your page does conform to these guidelines they appear in the report. Please review these 5 item(s):

  1. If you can't make a page accessible, construct an alternate accessible version.
  2. If style sheets are ignored or unsupported, are pages still readable and usable?
  3. Provide alternative content for each SCRIPT that conveys important information or functionality.
  4. If you use color to convey information, make sure the information is also represented another way. (4 instances)
    Lines 145, 169, 212, 250
  5. If an image conveys important information beyond what is in its alternative text, provide an extended description. (4 instances)
    Lines 145, 169, 212, 250

The following 2 item(s) are not triggered by any specific feature on your page, but are still important for accessibility and are required for Bobby A Approved status.

  1. Identify any changes in the document's language.
  2. Use the simplest and most straightforward language that is possible.

Priority 2 Accessibility

Priority 2 User Checks

User checks are triggered by something specific on the page; however, you need to determine manually whether they apply and, if applicable, whether your page meets the requirements. Bobby AA Approval requires that all user checks pass. Even if your page does conform to these guidelines they appear in the report. Please review these 5 item(s):

  1. If programmatic objects create pop-up windows or change the active window, make sure that the user is aware this is happening. (3 instances)
    Lines 34, 35, 309
  2. Make sure header elements are not used only for bold text.
  3. Check that the foreground and background colors contrast sufficiently with each other. (4 instances)
    Lines 145, 169, 212, 250
  4. Mark up any quotations with the Q and BLOCKQUOTE elements.
  5. Do not create a blinking effect with animated gif images. (4 instances)
    Lines 145, 169, 212, 250

The following 7 item(s) are not triggered by any specific feature on your page, but are still important for accessibility and are required for Bobby AA Approved status.

  1. Make sure that all link phrases make sense when read out of context.
  2. Is there a site map or table of contents, a description of the general layout of the site, the access features used, and how to use them?
  3. Make sure your document validates to formal published grammars.
  4. Group related elements when possible.
  5. Is there a clear, consistent navigation structure?
  6. Use the latest technology specification available whenever possible.
  7. Where it's possible to mark up content (for example mathematical equations) instead of using images, use a markup language (such as MathML).

Priority 3 Accessibility

This page does not meet the requirements for Bobby AAA Approved status. Below is a list of 1 Priority 3 accessibility error(s) found:

  1. Separate adjacent links with more than whitespace. (1 instance)
    Line 92

Priority 3 User Checks

User checks are triggered by something specific on the page; however, you need to determine manually whether they apply and, if applicable, whether your page meets the requirements. Bobby AAA Approval requires that all user checks pass. Even if your page does conform to these guidelines they appear in the report. Please review these 6 item(s):

  1. If this document is part of a collection, provide metadata that identifies this document's location in the collection.
  2. Consider specifying a logical tab order among form controls, links and objects.
  3. Use the ABBR and ACRONYM elements to denote and expand any abbreviations and acronyms that are present.
  4. If you have grouped links, is there a link at the beginning to bypass the group?
  5. If there are logical groups of links, have they been identified and a link to skip the group provided?
  6. Consider adding keyboard shortcuts to frequently used links.

The following 5 item(s) are not triggered by any specific feature on your page, but are still important for accessibility and are required for Bobby AAA Approved status.

  1. Is there distinguishing information at the beginning of headings, paragraphs, lists, etc.?
  2. If there is a search feature, are there different types of searches for different skill levels and preferences?
  3. Are there navigation bars for easy access to the navigation structure?
  4. Do you allow users to customize their experience of the web page?
  5. Is there a consistent style of presentation between pages?
Copyright © 2002 Watchfire Corporation. All rights reserved. Use of this software is subject to the Bobby Software License Agreement.