Problems with Macquarie University Website

If Macquarie University wants to recruit students, then they need to design better web pages. I clicked on an advertisement for Macquarie University Information Day and got a web page which said "Thursday 3 January 9am to 4pm" but provided no other information.

Examining the source code of the page, it appears there is information about the open day, it just doesn't display with my Firefox 17 web browser. The W3C Markup Validation Service reports 20 errors on the page. The W3C mobileOK Checker gives the page a score of 0 out of 100 (the worst possible), with 5 errors described as "critical". One odd error is that there is a PNG image with a file name of ,jpg (indicating it is a JPEG image).

The AChecker web accessibility tester reports 14 problems with the W3C WCAG 2.0 (Level AA) guidelines. Interestingly the AChecker displayed an advertisement for Monash University alongside the Macquarie University results and that web page worked fine.

ps: I would have sent a note about this to Macquarie University, but  when I clicked on "Contact Us" on their web page I got another blank page, with no contact details.

UN Pictograms for Humanitarian Software

The OCHA Humanitarian Icons are a set of 500 pictograms for humanitarian relief operations from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian affairs (OCHA). These can be used as computer icons for communicating information about relief operations where language may otherwise be a barrier.

Opera Turbo Reducing Data Download

I have turned on the Opera Turbo option on the Opera web browser to speed up slow wireless Internet connection. Opera Turbo sends the web page to a Opera server which compresses the data before passing it on. So far this has provided 2.2 compression, that is reducing the data received about half the size. This is a worthwhile improvement but not great.

Unfortunately, unlike Opera Mini, the browser for mobile phones, Turbo doesn't reduce the resolution of images, just tries to compress them more efficiently. Images make up a lot of the data in web pages and often the resolution of images is much higher than required (many of the images are window dressing, not providing any useful information and also distracting from the content). It is a shame Opera don't provide an option for reducing the resolution.

One option would be to convert all images to a progressive mode, so the images would appear quickly and then get clearer. This way the web page would appear quickly, if the person really wanted th high resolution images, they need only wait. For cases where you are paying by the Megabyte, you would want to be able to cut off the resolution at a set level.

NSW Co-social case builder software not usable

At GovCampNSW I tried to use the GovCampNSW Co-social case builder to submit an idea. But this requires I register and that requires filling in a form in a pop-up web window. On my screen the fields to fill in are off the bottom of the screen and I can't scroll down. As a result of the flawed web design I can't submit an idea.

Some tests on the web page:

1. W3C Markup Validation Service: 56 Errors, 3 warnings
2. W3C mobileOK Checker: 42% critical 0, severe 3, medium 0, low 3
3. TAW Automated WCAG 2.0 Analysis level A: 4 Problems in 3 success criteria: Perceivable 2, Operable 0, Understandable 1, Robust 1

Google Chrome web browser detailed in a comic book

Google was planning to release its own web browser, called "Google Chrome". But the details went out a few days early. The main feature is that it will be more reliable for running web based applications, with multiple processes. What is as interesting as the web browser itself, is that it is detailed in a comic book, put on the web by Philipp Lenssen. The comic format is similar to the storyboards which can be produced by scriptwriting software such as Celtx and perhaps is the coming trend in documenting technical systems.

At Google, we have a saying: “launch early and iterate.” While this approach is usually limited to our engineers, it apparently applies to our mailroom as well! As you may have read in the blogosphere, we hit "send" a bit early on a comic book introducing our new open source browser, Google Chrome. We will be launching the beta version of Google Chrome tomorrow in more than 100 countries. ...

From: A fresh take on the browser, The Official Google Blog, 9/01/2008 02:10:00 PM

Neither Microsoft nor Netscape started the web revolution

"Bill Gates: How A Geek Changed The World" a BBS interview with Bill Gates was broadcast by SBS 8 July 2008 (online video from SBS). This was a more than a puff piece with some criticisms of Gates included.

One point made was that Microsoft was late embracing the Internet. Microsoft had to scramble to create a web browser in response to Netscape. But not mentioned was that it was the Mosaic web browser developed by the non profit National Center for Supercomputing Applications which popularized the web. Both Netscape and Microsoft then licensed Mosaic to make their Navigator and Internet Explorer browsers. Early versions were little different from Mosaic or from each other. And I must be about the last person in the world who paid for a copy of Netscape Navigator, shortly before they decided to give it away. ;-)

Program Synopsis
TV Show Name:
Broadcast Date: Tuesday 8 July 2008
Channel: Free to Air / SBS
Broadcast Time: 8.30 pm
Classifications: Other, (CC)
Timeslot Duration: 60 mins
Official title / weblink if available: CUTTING EDGE: BILL GATES

How A Geek Changed The World - After two years of negotiations, BBC filmmaker Fiona Bruce pulled off a rare coup: a candid full-length interview with Bill Gates. For many years the richest man in the world and the founding genius of Microsoft is set to step down from his company and get on with the business of giving away £12 billion through the charitable foundation he runs with his wife Melinda and father William Gates Sr. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation aims to improve the quality of life for people in the US and around the globe, with a focus on tackling health problems in the developing world and improving access to drugs. Bruce's interview and her meetings with Gates' friends and rivals uncover a sometimes irascible character, who has long prided himself on corporate aggression and is only recently said to have begun mellowing. (From the UK, in English)

From: ebroadcast.com.au