Did you know that while you browse your favorite sites across the internet, your internet provider secretly sits on the other end of your screen watching your every move? Scary? While just makes for a funny scary story, the reality isn’t much different from this scenario.
Although there’s no one looking out for the sites you visit, there are people who can do so if they wish. Also, some internet companies record user browsing data and internet behavior to bag revenue from advertisement companies.
What’s more? In 2017, some members of the U.S. Senate voted in favor of selling internet browsing data recording from millions of people like yourself. If you are uncomfortable with this, you may want to do something. The solution? Get a VPN for yourself!
What Is a VPN?
VPN is an abbreviation for Virtual Private Network. As the name suggests, it’s a private network that overrides your original internet connection and directs you towards, safe, protected servers.
This means the VPNs route your data through encrypted servers that work to hide your online browsing details. Consequently, the private network saves you from all kinds of dangers lurking online such as hackers, identity theft, and commercial data selling.
We know what you’re thinking, you don’t really care who knows what you’re up to right? Here’s a secret, VPN can help you get into content and restricted web searches that you can’t access through your local network.
How? Well, you must’ve noticed how your local internet provider directly takes you to the regional page of websites like Amazon and eBay. Meaning, they know where you’re logging in from. Your VPN gives you a whole new identity online, which means you can access online material that’s not available in your regions, such as movies and educational resources as well.
Nowadays, VPNs are being used everywhere from corporate offices to top-secret government agencies. They are essential to organizations that need remote access to their networks on a regular basis. Also, it’s a valuable solution for people who value their privacy and get the protection they need from virtual threats.
Why Do You Need a VPN?
To make the reason as clear as possible, a VPN simply creates a direct, secure passage connecting one computer to another. If you’re not convinced yet and need specific reasons to use get a VPN for yourself, here are some situations where a VPN can mean a lot to you.
Be Safe On Public WiFi
It’s commonplace for us to inquire about the free WiFi services before choosing a restaurant to dine in. Believe it or not, connecting your device to one of these WiFi connections without a VPN can be the biggest risk to take. That’s because, these networks are open to anyone, and can provide a straight passage for malware from other devices to invade yours.
Similarly, the WiFi can also be a trap to get you into phishing scams raging through the internet these days. A VPN connection helps ensure you don’t fall prey to any of these situations.
Get Through Streaming Restrictions
Are you tired of Netflix blocking certain content because of your geographical location? The same dilemmas can get you on BBCi and even YouTube and Instagram. While browser proxies can get you through these restrictions, they slow down the streaming speed making for an unpleasant viewing experience. To get through these restrictions, a VPN is the best option.
Avoid Censorship Regulations
Some oppressive governments impose restrictions on their citizens regarding what they view and visit. These regulations are also virtually reinforced to combat any intrusion, so if you try to get into any prohibited online pages, they’ll know.
That’s where a VPN comes in. As mentioned before, it encrypts your data and conceals your identity completely. This way, you can get through the oppressive regulations and censors without exposing yourself in any way.
Encrypt Your Online Data
When you’re using a VPN, the network creates a secure passage for you to send your data through. So any activity you conduct with the VPN app running will be private and encrypted. Every VPN connection offers an app that you can use to activate and deactivate the connection on your device according to your needs.
How To Choose Your VPN?
Convinced? Then you’ve probably started conducting your search for the perfect VPN for yourself. Attributing to the high consumer demand, there are a plethora of companies providing VPN services. If you choose the wrong one, you’ll end up exposing your data to yet another unreliable third party, which can be hazardous to your privacy. Here’s how to choose an ideal VPN network.
Price And Security
Most of the time, the level of security you’ll get with a VPN is directly proportional to the price. For normal users, mainstream VPN providers costing under $5 will work well. To choose the best one, you should go through the user reviews to get a clear evaluation of the service you’re about to purchase. Also, go with well-known and reputable companies to avoid getting into a scam.
User Data Logs
If security is your main concern when getting a VPN connection as compared to unlimited access to content, you should check whether or not the company keeps logs of their user data. These logs can be used to track you or your online activity. For extra security, you should choose one that doesn’t save your online browsing details.
Network Servers
What could be worse than paying for a VPN service that slows down your device and makes streaming almost impossible? To avoid this situation, you should do your research about the number of servers a VPN network has. This way, you won’t put yourself at risk of overcrowded servers and slow connections.
Multiple Device Compatibility And Clear User Interface
Many VPN networks allow you to sign in with your account on multiple devices. If you can get this service at an affordable price range, you should definitely go for it as it keeps you from getting restricted to one device.
Most importantly, check the interface of the app you’re purchasing. The most clutter-free and clear the interface is, the easier it’ll be to use.
Conclusion
We hope you found this guide for VPNs useful. It’s a great personalized tool for people in favor of internet freedom and browsing privacy. Select the ideal VPN service for yourself today and go incognito for all your online operations.
Everyone who runs a website has heard of DDoS attacks and hopes never to see one at their doorstep. But, what do you really know about these attacks? Our perception can be muddied by several myths and misconceptions. Also, to efficiently protect one’s website from such attacks one needs to understand what they are. Let’s review the fundamentals.
Understanding DDoS attacks
A DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack takes place when a hacker sends a lot of traffic to a particular website, essentially overwhelming it. The website server gets overloaded with these malicious requests and can’t function properly so it becomes inaccessible to visitors.
Perhaps you have seen situations when a website of some company can’t be accessed at the time of an important event or release connected to it (maybe it has even happened to you – and hey, there’s no shame in it; it has also happened even to Amazon). It occurs when the traffic is too high and the company’s servers can’t handle it.
A DDoS attack seeks to emulate such a situation, only without the pleasant (save for the headache that is fixing it!) feeling that you managed to draw so many people to your website.
In a sense, this type of attacks is somewhat similar to spam: flooding some resource with tons of undesired information and making it hard to find legitimate emails. Or, in this case, just crashing the website.
In a DDoS attack, the perpetrator gains access to computers or other devices that are connected to the Internet and uses their bandwidth to perform the attack. It is most often done with the users whose devices are being used for this purpose are not even aware. Usually, to hijack the device, the hacker needs to inject it with malware but it isn’t always so.
Sometimes, one can find themselves as a
part of a DDoS attack because of some seemingly safe activity they did online.
One example of that is the 2015 attack on 8chan. To gather their army of invading devices, the hacker bought bandwidth of the users of a popular VPN/proxy address provider through its sister company. Then, people who simply wanted to hide their IPs basically had them borrowed to commit a crime. While the use of that bandwidth to perform an assault on any website is illegal, buying and selling IPs is not. Those users should have read the terms of service which allowed it.
Since malicious traffic is coming from so many sources at once, it is nearly impossible to stop it and block all of it.
Why are such attacks carried out? The primary reason is money, as it’s possible to extort some from the unfortunate victim to stop the attack. On the other hand, sometimes DDoS attacks are performed just out of spite and to sow discord.
But why are DDoS attacks particularly
dangerous today, you might ask? The answer is simple. Just like with any
technology, modern Internet of Things devices that we all love so much can and
are used by bad actors for their purposes which often involve conducting
denial-of-service attacks on websites.
And the scariest thing here is the number of IoT devices. As of 2019, there are almost 27 billion of them worldwide. Moreover, the security of such devices is often lacking as their developers tend to focus more on functionality and, pardon the slang, oomph of their tools than on the questions of cybersecurity that are generally rather boring to the public and can’t be used in advertising as effectively. These two factors put together make our IoT environment something of a time bomb waiting to go off at some hacker’s prompt. The most famous example of an IoT-powered DDoS attack is, perhaps, the Mirai botnet one that happened in 2016.
How can DDoS attacks be prevented?
Most of the ways to protect one’s network or website from DDoS attacks rely on rapid detection. Speed is very important here because the faster the attack is blocked, the less damage it can do.
Detecting a DDoS attack can’t be reliably
done by a human specialist due to how much data they would need to sift through
and how rapidly. Therefore, technical methods have to be used. Of course, since
they are not operated by humans, they must be given some criteria to work with
and understand what qualifies as abnormal activity. Such criteria may include
certain IP addresses and IP ranges that are to be blacklisted, variations of
HTTP cookies, etc.
Once a likely attack is detected, it needs to be quarantined. Today, it is done via a cloud-based solution most of the time because hardware solutions are often too limited in their scope and don’t have enough capacity to deal with all malicious traffic coming with a DDoS attack.
There are various means of getting your
website rid of this undesirable traffic. Black-hole routing, for example,
routes it to a dead address that no host machine is assigned to, causing DDoS
traffic to be “dropped” there harmlessly.
“Scrubbing” data centers are another way of traffic filtering. All traffic coming to your website is transferred to such a data center where it is determined if it’s legitimate or not.
Another undoubtedly cool way to protect
your website from DDoS attacks is a very futuristic one. However, today, we
have technologies that weren’t imaginable just a few decades ago as something
that will be actually available to the mortals.
I’m talking, of course, of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI and ML).
The main benefit of machine learning is that
it’s not simply a set of filters that legacy protection measures often provide.
It can, indeed, learn to see patterns that are common to something. What
interests us the most is that AI can be taught what a particular website’s
traffic normally looks like and notice any irregularities faster and more
efficiently than any human can.
However, unlike simple filtering
mechanisms, AI is not limited in it. It doesn’t need a strict set of filters to
determine if an attack is happening because just like a human being (at least,
in theory), it can recognize something it has never seen before (and hasn’t
been told by a human that this is a malicious attempt) as a threat.
All in all, there are many methods of
protection against DDoS attacks. Most of them come in the form of a service
that can be acquired from a security firm. And indeed, such protection is not
cheap. It is a difficult question if your website needs it and there is no
universal answer. Some sites are more likely to get attacked than others. Some
can afford to go down for a couple of hours while others can’t.
The choice is yours. But I hope that now you know a bit more about DDoS attacks and approaches to defend against them.
[Editor’s note: this is a contributed article. Information about the author is found below.]
Sam Chester is a co-founder of Cooltechzone.com, a website dedicated to online privacy and cybersecurity. His area of expertise includes data security and analytics, software, and Internet censorship. He is a staunch supporter of limiting the role of government agencies in the lives of the citizens.
This is no longer just an attention-grabbing business model trend. Remote work has become a valid and feasible work model for employees and companies. Remote work now encompasses employees working out of the office, with a flexible and mobile schedule, and companies hiring professionals that are working remotely.
Companies have expanded services towards outsourcing services, and that they hire remote workers for, such as operational processes and product and software development services. For example, companies and employers can use this link to learn more about software engineering services for their custom software development services needs.
But why remote work? How has it impacted the workforce and employment movement?
Remote Work: Popular and Viable
Remote work has grown 44% over the last 5 years, and between 2016 and 2017 found a 7.9% increase globally. The top fields with the greatest number of remote workers are Computer and IT, Health and Medical, Sales, Education and Training, and Customer Service.
Multi-million dollar companies such as Toggl, Automatic, Buffer, Meet Edgar, Zapier, and Appen have been built and supported by remote work. Other companies like Dell, Invision, Git Lab, and Todoist have also found success with the outsourcing software development services and other organizational processes.
Software Development Services and Remote Work
In 2015, around 8% of
all the full-time computer programmers in the US worked from home. This
percentage has been growing steadily over the past couple of years. In the IT
and software development industry, many programmers find the benefits of
working from home are better than working in the office the entire day.
According to the State of Software Development in 2019, the major challenges encountered in software development are limited capacity and knowledge sharing. To address these challenges, the majority of companies allow their employees to do remote work. This then opened up the opportunity for outsourcing projects and business processes.
Advantages of Remote Work
Why is remote work so preferred by both companies and employees? Interviews with executives have shed some light on some of the advantages of the business model. And studies and market statistics have shown why remote work for software developers is the way forward with many a software development services company. Below are the major drivers we found as to why webmasters will find remote work as a business model beneficial, either as an employee or as an employer.
As an Employee
Increased work productivity. Studies have shown that working remotely leads to increased productivity for employees. Remote employees or those working on remote jobs are empowered to find the space and mindset that enables them to work optimally. Remote workers leveraging this freedom to choose when and where to work to work are more productive and able to accomplish more tasks, participate and collaborate better, and have a better disposition at work.
Increased mobility. Remote employees can work from anywhere. Remote jobs provide employees the benefit of being able to work anywhere that they are most comfortable at. The most popular place to work at, for remote employees, are at home in their home office, followed by working out of cafes or coffee places. Working remotely enables employees to be more mobile and spaces where they are most comfortable and most productive.
Improved work-life balance. Having a flexible timetable is the benefit that remote workers are most appreciative of. Remote work enables employees to spread out their time between work, time with friends and family, and hobbies, leading to a more positive work-life balance.
Individuals in the workforce that value experiences and personal growth over possessions find this highly favorable, especially in their work environment. This improved balance between work and non-work activities lead to less stress and more productivity for workers.
Reduced employee expenses. Because of its impact on their daily spending, employees are further encouraged to do remote work. Remote employees or workers that telecommute spend less on commuting, fuel, food, and car maintenance. An average worker usually spends around $10 a day just going to a from work, which accumulates to around $2,600 annually. Remote employees and those that work from home save on this expense and spend this money on better things.
As a Company
Improved employee retention. Remote work empowers employees to be more productive at home, in their own space, and enjoy the benefits of employment. Remote employees that are more than satisfied with their working environment engender appreciation and positivity towards their bosses and company.
Because employees are more satisfied with their remote work situation, they are more likely to stay with the company. With a company able to adapt to remote workers and provide their needed benefits, employees have more reason to stay and keep working for the company.
Increased workforce diversity. Employing remote workers opens a company to the opportunity to hire skilled professionals from all over the world. This approach enables the company to improve the diversity in their workforce by onboard remote employees that come from across different gender, ethnicity, and location, and abilities.
Take for example a software development services company, they can employ remote expert software engineers and software developers to build solutions for their clients. Or the company itself is remote and collaborates with other companies.
Reduced operational costs. Companies engaging remote employees in their workforce incur fewer expenses in setting up their office needs. Instead of physical offices and utilities, costs go to setting up tools and processes that would make remote jobs all the more efficient and effective. These costs are a lot cheaper to establish and maintain in the long run.
In the case of our software development services company example, in engaging the services of remote software engineers and software developers, this company can focus their operational costs in purchasing and maintaining communication, project management, and task tracking tools and software.
No business model is perfect. Remote jobs also have pitfalls:
Communication and collaboration can be a challenge to establish and maintain.
There can be difficulty distancing oneself from work and unplugging.
Employees may feel disconnected from work and life and experience loneliness.
Distractions from home or non-work environments can be a hindrance to productivity and remote employee time tracking and management.
But the challenges and pitfalls that may be encountered with remote work can be solved and improved. It makes for an effective working model and this is what is important. It has revolutionized work and the quality of work-life balance that employees can achieve. It has also provided companies and employers a viable and reliable means of increasing their workforce.
Remote work is not perfect, but, when done correctly, it is highly effective.
Editor’s note: This guest post was provided by Kateryna Boiko. She is a Marketing Manager at Mobilunity, Provider of Dedicated Development Teams with 9 years of hands-on experience in digital marketing. Kateryna managed to work with diverse industries and markets and now is keen on sharing unique cases with the world and coach on topics relevant to Web Analytics and Search Engine Optimization.
[Editor’s note – we thought it might be helpful to review some of the basics of eCommerce sites via this guest article. Let us know if your find these review articles helpful (via the comments section).]
The modern world of technology has many great opportunities
for businesses to attract customers and gain successful brands. Imagine this;
your business is everywhere you go. Great, isn’t it?
With the high growth and demand of the online industry, the majority of marketers try to make a step forward. If you also try to create your own store where you can offer your products or services, then, congrats! You are in the right way of getting a range of benefits.
How e-commerce websites differ from other sites
While ordinary websites are generally designed for sharing information, eCommerce websites are online platforms that give the possibility for offering products and services by means of the data and fund transfers. Through a number of SEO services and other marketing tactics, the site gains visibility and loyalty. SERP’s (Search Engine Result Pages) target many visitors who surf the Internet for a desired product or service.
Why it this important?
Any web professional of an experienced digital marketing agency (such as the one I work for) values the role and importance of having an eCommerce website. Why?
The reason for this is its huge role in digital marketing. Regardless of the size, type, product, service or budget, any company can take advantages of building an eCommerce website. They not only integrate SEO services for increased visibility but also bring together different marketing strategies; like SMM (Social Media Marketing), PPC (Pay Per Click), Content Marketing, Email Marketing, and more, to facilitate the process of online sales.
Are websites are still relevant in this “mobile” world?
Although new technologies continue to emerge in our digital world (such as AR, Augmented Reality) and people tend to search mostly on mobile devices, mobile apps have not replaced websites; instead, websites become inseparable parts of mobile as well. While designing a website many digital marketing agencies choose the mobile-first approach, others make your website mobile-friendly. Websites are and will remain relevant for several reasons:
They include a variety of features .
They help strengthen your brand .
They provide the opportunity to include back-links.
93% of people start the product or service search in search engines (and your website can broaden your reach beyond just an app) .
They can be more cost-effective .
Let’s see some key benefits of eCommerce websites in today’s market.
Sell your Products Worldwide
56% of people in the world use the Internet; each of them can become your buyer. Digitization promises that this percentage will grow day by day. Among search engines, only Google has 3.5 billion searches every day. Hence, these numbers show the potential and possibility of gaining quality traffic with the help of well-optimized website for search engines.
It is open 24/7
While a real store can be open 24/7, not all people will go to it in late hours for shopping. However, many people tend to make a fast buying decision and websites allow getting what they want when they want it. Having online support or including chat-bots can be a solution if people have additional questions.
Good Advertising
Your website can become a great tool for gaining brand awareness. However,this only works when people find you. This made easier due to a number of marketing tactics, like SEO, PPC, SMM, and similar approaches.
It Informs
You can use social media platforms for your business, however, a website is more informative. Everything goes around your business. The quality and relevant content that you include, videos, images, navigation bar; every simple element can give your customer much information about your business.
It Builds Trust
People are more likely to trust your business if you show them your brand “image”. A good design and the contact information which you include give your brand added value.
Targeted Audience
Websites promise targeted and quality traffic, especially if they are organic. People who search and visit your website are more likely to purchase, than if they meet your business accidentally. Keywords and content that your website includes will meet the customer’s needs, if you create them taking into consideration searcher intent.
Links
Website content allows including back-links which increases your chance of becoming more visible to your target market. Search engines, especially Google, can provide value to quality back-links which help find your business. Often, trust and relevance increase over those sites that do not include such links.
Increase your Brand Reputation
Since people can find everything connected to your business, they become more confident in your products or services which in turn helps to build loyalty. The better your website is (including accessibility), the higher it will be viewed and perceived by potential buyers.
Conclusion
Building a website is not risky and does not demand much money, however, it is a good investment for building a professional brand. When you optimize the website to meet the needs of users and search engines, you will get a chance to get high ROI. Optimizing your websites for search engines with the help of different SEO services you will manage to increase your website credibility, grow your target audience and increase your revenue.
Author
Tigran Mirzoyan is a marketing and creative content specialist at Smarketa.com with a primary focus on SEO, PPC and customer satisfaction for eCommerce businesses. He draws inspiration from the simple things in everyday life.
We believe 2019 saw our most successful web design and development competition ever. We held this in Louisville, KY, during the last week of June. Our competition is one of 103 individual competitions at SkillsUSA Nationals. Competitors must win first place in their respective states for the opportunity to compete nationally. We also choose one winner from these competitions to represent the US at WorldSkills. That competition is held every two years (and the next will happen this August in Kazan, Russia).
Our on site team
We are so appreciative of the massive efforts by so many members of Web Professionals to make this competition a reality. We have our team on site for almost an entire week. They conduct the interviews of competitors (and these mimic real interviews as many of the individuals conducting the interviews hire web professionals as part o their daily jobs. They also review the process each team follows as they provide solutions to the business problems posed in our competition work order. They also make certain the server and network environment is running smoothly and that all tams can access their individual server, cloud storage, and editor. This can be a particular challenge when some teams bring school computers which have been so locked down one can not even access the Windows Control Panel. Our team also develops the competition project/ work order and configures the environment before the competition. We are so thankful for all the help and could not do it without you.
Our onsite team (from left to right) – Grant, Steve, Mark, Jonathan, Jeff, James, and David.
Our judges
We run two separate competitions (Wednesday is for high school students). We had 52 individuals competing this year. Our Thursday competition is for college students. We had 20 individuals competing this year. When the competition ends each day, we transfer all the work by each team to a secure location on one of our web servers. Judges from other states can then review the work of each team. Our judges are practicing web professionals and we have more than one judge review the work of each team. Each judge focuses on a specific area (such as accessibility). All scores are collected and finalized by the following morning. We could not achieve all this without our off site judges. If you are reading this and would like to help (or would like more information), please contact us. We can always use more judges.
If you are interested in overall comments from our judges, we provided a summary for competitors to review on our separate Web Design Contest site.
The competition environment
For those who would like to learn more about the environment we utilize, we prepared a couple of articles on our Web Design Contest site. These are listed below.
An overview of the server environment covers the fundamentals of how the server is configured using containers so that the work of each team is separated and secure.
An overview of the network environment covers the fundamentals of how competitors access the local resources. Given the logistics of where the event is held, it is simply not feasible (nor cost effective) to offer actual Internet access to competitors.
Training
Before the competition begins, we offer training to competitors and their advisors the day before (Tuesday). This is our opportunity to make certain everyone has a solid understanding of current industry best practices as they relate to web design and development. It also gives competitors and their advisors the opportunity to ask questions and develop a better understanding of what the competition is all about. In the photo below, Jonathan is discussing process best practices.
Jonathan provided an overview of process best practices to competitors and their advisors.
WorldSkills Competitor
We also had our WorldSkills Web Design and Development competitor (Matt Vreman) speak to competitors and their advisors before the competition began. He discussed his background (he won gold at one of our prior competitions). Matt reviewed his progress as he prepares to compete in Kazan, Russia in August, 2019. I will be accompanying him as his advisor in that competition (each country is allowed to bring in one expert to help their competitor). There will be roughly 50 countries competing in Russia in web design and development.
Matthew Vreman (WorldSkills competitor in web design and development) answering questions
Contest Impact
This was our 16th year running a national web design and development competition. A lot has changed in our industry over that time. We like to think that our competition has kept pace with changes in our industry. Over these years, we have had the chance to speak with roughly 2,000 competitors and their advisors/ teachers. We believe that we are making a difference in that competitors and their teachers see what current best practices are and many have adjusted their curriculum accordingly. We see these trends continuing based on the feedback received this year (particularly from advisors). We could not do this without the help of our members; they serve in many roles (including judges and on site team). However, members also provide the funding (through their annual membership dues) to help us achieve our goal of insuring that the next generation of web professionals is following current industry best practices. We couldn’t do this without your support. If you are reading this and have not yet become a member, we encourage you to support us in this endeavor.
Best always, Mark DuBois Executive Director and Lead Community Evangelist
Imagine this… You manage a website for a company. Someone
from Legal approaches you with a question, “Is the company’s website Section
508 compliant”? How would you respond?
Your first reaction might be to cringe. Or, maybe you get
that “deer in the headlight” look because honestly, you haven’t dealt a lot
with web accessibility. You wonder, “What is that anyway?”
Web accessibility can be a scary thing, especially if you
don’t have much experience with it. But
fear not! There is good news!
Here are five things to consider when establishing an
accessible, and ultimately optimized, web experience for all.
1. There is no such thing as a completely 100% accessible website.
It might be of some comfort to
know that it is pretty much impossible to create a web experience that is
completely 100% accessible by all. Most websites are not built with web accessibility
in mind, so know that you will be retroactively fixing problems.
Also know you will run across a
variety of issues. Some issues you will be able to fix easily, while others
will be much more challenging. You may even come across issues that you won’t
be able to fix at all. Understand that applying accessibility to an established
website can be like uprooting a well-established tree. It can be done, but it’s
going to take a lot of effort.
2. Web accessibility is not a binary thing.
You can’t just answer the question
with a “yes” or “no” response. It is not just one or the other. Web
accessibility will always have some shades of grey. The site you manage will
probably have some accessible features already, like alt descriptions for
images, and heading tag <h1 – h6> tags.
The website you manage is probably
already somewhat accessible. The question is, “what shade of grey is it?” Remember
there is no such thing as a 100% accessible website.
3. WCAG and Section 508 standards are similar but different.
If you do your research, you’re
going to run across something called WCAG and Section 508. It’s important to
know that these things are similar, but different.
The Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines (WCAG) is advice developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C),
with the goal of establishing standard practices regarding web content. These
standards are aimed at teaching individuals and organizations how to develop
web content for all people, including those with physical and mental
disabilities.
Section 508 also deals with
creating accessible web content, but it is different than WCAG. WCAG is a
cooperative web standard. Section is a law that requires government agencies to
make their websites, and other technology, accessible to people with
disabilities. If you manage a website that uses government money like a
university or health insurance website, you might have to abide by Section 508.
4. What is the ultimate goal of web accessibility?
Is the ultimate goal of web
accessibility just to be compliant? I would say no. Approaching web
accessibility with the ultimate goal of compliance in mind is short sighted.
The ultimate goal of web
accessibility is to create a web “experience” that is accessible by as many
people as possible, regardless of ability. This issue is really about humans
and their ability to access the information that they need. Yes, the law is
involved in some instances, but ultimately we are talking about being
compassionate towards others, and good stewards of the information that we
manage.
5. If you must have benchmarks and metrics, create a checklist.
Now the person from Legal is
probably looking for some sort of concrete evidence that they can use to defend
the company. Here is one way to approach this:
What is the law, and what does it state that the website must have?
Think about the senses you have as a human being (sight, touch, and sound etc.), which ones do you use to take in information?
How will you modify the website based on someone who is visually impaired, doesn’t hear well, or doesn’t have use of their hands?
Don’t “forget” about memory retention! What types of modifications will you make for people who have a cognitive impairment?
Write these things down and create a list. Do an audit of the site. What do can you do differently?
Think about your website and the content in terms of numbers. Maybe you have 20 PDFs and none of them are accessible. Can you create a metric around this? Can you strive for all 20 PDFs to be accessible by the end of the year?
Take this information to Legal and work with them.
So, going back to the original question? Is your website Section 508 compliant? How
would you respond?
Understand that Legal is probably going to want to resolve this issue in a concrete way. Their job is to protect the company from legal trouble; however they don’t necessarily understand websites and web content. Your job is not to understand the law entirely, but to understand how the web works.
Remember you are the web expert. Respond appropriately and move forward in a collaborative and productive manner. Together you can create a wonderfully optimized web experience for as many people as possible, while keeping the company out of legal trouble.
Perhaps you have one of those Alexa or Google Home devices (or are considering one). Ever wonder how it becomes active when you speak the “magic words” such as “Alexa?” Obviously, it is listening in order to know when you ask it something. These devices are just part of the connected Internet of Things (IoT) we encounter more and more in our daily lives. But, you do realize these smart speakers are eavesdropping all the time?
Smart speakers always seem to be listening
Sure, you can “opt out” of this listening. But you have to take an active role to do so. In some states, legislation is being considered to require companies (such as Amazon and Google) to obtain explicit consent from customers before those voice queries are recorded and stored.
Illinois has proposed legislation
In Illinois (where Web Professionals is headquartered), our State Senate passed the Keep Internet Devices Safe Act in the Senate on April 10. The measure is now before the Rules Committee in the Illinois House. In a nutshell, this legislation (if it becomes law) directs that the user must first agree (in writing) to specified criteria. The exact wording – “Provides that no private entity may turn on or enable, cause to be turned on or enabled, or otherwise use a digital device’s microphone to listen for or collect information, including spoken words or other audible or inaudible sounds, unless a user first agrees to a written policy meeting specified criteria.”
California has proposed legislation
In California similar legislation was proposed earlier this year (February 22). This is also making its way through the legislative process. This proposal also bans smart speaker vendors from sharing this information with third parties without consumer consent (opt-in).
Does eavesdropping matter?
Is this a “big deal?” Bloomberg reported that thousands of Amazon employees listen to Alexa recordings. Of course, this is to help the technology better understand what we are speaking. However, employees (or contractors) may also overhear potentially criminal activity or words the speaker may prefer remain private. As we learned from the Bloomberg article linked above, some words (such as French “avec sa”) may be interpreted as “alexa” by the listening device. Personally, I have observed words emanating from my television causing the lighted ring on my Alexa device to indicate it is listening (and it often tries to respond appropriately).
We support these initiatives
As many readers are aware, legislation continually plays “catch up” with technology. The smart speaker example is the latest of these issues. Obviously, legislators in Illinois and California are paying attention. In the broader scheme of things, we at Web Professionals believe privacy matters. We support these legislative initiatives.
If you would like to learn more (especially about the California
initiative, PC
Mag has a great overview article.
We are curious about your thoughts on these
initiatives. As always, we look forward to your comments.
Why shouldn’t we be fans of CSS? It’ constantly revolutionizes itself while trying to strive for its renowned form of simplicity. The end result is the creation of browser functionality that is arguably above and beyond what can be created with just JavaScript. Let’s examine some recent CSS enhancements and insights in the way i can be used. Some examples include blurred borders, setting a dark/ light mode switch (with a little help from JavaScript) and more.
CSS Features That Are Changing Web Design
The design landscape has changed a lot in recent years. We’re equipped with new and powerful tools — CSS custom properties, CSS shapes and CSS writing-mode, blurred borders in CSS, and sophisticated partitioning with CSS Grid – to name a few.
What is sophisticated partitioning with CSS Grid?
In the article written by Rob Weychert, he experimented with CSS grid to create a Tinnitus Tracker. He designed the grid pattern and then he worked on the partitioning of the grid.
These grid patterns mainly have the following 3 objectives:
Maintain a (somewhat) consistent whitespace.
Give the appearance of randomness.
Don’t forget about prime numbers.
Also adding CSS Grid, partitioning and typography as a cherry on top altogether gives a different look to the website and reaches to a different level of advancement. We encourage readers to follow the above link to learn more about how this was accomplished.
Blurred Borders in CSS
If we want to target an element and just visually blur the border of it. There is no simple, built-in feature we can apply. But we can get it done with a little CSS trickery.
After giving a code this effect, one can
enhance it with rounded corners, extend support so it works cross-browser, what
the future will bring in this department and what other interesting results can
get starting from the same idea!
In the article written by Daniel Crisp is about exploring the most exciting new properties coming to CSS. These include:
Fixing layout problems
Exploring feature queries
Use ‘not’ for a cleaner outcome
We encourage readers to follow the above link to learn more. We also came across these resources which may help you better understand how CSS is being used currently.
Every day things change in web design and development. We hope you are excited about these new approaches. CSS has certainly exceeded expectations of what was once considered achievable.
We hope you found these resources and overview useful. We always look forward to your comments and feedback (whether you are a member or not).
Any professional who works at creating, managing, or marketing a website understands how important digital assets are in their work. Digital assets are electronically stored data that come with the right to use, bring value to their owners, and are uniquely identifiable. Examples of digital assets include audio files, PDF white papers, graphics, photos, HTML documents, and presentations.
Web professionals can use these assets to help educate people on a topic, improve a company or organization’s digital presence, and market products or services online. However, as the number of stored digital assets grows at an organization, it becomes time-consuming and difficult for different web professionals to manage and retrieve assets.
A digital asset management (DAM) solution is a type of software that helps web professionals properly store, update, index, and retrieve their digital assets. The demand for dedicated DAM tools is expected to surge over the coming years, and recent research predicted the global DAM market to reach $8.1 billion by 2024.
Read on to find out the types of DAM available, the service models you can implement when using DAM systems, and some specific use cases of DAM software for web professionals. You will also get some tips and best practices for getting the most out of any DAM solution.
Types of Tools
There are three main types of Digital Asset Management tools; however, many enterprise solutions can be classified and used as any single one or as all of these types simultaneously.
Library asset management focuses
on building an organized digital library of infrequently changing assets for
easy storage and retrieval.
Production asset management meets
the needs of web professionals who need to collaborate on, control and use
digital assets that are frequently updated and revised.
Brand asset management entails
using and reusing marketing materials, logos, and other assets that help to
build brand identity.
Software Service Models
There are two main service models for implementing Digital Asset Management:
On-premise DAM solutions are installed locally on an organization’s servers. Everything is kept in-house and users typically access assets via the internal corporate network.
Cloud DAM solutions are hosted on external web servers and the software is accessed through a web browser via an Internet connection.
On-premise DAM systems are better suited for web professionals whose roles involve stringent data security obligations, such as people working in government departments and highly regulated industries. A cloud DAM is a cheaper, more flexible solution that can also facilitate the needs of distributed teams and remote workers.
Benefits of DAM for Web Professionals
Web professionals work in a wide range of roles, but here are some general benefits of DAM software for all web professionals:
DAM software reduces time spent
looking for assets, improves workflows, and facilitates quick repurposing of
digital assets. The result is greater productivity.
By building a central repository
of digital assets and using versioning controls, DAM provides asset consistency
and facilitates collaboration for web professionals.
DAM software tracks the usage
rights associated with assets, which can help reduce the risk of copyright
issues from improper asset use. For example, there might be restrictions in how
you use purchased stock photos.
Cloud and on-premise DAM software
typically come with access control, meaning you can secure your most sensitive
assets and make sure that the only people with access to them are those who
need such access to do their jobs.
Best Practices When Using a DAM System
DAM offers many benefits for web professionals but how you use your chosen tool can make a huge difference. Here are some best practices for getting the most from DAM software.
Metadata is Critical
Metadata is information about your assets. Your DAM software is only as good as the metadata you store with each asset. There is a balance between too much metadata and too little. You need to enter the most important information about every asset you wish to catalog because metadata is what turns a piece of digital data into an easily searchable and retrievable asset. You should also have a policy to enter metadata into the system as soon as you upload a given asset. Procrastination leads to an inefficient setup that makes it hard to find assets.
Specify Usage Terms
Assets rights issues can easily emerge when an asset has been stored without reference to its usage rights. For all rights-managed assets, it’s imperative to specify the usage terms in their metadata.
Leverage Analytics
DAM software often comes with advanced tracking and analytics features. You can use this information to your advantage, for example, marketers can identify the asset categories that bring the most ROI to your organization. You can also use the analytics to identify assets or collections of assets that are most frequently used and try to make such assets more easily discoverable.
Assign an Administrator
Particularly in large organizations, it is prudent to have a dedicated DAM administrator. This person can manage access controls for different users and ensure user roles and permissions are kept current. The administrator should also be responsible for creating and deleting users from the system.
Train Users
When you adopt a DAM system, it’s a good idea to set up a dedicated half-day of training that teaches different web professionals in your organization how to use your chosen software. If you avoid training users, they will need to learn on the job, which can lead to a lot of frustration and lost productivity.
Conclusion
The expected growth in the DAM software market reflects the growing influence of digital assets in the daily work of various web professionals from designers to marketers to website copywriters. Cloud DAM solutions have emerged as a lower cost alternative service model for DAM, however, on-premise systems are still the standard for professionals in government departments and highly regulated sectors.
Editor’s Note: This sponsored content was provided by Gilad Maayan (Developer Community Advisor) at Agile SEO.
It’s a symbol or object that communicates the company’s proposition about its products and services and differentiates it from its rivals. A brand encompasses:
Logos
Design
Advertising tone
Why website branding is important
Creating a strong brand for your client’s website can give them a distinct advantage over their competitors. With branding comes recognition. This leads to familiarity, which can earn a customer’s confidence and trust.
However, building this kind of loyalty may take time. A website visitor may need multiple exposures to the brand. So, put simply, by helping your clients deliver a consistent brand message, you can boost their chances of success. What is more, you will increase your opportunities of getting repeat business from them.
A website essentially serves to:
Sell products or services
Generate leads
Promote sales
Attract visitors or subscribers
Generate a healthy return on investment (ROI)
Through strong website branding, a company can deliver a clear message that achieves all of the above as well as building loyalty and trust from its customers.
To help your client develop effective website branding, follow these tips.
1. Color creates moods
Color is more than aesthetics; it can stimulate emotions and stir people’s subconscious in relation to the company’s brand. For example:
Red – symbolizes energy, excitement, energy, and passion. If your client is in the entertainment business, for instance, red will work well for their brand.
Green – symbolizes the environment, nature, health, money or profit. If you’re working for a hospital or clinic, using a pale green background would be appropriate for their site.
Orange – symbolizes fun and adventure. For example, detype.com uses orange liberally on its site from the background to headings, and links. As a web design company this indicates that it’s enthusiastic and outgoing.
Before choosing a color for your client’s site, consider doing some research about its effects and appropriateness to the brand. Also, remember that each culture may view the same color differently. So, you should check the target market’s reaction to the colors used in your proposed website design.
2. Brand personality
Injecting some personality into the website helps to zero-in or define what your client’s brand represents. One way you could introduce personality is using a character or persona to represent the brand. Twitter’s bird logo is a good example. People recognize the social platform’s mascot immediately.
3. Emotional connection
Creating websites that stir visitor’s emotions can help your client’s brand messaging. As you design the site, decide what kind of feelings or emotions you want visitors to experience? For example, DeType displays attractive imagery to showcase the creative talent of its web designers.
4. Uniformity
To make a brand memorable, you need to make the website design consistent. So consider keeping all the site’s colours, character, and emotions consistent on every page. Take a look at Skype’s website. Every page shows the same look, reinforcing its brand.
5. Reusability (code and visuals)
As well as using consistent visuals and layouts, you can reuse content such as style sheets or images. As the files are in the browser’s cache, this will consequently make your site load faster.
6. Make the logo highly visible
Considering placing the logo at the upper left corner of the site, since this is the spot where most visitors’ eyes will be drawn. Also, consider linking the logo image to the site’s page. As for size, ensure that it is big enough to be noticeable, making it at least the second or third object visitors see on the site.
7. Promote the benefits
Visitors won’t stay long on a site if it fails to grab their interest. It will only take seconds for them to find out if they have come to the right place. To convince them to stay, tell them what benefits they can get from using the brand’s product or service in a few succinct words. The best location for this message is next to the logo so that people can see it immediately.
8. Adopt and use the right tone
Even the website’s language can strengthen a brand’s appeal to your target market. For example, there are various tones and combinations of tones you can adopt:
Formal voice for a site catering to investors
Informal and fun voice for young audiences
Friendly voice with related industry jargon for a tech-savvy audience
Also, be mindful that some words can have different meanings, depending on the audience. Take the word ‘engine’, for example:
A Mechanical Engineer will describe an engine as “a device which converts fuel or heat energy into mechanical energy”. A Computer programmer, however, will associate an engine as being “software which generates source code in order to create automated processes.”
9. Make the site stand out
Creating a website brand won’t create any impact or differential if it is the same as other competing sites. As a designer, you need to include elements that will make your client’s site unique. After all, by making the site stand out you’ll improve the brand’s chances of attracting visitors and making them return.
Conclusion
Building a strong recognizable brand, even for small business or personal websites, is a must in this digital age. This is especially important, given the short attention span of visitors and of course the sheer number of businesses that have an online presence.
Strong branding can instantly demonstrate the attractive advantages of your client’s brand, its key differences to competitors and its unique personality and character. Getting across all of this can help clients in a big way, to not just win over customers but beat their competitors.
As you can see from the tips covered in this article, there isn’t just one single route you need to arrive at a strong brand but a range of directions. So, keep these all in mind when you embark on successfully branding your client’s site.
About the author:
Sam Sayer is the Creative Director of DeType, a creative agency based in Kettering, Northamptonshire, UK. His company specializes in web design, branding, motion, UX, and online design.
