Resources
There is so much advice available on the web that it's hard to know who to trust. Below are some of our favourite Resources, which we find useful.
If there's a resource that you'd like to recommend email contact@experience-engine.co.uk and we'll add it in.
Accessibility
Accessibility
Bobby - accessibility tests
Bobby provides a free on-line check for pages on your web site. Bobby will analyse your page and give advice and guidance on making it accessible.
bobby.watchfire.com/bobby/html/en/index.jsp
Building Accessible Websites - accessibility advice and techniques
Building Accessible Websites is a complete book on-line discussing accessability. What is it? Why is it important? How do you implement it? This site covers the lot.
Cynthia Says - accessibility tests
Cynthia Says provides a free on-line check for pages on your web site. Cynthia will analyse your page and give advice and guidance on making it accessible.
HMSO - Disability Discrimination Act
The act in full. The DDA requires that organisations must give the disabled full access to goods and services. The code of practice, published in 2002 specifically mentions web sites.
www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1999/19990017.htm
Royal National Institute for the Blind - web accessibility resources
The RNIBs outlook on web accessibility taken from the view point of the blind and partially sighted.
www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/publicwebsite/public_webaccesscentre.hcsp
Vischeck - simulates colour blindness
Vischeck provides information on colour blindness and tools to help check that your design will work with all forms of colour blindness.
World Wide Web Consortium - accessibility guidelines
The W3C accesibility guidelines explain how to make Web content accessible to people with disabilities
World Wide Web Consortium - comprehensive information and advice on web accessibility
The W3C's resource pages that cover all aspects of accessibility. From standards to advice and tools to check your site.
Creative
Web Sites That Suck - good examples of bad design
Vincent Flanders continues his one man crusade against bad web site design. Some very good examples of bad sites.
Web Style Guide - site design advice
The Web Style Guide is a complete on-line book covering many aspects of web site development. Mostly focusses on the design of a site.
Legal
Department of Trade and Industry - eCommunications and the law
The DTI provides full information on the law and regulations as they apply to electronic communications along with advice and guidance on how to comply.
www.dti.gov.uk/industries/ecommunications/
HMSO - The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations
The act in full. The PEC regulates how organisations handle personal data and marketing in electronic communications and specifically in e-mail and the web.
www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2003/20032426.htm
Information Commissioner - Data Protection Act
The Information Commissioner is charged with implementing the act. Their site explains what the act says and gives good advice about how to comply with it.
Marketing
Google - Add your site
Add your site to Google, one of the top three search engines.
Google - choosing an SEO company
Google provides guidance on how to choose an SEO/SEM company. Explains what a bad SEO company does and how to avoid them.
www.google.com/webmasters/seo.html
goRank - search engine research
goRank provides detailed research and tools to help optimise web sites to rank well in search engines.
High Rankings - Writing good content for search engines
High Rankings provides great information on how to copy write and structure web sites in order to gain high rankings in search engines.
Internet Search Engine Database - lists of web directories
The ISEDB contains a large number of specialist web directories. Very useful for creating an inbound link strategy.
www.isedb.com/html/Web_Directories
Open Directory - Add your site
Add your site to the Open Directory, one of the top three web directories.
Search Engine Watch - Search Engines in detail
Search Engine Watch provides detailed information on submitting to Search Engines & Directories and how to optimise your site for Search Engines.
Word Tracker - generates key phrases
Word Tracker is a tool to help generate and analyse key phrases that can then be used for search engine optimisation.
Yahoo! - Add your site (Search Engine)
Add your site to Yahoo, one of the top three search engines.
submit.search.yahoo.com/free/request
Yahoo! - Add your site (Directory)
Add your site to Yahoo, one of the top three web directories.
Miscellaneous
Cornell University - commonly misspelled words
List of common misspellings of words.Very useful for researching alternative domain names and Search Engine key phrases.
www.library.cornell.edu/tsmanual/TSSU/comis1.html
NetMechanic - web site monitor
NetMechanic provides tools to monitor your web site to both measure how fast pages are being served and to ensure that it is running at all. An alert system will e-mail you if there's a problem.
www.netmechanic.com/monitor.htm
The Web Standards Project - standards and guidelines
The Web Standards Project is a grassroots coalition fighting for standards that ensure simple, affordable access to web technologies for all. Gives good reasons for adhereing to standards and references to site helping you to do so.
World Wide Web Consortium - the lowdown on style sheets
The W3C's style sheet centre, which covers what style sheets are and how to use them effectively along with many other useful resources.
Testing
Browser Cam - check your web site in many different browsers
Browser Cam provides a service where you provide your web site address and it will show you how it looks in the browsers of your choice. It does this by actually loading your site into the required browsers and taking a screenshot. If it works with Browser Cam, it will work with the real thing.
Evolt - browser archive
Evolt contains what is probably the largest collection of web browsers available. Very useful for cross browser compatibility testing.
NetMechanic - quality checks
NetMechanic provides tools to check that your web site's coding is correct and that you have no broken links amongst many other technical problems.
www.netmechanic.com/maintain.htm
Web Developer Extension - tools for testing web pages
Chris Pedericks Web Developer Extension is a plug in for the Firefox web browser and provides a large number of tools for checking and testing web pages right from within the browser itself.
Usability
Human-Computer Interaction Resource Network - resources for usability
The HCIRN provides references a vast collection of research and papers giving guidance on usability issues.
Jakob Nielsen - web usability guru
Jakob Nielsen is widely recognised as being an authority on usuability on the web. His site has many useful articles and resources.
Usability Effect - usability guidance and checklists
The Usability Effect contains many resources on the topic of usability including basic research and advice. Very useful checklists are also included to help you ensure your site conforms to basic usability precepts.
