Web Design and Graphics

A basic broadband review and comparison should include the following, beginning with price as the measure of initial value. If we attempt to compare broadband from the four leading United Kingdom providers we would like to believe that their prices are all within 10 or 15% of each other. This is almost always true. So if price is already competitive, what other factors should we use for our broadband comparison? How about reliability? As anyone who has ever used an unreliable broadband provider can tell you, losing your connection in the middle of a project or even during an entertainment section defeats the entire idea of having a broadband connection in the first place. Much like telephone service or electricity, broadband is a utility we expect to be on all the time for whenever we want to use it. Another important defining factor in choosing the best broadband provider would have to be overall download speed. We mention overall speed, as claimed speed is for the most part completely fictional. Those 20MB speeds that are being promised are always diffused by both the connection hardware and the amount of subscribers tapped into that data stream at any given time. Price, reliability, and speed are all addressed in online broadband reviews. Also found on quality broadband comparison websites is helpful information that, should you decide to make a change, can prove to be extremely valuable. Consider the simple factor of Migration Access Codes. There is a “MAC code” assigned to every broadband account in the UK. Handing your MAC code over to a new provider as opposed to their requesting it from your current company can avoid internet connection downtime during your switch.
Thinking about trying a no phone line requires broadband provider such as Virgin Media? Broadband without phone line can save you quite a bit of money over the term of a year. An Ofcom approved broadband comparison site will show you the pluses and minuses of all the companies serving your address.

What is Web 2.0 ? It is something of a keyword among those who enjoy newer things. I will attempt to distill it into some bite-size chunks of information for you. Hopefully when you are through it will be clear that the answer to the question is simple !

The topic of Web 2.0 is literally churning on the web. What will the future hold
for Web 2.0 as a whole ? Read on as I predict the future of the premier
change in the way computing is done soon, and continuing into the next
few years.

Twitter.com. A relative newcomer to the Web 2.0 foray is starting something
of a “cell-phone-myspace” type of service. You and your friends can be joined
through the use of text messages, using Twitter.com. Twitter is using the Web
2.0 model in a very unique way, and one I like in particular because it is
using mobile technology.

Web 2.0 will be fueled by mobile technology. If you have ever heard of “the mobile
web”, then you no doubt have also heard of mobile browsers, smart handheld
computers, and the like. As these devices become commonplace, other devices
will also be joined to the web using the Web 2.0 model. What type ? Well,
microwaves, refrigerators, fax machines and so forth. Web 2.0 will more
than likely be called something different by the time all electronic
items become connected to the ever growing World Wide Web.

One of the most promising developments of the Web 2.0 change will be the
way people work. The change will be subtle at first, and then more robust
soon afterward. One example that people have already been using has
not been classified under the Web 2.0 model but is nevertheless included ;
internet based email. Yahoo! says theirs is best. MSN started with hotmail.
Google joined in with their G-mail. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Soon, when a person wants to open up something similar to a Word or Excel document, they
will not open up a program on their computer. As Web 2.0 unfolds, a person will
open up a website, and start their work there, and save it. It will be opened,
worked, and saved 100 % online. It becomes immediately available to all
on the “network”. The “network” will of course be the world wide web.

Security issues will arise with the advent of the Web 2.0 model. Having
all work done online instead of inside a traditional setting will mean more
jobs for internet security managers. A “local intranet” will not be nearly
as “local” as it is today. As negative as it may sound, the Web 2.0 security
issues will probably be addressed by governments, as the WWW becomes
a “governed” institution.

Web 2.0 will more than likely be led by an international group, instead of
just having Western influences. Currently those on the technological edge
of all technology are in Europe and Asia. I see this trend continuing.

a) The Casual Surfer

These customers act in a similar way to customers of traditional web sites. Casual surfers are not really interested in any one thing, but have a few spare minutes between tasks to take a look around. In the world of desktop PCs, those few minutes might occur between meetings, or while the user’s on a short break. For a mobile customer, those few minutes might occur when the user’s sitting outside waiting to meet friends, in a car or taxi traveling somewhere, or even during the morning commute. If your site is focused on the sort of content that would appeal to casual surfers, then be aware of the limitations on the time and screen-size of your mobile customer.

The goal should be to make your content more “sticky”, so that casual surfers come back for more. For example, you shouldn’t serve up long pieces of content. Instead, aim for small, bite-sized chunks that are just enough to keep customers interested, but not so long that users can’t browse your site in the time they have available.

b) The Repeat Visitor

Repeat customers are those that are constantly returning for some sort of specific news or data. If your site is the kind of site that offers information about stocks, weather or sports scores, you probably have plenty of repeat visitors. The interface of a mobile device is very limited, so if you know what your repeat visitors are coming back for, time and time again, let that naturally bubble up to the top of the site. Avoid burying the content your customers want behind 3 or 4 clicks.

Mobile web site customization can be difficult, but it’s not impossible. A traditional site might ask you to log in, but on a mobile device, data entry is not as easy to perform, so it’s best avoided.

One option is to allow visitors to use their desktop machines to streamline their mobile experience. Take a page from Apple’s iTunes Music Store as an example. A repeat customer might customize his or her version of the mobile site while at a desktop machine; this could generate a special URL in which all of that user’s preferences are encoded. The next time the user visits your site from a mobile device, he or she can take advantage of this special URL, enjoying an experience that’s completely customized to his or her preferences.

c) The “Urgent, Now!” Visitor

Depending on your business, your definition of “Urgent, Now!” will vary. For an online store, a customer might consider the following message urgent:

“My books were supposed to arrive yesterday. They’re late. Where are they?”

A more seriously urgent scenario might be:

“I’m running 15 minutes late. Will I be able to catch my flight?”

For some customers, everything is urgent! But by identifying the most important needs of your customers and making the relevant information accessible within one click or less, you’ll increase the usefulness of your mobile site enormously.

4. Publish the Bare Minimum

One of the common myths about mobile web development is the misguided notion that content from your traditional web site can be easily re-purposed into smaller bit-sized chunks for the mobile version. A simple change of style from media="screen" to media="handheld" is all you need to do to magically mobilize your site, right?

Wrong.

While it’s indeed possible to filter content with the liberal use of display: none in your mobile style sheet, in reality, this isn’t a good idea. In fact, many CMS systems can output a mobile, streamlined version of your web site, but even this is not always what your customers will want.

The W3C defines the concept of One Web as follows:

One Web means making, as far as is reasonable, the same information and services available to users irrespective of the device they are using. However, it does not mean that exactly the same information is available in exactly the samerepresentation across all devices. The context of mobile use, device capability variations, bandwidth issues and mobile network capabilities all affect the representation. Furthermore, some services and information are more suitable for and targeted at particular user contexts.

As this definition suggests, some things are simply not available (or even usable) on some devices. Additionally, some devices (such as a mobile phone) are much better at certain activities (like making phone calls) than other devices. Therefore, a device designed for a specific activity should utilize its unique features on the Web.

While the concept of having only one site, and to simply style it differently depending on the medium the visitor is using, is popular with many standardistas, a separate mobile site is required in order to deliver an optimized experience for mobile users. Customers who are surfing on a mobile device have different needs and requirements, so to force-feed them the same content as that displayed on the traditional site is a recipe for disaster. The following images show a good example of this principle. The Best Buy mobile site displays only two functions (Product Search and Find A Store) — a far cry from the traditional site.