Farewell

Hello for the last time! This is the end (aside from the final of course), and now it's time for a long needed break. This has been a long journey. The beginning wasn't bad because it was more or less a review of last semester, but the end was a bit different. Javascript is crazy and I have respect for whoever understands it and can write it 100% themselves. Learning javascript, in my opinion, should be done in class and not online. I also think it should be done as an entire course, not half a semester. It won't end here though! Though it was hard to understand, Javascript can do a lot of cool things and I would like to know more about it.

THANK YOU AND GOOD NIGHT!

Macs

Events

Hello again everybody!

Javascript has been a challenging thing to learn, especially online. After this assignment, I understand a bit more, but I am still quite confused. I still haven't gotten the Core Library assignment to work yet, but I figured out the other two just fine.

Problems? Who hasn't had problems yet? I think everyone in our class is struggling with javascript, and I'm assuming this project isn't any different.

I got lucky. To solve my problems, I just turned to the sitepoint book, and everything worked out in the end, but I know it probably won't always be like that.

Events are important because they make the site look a lot better and make it a lot more interactive for the user. The tool tips can come in handy when used right, and the accordian thing saves a lot of space for huge lists. I'm glad we did this assignment, but I wish we could have taken more time on it. These 3 put together was/is a bit overwhelming.

DOM

DOM (Document Object Model) is what the web page uses to understand javascript scripts and it's what makes the web page change as the user inputs data into the javascript. the W3C has made rules for browsers to follow when dealing with DOM, because if they didn't, browsers would render javascript differently from one another. It's important to follow the W3C's rules on this so anyone who puts javascript into their page knows it will render on every browser correctly.

My personal feeling right now for DOM is I hate it, or you could say I like DOM as much as I like Javascript. I don't like change. I see how it can be an asset if you can figure it out and use it right, but personally I like CSS a lot better.

Go Macs!

Javascript

Hello everyone, and welcome to another post in my blog. I'm going to get straight to the point here.

Javascript. I really don't like it so far. It's pretty confusing to me. I've done actionscript in flash before which is pretty similar, and I'm still confused. As far as how I can use it so far? The only thing that comes to my mind is as little as possible if I can. For now anyway. I know to be a successful web designer, you are going to have to learn it eventually.

Java and Javascript are often confused. The only real reasons I can think of why is because they both have "Java" in their name. Java is a programming language (C++) and is mainly for writing computer programs while Javascript is used in HTML for websites. Here is a definition of scripting language I found on the internet. I thought it was a good explanation.

"Unlike Java, which must be compiled before it can be used, a scripting language has pre-built functionality that is entrenched into the HTML page."

Javascript (AKA Mocha and Livescript) has come a short way in 10 years. I think it's mainly because not a lot of people used it before W3C. The standards they have set for the internet really made it possible for web developers to start using it. As for it's future, as long as W3C keeps the standards where they are, and don't change anything that would hurt Javascript, I think it could and will last quite a while. With patience, there are a lot of things you can do with it.

Mobile Devices

Mobile devices have impacted web design quite a bit, and the last few years especially. Almost any mobile device now can connect to the internet. Phones, iPods, Playstation Portable, you name it. There are a bunch of sites out there now including gmail and the horrible myspace that have a special site branching off their own that automatically connects you to the "moblie" version of their site if you connect with a phone. (see m.myspace.com) As this pushes forward, it's going to become more and more popular. As soon as it's 100% affordable for everyone to have, all web designers are going to have to make their site accessible for phones and iPods and whatever else comes out in the near future. 

The only real few piece of technology holding my attention right now is the iPod touch. I've seen how well safari runs on it. I'm hoping all manufacturers are able to make a browser run that smooth on all their devices soon.

~Anthony Gumbel  (signing off)

:D

Accessibility

After conducting my research for this blog, I found that, yes, there are indeed guidelines to follow when thinking about accessibility for your site. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, or WCAG, are posted right on W3C's site! (Trying my hardest to make it sound interesting, bare with me) The guidelines focus on five major parts which include: Visual, Mobility, Auditory, Seizures, and Cognitive issues. These guidelines make it possible for anyone that visits your site to be able to use and enjoy it. Using these guidelines ensures that everybody is happy.  :D

Analyzed Websites

Scorehero is the first site that I would like to comment on. It actually doesn't look half bad, knowing it probably wasn't done by a professional at all, though it is all done in tables. Navigation isn't too bad, except one small confusing thing. If you register with the site rather than being a guest, you get more options for navigation. Overall, the site is extremely easy to use. Very self explanatory. The thing I like best is how it updates the scores on the front pages all the time, as in by minutes, not days or hours like a lot of sites do. The thing I like least about it, though, is having to register to get every option on the site. I don't really see the point of this, since you don't have to pay to register or anything, and it probably turns quite a few guests away from the site. With a 132 errors and 42 warnings, I don't think it validates. Close though...  :P   The site is accessible. Very easy to find on google, thats how I came across it in fact.

Aussiefloyd is the next site I want to go over. This site looks great. The people who did it really knew what they were doing here. The site is done in CSS, rather than tables. Navigation is one of the best things on the site, it is the thing that makes the site really easy to use. I really like the fact that they have demos of their music that you can download for free. Not just clips, but full tracks. What I don't like is when you try to scroll on the site, you can't use the scroll bar on the very right. You have to use the one they made themselves. The site is closer to validating than scorehero was though with only 2 errors and 20 warnings. They are the first to come up when you google a few things so their site is pretty accessible. 

Myspace is the last site I'm going over. I really hate the way this site is done. It seems to be done in CSS, so at least they got one thing right. As many times as they are changing the site, it can be very confusing to navigate around the site. Navigation is horrible. I like the fact that when you sign in, it's actually on a secure network, but thats about all I like about it. The rest of the site is nothing but a giant advertisement. With 129 errors and 25 warnings on the home page, I can't imagine what the rest of the site is like. The site is accessible, but it's not hard to know about this site really.

Thats all for today. Google gets an honorable mention though. Just because. I love google <3