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Browser Concerns For Your Organization
by Dominic Tracey of Communitybids.com (special to e-fund News!) Many non-profit leaders, when faced with managing their organization's web-site, feel overwhelmed by the technology involved. Whether you hire a contractor to build your site, get someone in-house to do it or develop it yourself, here are a few questions to ask that may not be immediately apparent. The first mistake many people make is to look at a site with the browser installed on their computer and think that everyone on the Internet will see the same thing. The fact of the matter is that all browsers are not created equal. The two major browsers, Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer, display web-pages in subtly different manners. To make matters worse, the browser companies are constantly upgrading their browsers and different versions of the same browser will display the same page differently. At a minimum, you should verify that your site operates in an acceptable manner with versions of Netscape and IE greater than 3.0. The next concern is "screen resolution". This term refers to the number of "pixels" on the screen of a given computer and is expressed in two numbers: the number of pixels in the height and width of the screen. You should verify that users with settings of 640x480 can see all of your pages. To change your resolution on a Windows machine use Start > Settings > Control Panel > Display > Settings. There are plenty of nifty gee-gaws that can be used to spice up pages. While there is nothing wrong with using Flash animations or fancy layering tricks in your web-pages, you should verify that users are not required to install or upgrade anything to view vital content of your site. The "eye-candy" should be entirely optional. A final concern is the handicap-accessibility of your site. For instance, visually impaired individuals surf the web with special browsers that read text and links. Does the navigation system of your site use images that users must click on? If so, ensure that these images have ALT tags that define where clicking on them will take the user. With the advent of wireless PDA's and PCS web phones, the ability to deliver image-less, low resolution versions of your site is quickly taking on greater significance. In summary, the over-riding rule is to keep things simple. While it is disappointing to create your web-site with the least powerful surfer in mind, to do so maximizes your audience. Imagine the elements used to create a web-site as a big circle with the most commonly used elements in the middle and the more esoteric at the edges. To minimize your browser compatibility headaches, stay close to the center - most browsers support (and have supported) the basic HTML elements in a standard manner. Dominic Tracey is the President of CommunityBids.com, which offers on-line auction fundraising services to non-profits. On-line auction events leverage the excitement and power of the Internet, allow geographically diverse organizations to collaborate on fundraising and provide measurable value to corporate partners. For more information contact May 2000 update April 2002: communitybids.com is no longer operating. | |
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