Jade FM Design

Accessibility is important.

Universal usability regardless of someone’s ability to access computer software or hardware or their own personal mental or physical disability, is intrinsic to the ethos of the web and the universal accessible guidelines as stipulated in the World Wide Web Consortium documents. (W3C, 2010).
“Web site-evaluation methodologies take the view that all accessibility guidelines must be met to gain compliance in order to achieve ‘‘universal accessibility’’” (Brajnik, Yesilada & Harper, 2011).
The Techniques for Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 posted by the W3C Consortium for web writers to follow is a thorough document covering over 30 guideline recommendations: general standards; configurability; input device independence; icons, graphics, sounds; layout; user focus and documentation (Richards & McCathieNevile, 2012).
In an attempt to achieve some compliance with my website, I have focused on some of the more easily obtainable accessibility guideline features.

Features used in my website:

Many of the needs of disabled people, cover the large group of people who are in the “older” age bracket, people over 64. Guidelines for web accessibility for this group of people, are aligned with the W3C guidelines above, but are more achievable (Arch, 2012). These guidelines also comply with general guidelines of accessibility as stipulated in the Techniques for WCAG 2.0 Working Group documents (Caldwell et.al. 2008). I have used Arch as my font, size, type guide (Arch, 2012).
What is important in this process is to ensure that features that include disabled viewers, don’t exclude the larger non-disabled population. So “good practice” and ensuring universal access is vital. The guidelines follow above do all of that. This allows people without disabilities to focus on clear content with few distractions and easy navigation (Chapman & Chapman, 2006).

The disadvantages

The disadvantages and hindrances to achieving compliance are largely fiscal and this is also aligned with the web writer’s abilities to achieve compliance in the time given to write the site; their technical abilities; their access to more experienced website authors; their financial ability to pay for services and of course time. Usability testing is a necessary and often overlook part of website creation. (Felke-Morris, 2011: 408). There are also the contradictions in the nature of and degree of impairment being catered to. There are so many and difference impairments and the degree of their severity that writing a website which is compliant with the needs of all impaired readers, is a near impossibility. (Brajnik, Yesilada & Harper, 2011).

Security Features

Hypertext Transfer Protocol that is the core component of the World Wide Web carries the language we use to write our websites. This language, the HTML is open to be corrupted from either an external force or an internal one. Security becomes important, as information posted and utilized for client dissemination or as a means for commerce are open to be changed, misused or tampered with; information can be some businesses most important asset (Lehtinen & Gangemi, 2006: 21).

How to keep the site secure

The two areas of my site that are most vulnerable to either deliberate or accidental security violations are the download of images and the use of potential e-commerce or shop vulnerability: data fraud or financial fraud.
The image area is my website is currently non-secure. Even with a copyright statement at the bottom of all of the pages, downloads are easy; “right-click” deterrents and other devises will not deter illegal downloading or copyright infringement (Adobe, 2012). Two ways to secure images is using "right click" stops or watermarks. Building a commercial site, the client would expect watermarking of their personal images as an inbuilt design component ( Harrington, 2006: 319).
The commercial or shop page of my site is the most vulnerable area to secure, as it has the potentially the most valuable financial data to process from future clients. Building such a page requires technical skills well beyond my own capacities at this stage. Felke-Morris describes the skills needed as: expertise, time and a large budget (2012: 483).
As my site will be posted to the CSU server, which doesn’t have an SSL or Secure Socket Layer, thus ensuring that data is private and secure; encryption would be another issue if a true commercial site were launched. PCI security standards also incorporate SSL, so a site designer for a commercial shop or e-commerce site, would include this encryption process.

References

Adobe Systems. (2012). Dreamweaver discussions forum: can I stop my images from being copied from my Web Pages. Retrieved from Adobe Dreamweaver Help pages software.

Arch, A. (2012). Web accessibility for older users – successess and opportunities. Retrieved from W3C: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgZVAznwX38
Brajnik, G., Yesilada, Y., & Harper, S. (2011). Web accessibility guideline aggregation for older users and its validation. Universal Access in the Information Society, 10(4), 403-423. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10209-011-0220-5

Caldwell, B. Cooper, M., Guarino Reid, L., Vanderheiden, G. (Eds.). (2008). Techniques for WCAG 2.0. W3C Working Group Note 11 December 2008. Retrieved from W3C: http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/

Chapman, N. P. & Chapman, J. (2006). Accessibility in Webdesign: a complete introduction. Hoboken, NJ. Wiley.

Easttom, W. (2011). Computer Security Fundamentals. 2nd ed. Retrieved from Proquest: http://proquestcombo.safaribooksonline.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/book/networking/security/9780132828284

Harrington, R. (2006). Understanding: Adobe Photoshop: digital imaging concepts and techniques. Retrieved from Proquest: http://proquestcombo.safaribooksonline.com.ezproxy .csu.edu.au/book/photo-and-graphic-manipulation/0321368983

Lehtinen, R. & Gangemi. G. T. (2006). Computer Security Basics, 2nd ed. Retrieved from Proquest: http://proquestcombo.safaribooksonline.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/book/networking/security/0596006691

PCI Security Standards Council. (2012). Getting Started with PCI Data Security Standard. Retrieved from: https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/documents/PCI%20SSC%20-%20Getting%20Started%20with%20PCI%20DSS.pdf

Richards, J. & McCathieNevile, N. (Eds.) (2012). Techniques for Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0: Section 7: Ensure that the authoring tool is accessible to authors with disabilities. Retrieved from W3C: http://www.w3.org/TR/ATAG10-TECHS/imp7