webqem blog

webqem is committed to standards and accessibility when developing websites.

As part of that commitment, Rob and Chris attended the WIPA (Web Industry Professionals Association) Accessibility 2.0 Seminar in Sydney on 12 November, to discover the latest news about accessibility.

The seminar covered three main areas:

1. Moving from WCAG 1.0 to WCAG 2.0
2. Preparing accessible Flash
3. Preparing accessible PDFs

WCAG stands for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, which a recommendations from W3C, the World Wide Web Consortium, for making web content accessible to people with disabilities. This covers physical, cognitive and technical disabilities.

The WCAG 1.0 Recommendations, have been in effect since May 1999 and needed revision to address changes in technology and future flexibility. WCAG 2.0 is in “Proposed Recommendation” status, and considered highly likely to be approved as a “Recommendation” by the end of the year.
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This post provides instructions on how to use a Polycom SoundStation 2W as a high quality omni-directional external microphone for a PC/laptop.

Required equipment:
SoundStation 2W conference phone
USB Cable - A male to mini 5-pin male (same as most digital cameras)
2.5mm to 3.5 mm stereo cable
Windows based computer

Install the Polycom firmware updater software onto PC/laptop. Do not upgrade the firmware of the soundstation. Visit Polycom download page.

Connect cable from the 2.5mm stereo jack on the Polycom to the 3.5mm Microphone jack on your PC/laptop (there is a picture of a mobile phone next to it).

Once the Polycom software has been installed, connect a USB cable from the Polycom (on the underside of the unit at the opposite end to the keypad) to your PC/laptop.

Press the button marked “IP Mode” on the Polycom.

Go into the Sound Applet in control panel and ensure that the microphone jack is enabled. You should now be in business.

On 15 November Google announced that Yahoo and MSN would join Google in supporting a common Sitemap Protocol. Information about the agreement has been placed on a new site at Sitemaps.org

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Despite some people provocatively claiming that blogging is dead (flogged to death by spam blogs, replaced by audio and video blogs, or that it never lived), blogging is alive and kicking as an interactive communications tool and search engine optimisation favourite. (more…)

May was a big month for partnerships and new products in the search engine industry. (more…)

We’ve enjoyed a long and successful relationship with Allianz Australia, providing web design services for internet, extranet and intranet applications since 2000. So we were delighted in late January to hear that the recent redesign of their intranet had been selected as one of the 10 best for 2006 in a global review of hundreds of sites by Jakob Nielson’s Nielsen Norman Group. (more…)

…And?  you might well ask, perhaps adding derisively ‘Another browser. Woo-hoo. What is it with you nerdy types?’. Well, as it turns out, Microsoft’s new browser offering could potentially cause some headaches that you need to be aware of. We say ‘potentially’ because the browser is only in ‘beta’ at the moment - the final release date is not set at the time of writing - but there are indications it may not display some sites as expected. (more…)

Macromedia Breeze has elevated online training, web conferencing and communications to a whole new level. Version 5 was released recently, and there’s never been a better time to look at what Breeze has to offer.

Few organisations are untouched by the imperative to do business across geographies. The faster and more effectively you can communicate across distances, the more successful your organisation will be - whether your goal is to reach more prospects, sell online, brief your team, deliver courses, or ensure compliance. Macromedia Breeze is elevating online training and web conferencing to a whole new level by delivering high-impact communications that everyone can access instantly through any web browser. Breeze provides real-time and on-demand communications that let you reach your audience anytime, anywhere, with rich multimedia content that delivers your message effectively and affordably.

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Here we look at why search engine optimisation is a vital part of the customer experience. By providing a website that is optimised for Search Engines, businesses can provide a better customer experience, boosting revenues and increasing margins through their ability to acquire and retain customers without resorting to price competition.

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Why it’s the experience that really matters. The focus of competition in consumer markets today is rapidly progressing beyond the mere delivery of products and services to address the quality of the complete customer experience. Businesses that provide a better customer experience can boost revenues and increase margins through their ability to acquire and retain customers without resorting to price competition.

Online, it’s Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) that are bringing about this improved customer experience - and the contrast with the standard web forms and multiple-page web applications we’ve all become used to is startling. It’s worthwhile taking a look at the Macromedia RIA examples to understand what’s achievable.

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