While we are waiting for Chris to set Brendan up with a working account, so he can post himself, I'll post his comments:
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Hello Everyone,
I caught this forum and wanted to introduce myself and my team who will be building the new website. I'm hoping to answer any questions you might have about the new site build and gather any suggestions or comments about things you like on the web and things you don't. You all need to know we value your input and are definitely going to keep member input an integral part of the build process. Below are some Q/A style notes that hopefully should address some of the posts I've read.
Some basic technical details about your project:
- As per the CFC's requirements for using an open source CMS, we're going to use Drupal. Drupal 7 was just released this week and we've selected it as our version of choice.
- The front end will target HTML 5 and I can assure you it will validate baring possible exceptions to meet a basic level of accessibility requirments as per the more important WCAG (javascript graceful degradation etc)
Addressing noted concerns:
- The site won't have loads of flash will it?
No, this project will not make use of flash in general interface components. We do have plans however to use a flash based video player (similar to YouTube, Vimeo, TED) for video playback. This approach is pretty standard.
- Will the site focus on flashy graphics over usability and readability?
Our aim with every project is to find a balance between solid visual appeal and good usability and accessibility. This all depends on the target audience.
- We have concerns about our web site being like 'project x' in your porfolio.
It's important to note that we treat every client and their visitors as individuals all of which digest information differently. As a result, we make well thought out decisions to use the most appropriate technology and interface where suitable. Clients have a lot of input too and even post some restrictions. Some of our projects are ad-oriented 'virtual tours' targeting teens that are entirely flash video driven, others are government sites with information accessibility as the focus to older users. The new chess site will certainly recieve a well throught out approach to delivering content in the most appropriate way possible. And no worries, if things like text legibility are a concern we'll be sure to focus on high contrast delivery in our composites.
- 'project x' doesn't validate, I have concerns about code quality with ResIM, do these guys know what they're doing?!
All of our projects will have validated at launch time and all go through a 20 point code quality checklist that is peer audited. Because clients often take control of content after we hand a project over, on older projects sometimes clients (despite training) will put in their own code that doesn't necessarially validate. Also, in many cases, 'silent notices' (not errors) are intended behind the scenes in a browser as the result of new CSS3 stylings which gracefully degrade on older browsers. This is a pretty standard practice.
- What standards will this be developed to?
We are targeting a WCAG Level 2 compliance and proper HTML 5 which will use the W3C's specification. Because we are using Drupal, there is a chance a 3rd party module or two might not meet these standards 100% but we will do our best to ensure solid compliance where it's possible to make modifications without breaking future upgrade paths.
If you have any questions or comments feel free to post them here and I'll do my best to respond quickly. We're all looking forward to working with you. Thanks!
Brendan Farr-Gaynor
Partner/Creative & Technical
Resolution Interactive Media