I've moved

I've now moved this blog to a self-hosted WordPress site. You can find it at www.prettysimple.co.uk/blog. I won't be updating this one anymore, so please update your bookmarks and RSS feeds now.

Accessify Forum getting an upgrade

One of my more regular haunts, Accessify Forum, is currently being redesigned. You can see the requirements for the new system, as well as contribute to the process.

For those that don't know, Accessify Forum is an invaluable forum for discussing accessibility. It has over 7,000 members with over 60,ooo posts in the past 5 years. It is an essential starting place for web designers and developers wanting to learn more about accessibility, as well as anyone wanting to perfect their knowledge of the subject.

If you're already a member, head on over there and give your input on how you'd like to see it improved. If you're not a member, head over there anyway and browse the forums - you're bound to learn something new!

I'm migrating (to Wordpress)

I've arranged the hosting, got my hands on Wordpress v2.7, read up on the various pitfalls of migrating blogs, and am now working on the initial designs which will eventually see this blog moving to a customised Wordpress platform later this year. Hopefully all will go smoothly, but I'll post details of how I get on, along with lessons learned, for anyone else considering such a move.

Wish me luck!

PS I've now moved. See www.prettysimple.co.uk/blog.

My 2009 Web Resolutions

OK, not so much resolutions as a list of to-dos. These are areas which I'll be looking more into during 2009. If you've got similar goals, or think I should be looking at other things too, do leave a comment!

Upgrade my host

My main website is currently hosted for free at Awardspace. They have been fantastic - only a bit of downtime and lots of features. However, it's time to upgrade to something a bit more professional, so I'm now looking around for the best paid options. I'll need to be able to host a couple of blogs too (including this one after I found an interesting article on Why Your Business Blog Shouldn't Be On BlogSpot.com).

Complete a list of resources for implementing WCAG 2.0

There are lots of resources appearing, but there still isn't a comprehensive source of everything you'll need to design and test according to the new guidelines. I hope to bring together an ever-increasing collection of resources for this purpose, building on it with my own experiences as I work on new projects.

Figure out how to make the most of Twitter

I've only recently started using Twitter, and I'm still not entirely sure what purpose it is fulfilling. I'm sure that I should be on there; I'm just not sure why. So I'm going to follow more people, post more updates, promote my presence on there, and see what happens.

One situation where I think Twitter could help is within my organisation, as a tool for communicating to staff exactly what I'm up to on a day to day basis. For many, our website and online presence remains a bit of a mystery, and I want increase understanding amongst colleagues so that they understand what the web has to offer. By posting regular tweets about the projects that I'm working on and the latest things we've put online, people will hopefully get a better idea of the breadth of content we publish, the projects we're supporting, and the process involved in getting things online. The brevity of Twitter lends itself to this far more than, for example, a traditional blog.

Publish more videos online

I really want to get to grips with Youtube and its peers this year, to get a solid idea of the functionality of these services and to kick-start some research on the possibilities and limitations of such platforms. The first obvious step is to get stuff on there - some will be basic footage of local events, others will be experimental projects (I'm very interested in time-lapse photography, for example).

One major project that I'm hoping our organisation will support later in the year is to get much of the content of our corporate website available online as British Sign Language video, with audio and captions. This will primarily benefit severely or profoundly deaf individuals for whom BSL is the first language (1500 of which are estimated to be living within our authority alone), but could also help other deaf users, individuals with low literacy, blind users, and many others.

Get up close and personal with Wordpress

I'm also hoping to get to grips with self-installing and customising hosting Wordpress, not just for my own blogs, but also as a platform for building CMS-driven websites. Worpress offers tremendous potential for very effective customisation, and I'll write more about my experiences as I progress.

Be more secure

I think online security is going to continue to increase in importance in 2009, with more peolpe expecting higher standards of security and the penalties for poor security becoming ever harsher. I've already overhauled all my passwords, and will next be looking at beefing up my security practices across the board.

So that's it - a few things which will be keeping me busy over the next 12 months. Stay tuned to see how I get on.