See your website as a colour blind user

In Archive by Fredy Ore

37 Signals comment on a tool which converts your webpage design as if you were colour-blind.
www.37signals.com/svn/archives/000106.php

There are some interesting links and comments and useful resources there, and on many of the blog posts. Signal Vs Noise is the blog site of 37 Signals.

The website containing the tool has had quite a bit of hits recently and has consequently closed down due to bandwidth issues.

Update: (9 March 2003)
The website with the Colorblind Web Page Filter tool, is back online (thanks to Matt for letting me know).

I ran the filter on this page and here are the results (click on thumbnail to see larger image):

  • This page seen with Protan deficiency
  • This page seen with Deutan deficiency
  • This page seen with Tritan deficiency
  • This page seen with total colour deficiency

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What is itex2mml?

In Archive by Fredy Ore

Itex2mml is a software tool that transforms embedded Itex (a dialect if latex) into XHTML and MathML.
Itex is the way of describing math, including subscripts, superscripts, Greek letter and all other math symbols using only the standard characters available on a keyboard. eg 2^2 = 2 to the power of 2. There are a variety of web browsers out there that can understand, read and render Itex. One such browser is Mozilla.

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The Brand Channel website

In Archive by Fredy Ore

The Brand Channel is a useful resource site with extensive information & statistics on brand and advertising.

The site contains a huge selection of articles, papers and PDF’s which are available for download.
http://brandchannel.com

Book interface to help video

In Archive by Fredy Ore

Technology Review comments on new ways in which researchers are using the book to better help the development of interface of video.

Using book developed activites such as skimming, bookmarking, notating and highlighting, researchers at University of California Berkely, are combining traditional book user interfaces and combining them which new technology such as handhelds and barcodes readers to better develop a similar methods of inputing information using video.

The technology is helping better access of video records of court trials and medical procedures.
www.technologyreview.com/articles/rnb_030403_2.asp

HCI subject at UTS with Dr. Toni Robertson

In Archive, Experience Design by Fredy Ore

I started my HCI postgraduate subject at UTS last night with Dr. Toni Robertson. Here is the list of recommended readings/books:

1. Preece, Jenny, Yvonne Rogers, Hellen Sharp (2001), Interaction Design: Beyond Human Computer Interaction, Wiley.

2. Krug, Steve (2000) Don’t Make Me Think, Que, USA

3. Nielsen Jakob (1999) Designing Web Usability. New Riders Publishing.

4. Preece, Jenny, Yvonne Rogers, Hellen Sharp, David Benyon, Simon Holland and Tom Carey (1994) Human-Computer Interaction, Addison-Wesley, UK.

I am really looking forward to getting into this subject, particularly as we will be looking at emerging mobile technology usability, experience and human -extension.

Here is a synopsis:

Interaction Design (ID) is defined as designing interactive products to support people in their everyday and working lives.

This entails creating user experiences that enhance and extend the way people work, communicate and interact. ID extends the traditional focus of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) beyond designing computer systems for a single user sitting in front of a single machine.

One of the central challenges is to keep abreast of technological development, to understand the usability issues associated with these and to use this understanding to ensure that technology is harnessed for maximum human benefit.

This subject focuses on user-centred approaches to, and methods for, technology design. It provides students with an understanding of the principles of HCI as well as concepts, tools and techniques that can assist in the creation of both useful and usable technology that supports users? activities.

The subject introduces both the social and the technological aspects of HCI as well as usability design and evaluation methods.