Summer-time big fish season is here! Out in the heat, as I'm trolling for Mahi or bottom fishing for grouper, I never get tired of it. That movement of the water, briny smell of salt, and scream of the reel brings incredible excitement each time that this might be another big catch. I've been a boat captain for the past 15 years, a fisherman even longer, yet the thrill never goes away for me. And every single year, without fail, the same adage also applies. To win the fight with a trophy fish, you have to prepare the right way.
ROBERT PRESTON
Whether we're boating near the shore, or even out 120 miles, the first consideration is always safety. It's critical to reduce risk as much as possible, because you can't catch fish if you're not alive or the boat goes down. I do things like charging the VHF radio, testing the EPIRB, stowing enough life jackets, having a PLB in my pocket, checking the engines, keeping a full gas tank, and filing the float plan with the USCG. It's having a back-up to your back-up.
After safety prep is all squared away, there are a couple of other things to consider. Like whether my fish finder is working and what eye wear to bring. Because if you can't find the fish, or see the fish, you can't catch the fish. Then you're just wasting time on the water and gas in your boat.
Imagine going out for the first time and you motor out to a random spot. It's early morning, so you're getting some bright sunlight reflecting right in your eyes. One area looks as good as the rest, because it's all seawater as far as the eye can see. Now... do you want to spend the day hoping to catch something, without being able to see what's down below? And what if you hook something? Can you see through the glare off the water to gaff your fish into the boat once he's topside? Being able to see is something that's easy to take for granted.
Now let's flip it around to the opposite perspective, but think about your website. As a company, you want visitors to your site to find the bait they came for. Then you want them to take a nice, big bite. After all, they came for a reason, and you don't want to lose them. But what if:
The bait looks blurry to the visitor or is too small to read because they have a vision impairment?
The bait isn't legible, fading into the rest of the page because of a visitor's color-blindness?
The bait can't be seen at all because the visitor is blind, and is relying on a screen reader to hear the site information?
That visitor may be seeking something that's really important. For instance, what if they are trying to order anti-nausea medication that is necessary so they can function (and maybe even work)? That visitor could spend hours trying to find what they need, all while feeling lousy, and then ultimately fail because the site isn't accessible. If it causes them some undue burden or hardship, they might just sue your company. And lots of visitors in the same predicament can mean class action. But that doesn't have to happen if you do a little preparation ahead of time.
Silktide is a tool DiscoverTec uses to assess business website accessibility compliance. It also helps you mitigate the issues found, and then automate resolutions for similar use cases. Some of the numerous items that Silktide scans your site for include: improper tabbed navigation, static interactive element appearance, low content contrast, unlabeled controls, unidentified fields, lack of tagging, non-linear content hierarchy, missing titles or alt text, and many more. Taking the proper steps to identify, then remediate these accessibility issues, can help your company start calming rough waters, land your catch, and avoid losing the boat altogether.
HOW TO PERFECT THE USER EXPERIENCE THROUGH MODERN, INTUITIVE FRONT-END WEB DEVELOPMENT
BY ANDY NGUYEN
As you are enjoying these long summer days, take a brief moment to remember the last website you visited this morning. Was it a bank? Maybe a shopping website? Or even a news outlet or social media platform? In all cases, there were a litany of things the front-end web developers considered to make the visit efficient and leave a lasting, happy memory. Because they wanted to make your user experience positive and help you find then get the information you need. Here are the reasons why they made it their business to keep laser-focused on delivering a satisfying and intuitive user experience for you.
GOOGLE LIKE A BOSS II: FIVE OF THE MOST USEFUL ONLINE CALCULATORS AND CONVERTERS
BY JONATHAN FLIEDER
Google and Bing have designed their search engines to provide direct, fast, and accurate answers to the questions posed by web visitors. After all, they are called Search Engines – not Website Finders. Therefore, you can harness these “answer machines” to provide answers to topic queries that fall outside the website location norm. One of the key features that you may or may not already use are online converters and calculators. These feature an answer or tool at the very top of a SERP, each which comes with its own functionality. And here is how they work.
DiscoverTec recently partnered with ATG + Pelocity to deliver a webinar on the importance of considering website accessibility. Topics covered ranged from the basics, like what is the difference between 508 compliance and ADA compliance. And they want all the way up to the more in-depth, like how to mitigate your risk of being sued for discrimination.
Because the live event was held during the middle of the workday, we recognize that you may not have been able to attend. So we recorded it! If you'd like to watch the webinar, just select the video thumbnail above to request your copy. And enjoy!
