Ahh, the semantics of it all - site review please

[bcarl314]

I just recoded my business site to XHTML and was wondering if you kind folks would take a minute to let me know what you think.

I tried to seperate content from display as much as I know how, and tried to think about the semantic meaning of the content before I re-coded.

General comments on look / feel are welcome, as well as problems with browser rendering.

I know that there's a problem with the "categories" title in IE 5, but I'm not sure how to fix that at the moment.

http://www.aphion.com


Thanks for your reveiws.

[ionsurge]

I'm fine with the design, and the code will validate under XHTML 1.1 fine.

:)

The only problem would be the use of primary colours, blue and yellow, which seem to contrast too much. Otherwise, it is pretty fine.

:)

[Caffeine]

What he said ^^

The code seems to be nicely done and the pages are easy to navigate. I have not decided yet wether I feel the left-hand menu should be a local menu instead of a [almost] duplicate of the top menu.

I'd also substiute the yellow color and try to put some kind of gradient background[top to bottom] where the top menu is, just to spice it up a bit more and make that area feel more like a bar.

[ronaldb66]

Well coded, basic but sound layout, not too sure about the header color combo as mentioned before, and I share Phlegmatic's concern about the left menu bar; it nearly doubles the top - main - horizontal nav bar, apart from that it contains one - more or less arbitrary - option from the Services main option, and one more I couldn't readily place anywhere.

Furthermore, the main content area is rather plain and could do with some adornment, and the footer may stand out a little more, clearly signaling the end of the page.

Oh, and: nice name! :thumbsup: I don't suppose it means anything, but it has a nice, classic, techie, sub-atomic-particle feel to it.

[liorean]

Hmm, that background should really be white or something instead of the user's colour. I HATE sites that show up pink-purple background. (My default background colour, which makes it easy to find the culprits who forgets that not all browsers or OS themes use white as default working area background colour. NN4 uses grey, for instance, instead of white.)

[bcarl314]

Originally posted by liorean
Hmm, that background should really be white or something instead of the user's colour. I HATE sites that show up pink-purple background. (My default background colour, which makes it easy to find the culprits who forgets that not all browsers or OS themes use white as default working area background colour. NN4 uses grey, for instance, instead of white.)

Good catch, I forgot about that. I'll take care of the bgColor tonight! Thanks


Oh, and: nice name! I don't suppose it means anything, but it has a nice, classic, techie, sub-atomic-particle feel to it.

Nope, don't mean a thing, but it hits on 3 very important considerations I had in coming up with a name.

1) Unique
2) Short
3) .com available

The only problem would be the use of primary colours, blue and yellow, which seem to contrast too much. Otherwise, it is pretty fine.

Hmm, well I kinda like the high contrast, and since I'm trying to emphasize usability / 508 / accessibility , theoretically, that should work to my advantage. Of course, theory and practice are totally different things, but I think I'll keep it the same for now.

I feel the left-hand menu should be a local menu instead of a [almost] duplicate of the top menu.

I'll probably start to segment the navigational structre more as I go, which would mean more specific links on the left navigation.

I'd also substiute the yellow color and try to put some kind of gradient background[top to bottom] where the top menu is, just to spice it up a bit more and make that area feel more like a bar.

What are you thinking for gradient color? Maybe a charcoal -> black or similar?

Thanks for the feedback, keep 'em coming.

Any problems with browser rendering?

[ionsurge]

Opera displays it fine.

:)

[brothercake]

Originally posted by liorean
Hmm, that background should really be white or something instead of the user's colour. I HATE sites that show up pink-purple background.
That's only half-fair - it's reasonable not to define a background color, as long as you don't define foreground colors either.

[MotherNatrsSon]

Only thing I can add is that you have a few really minor errors in your CSS that if corrected, it would also validate and you cuould put it in the list of examples of valid xhtml and css.

CSS Validation Results (http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/validator?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aphion.com%2Fcss%2Fmain.css&warning=1&profile=css2&usermedium=all)

MNS

[Skyzyx]

The site looks very good, although I'd have to side with those who think the blue-yellow should be toned down. It clashes on the eyes. I'd suggest white, but if you like the yellow, perhaps #ffc. It's a softer yellow, and might blend a little better.

As far as validation, it validates. But you have what Jeffrey Zeldman refers to as "divitis": using DIVs for things that should be left for <h?> tags.

You have this:

<p>
<strong>What do I need from a web site?</strong><br />
If your like most business owners, you want a website that is clean and professional...
</p>


... which would be more semantic as this instead...

<h2>What do I need from a web site?</h2>
<p>If your like most business owners, you want a website that is clean and professional...</p>


... because you'd have the heading and the paragraph.

There was actually a post about this over at SimpleBits (http://www.simplebits.com/archives/2003/08/27/simplequiz_part_i_headings.html). Recently, he's had a series of "SimpleQuizzes" related to semantics.

Also, Stop Design (http://www.stopdesign.com/also/articles/replace_text/) has an article on the "Fahrner Image Replacement" method of using text for your titles (<h?> tags), but using CSS to swap in images instead for current browsers.

[brothercake]

Originally posted by Skyzyx
Stop Design (http://www.stopdesign.com/also/articles/replace_text/) has an article on the "Fahrner Image Replacement" method of using text for your titles (<h?> tags), but using CSS to swap in images instead for current browsers.
But that has accessibility problems - all the various FIR techniques create one or more subgroups of users for whom the content is inaccessible; My opinion is that FIR, while desirable, is ultimately unuseable.

[Skyzyx]

Okay, that's fair. But isn't Text+FIR still better than using a regular image for PDA/Cell/Google/Older browsers?

I'm aware that JAWS has problems with FIR though. Although if it's only used as the heading of the document (on my website, "Skyzyx.com") do the detriments still outweigh the benefits?

[me']

I found myself highliting the text just to read it.