Before I go any further
So I’ve used a basic two column TypePad template to start out with. The right hand column contains all the sidebar information, including the navigation (although I’m also adding a horizonal navigation bar across the top).
When I view this page without css, the right hand column content appears toward the bottom of the page - here’s a screenshot of the top half of the page and here’s a screenshot of the bottom half of the page.
Question: should I switch the sidebar to the left hand side and should I ensure that navigation information etc. appears before the main content?
February 21st, 2005 22:56
Sorry, got carried away in the previous comment thread. I would suggest begin with the top level navigation, followed by your content and then any auxilliary information in the pecking order (as when styles are off). Which kind of appears to fly in the face of what I just said in the other bloody comment.
I know what I mean…
February 21st, 2005 23:00
No, you’re making perfect sense, even to be a noobie like me. I ain’t starting to fiddle with it at this time of night though. And besides, the sheep are winding the dogs up and it’s bedlam here. Thanks again Jann :-0)
February 21st, 2005 23:42
I would say it is right as it is. At the moment if I get Safari to speak the contents of the page, I get the content first without having to listen to the links list.
February 21st, 2005 23:47
Woah, you can get Safari to speak the contents? Tell me more, pleeeeaaase!
February 22nd, 2005 00:11
It’s part of OS X accessibility, so it works with any program. I have mine set so that if I want I can do cmd-a (to select all), and then hit cmd-ยง to start speaking. It’s quite useful to have my computer talking to me while I am wandering round the room doing other things.
If you are on OS X you go through preferences > speech > spoken user interface >’selected text when key is pressed’
February 22nd, 2005 00:25
Ah I see, thanks Ian. That must be really useful. Now I wonder if Windoze has something similar…
February 22nd, 2005 04:57
Windows XP has something called Narrator. I can’t say how well it works, as the voice is too annoying to listen to for long.
February 22nd, 2005 06:29
I dunno…It seem kinda…broken on my browser..it just doesn’t look right..is there a screenshot of how it’s supposed to look?
February 22nd, 2005 07:19
Thanks Allan, I’ll check that out.
Hi Shaide - long time no see! We’re only on Day One so far but here’s a screenshot of the page I can see in Firefox - does it look the same to you?
February 22nd, 2005 07:30
when you add navigation items at the top of the page, they will most likely contain very important links. therefore, stick with the rest of the navigation on the right side, because you would not want to make your posts the “least interesting information” on the page. i like your “accessibility-approach” to the new design.
February 22nd, 2005 07:50
The new version of Opera has speech capabilities built in.
I’m all for content first, navigation later, with a single link at the top of the page to skip straight to the navigation section — have a gander at my site with the CSS turned off to see what I mean [not that I’m claiming to be the epitome of accessibility].
February 22nd, 2005 09:31
Heya Daisy..Yea, it’s been awhile. There’s been a lot happening with me lately so haven’t been in the mood to check out blogs lately..Just now kinda getting back into the swing of that.
As for the page..Well, yea..NOW it looks like that..heh..But when I originally posted in looked like a broken up version of the older pink style..heh
February 22nd, 2005 09:36
Thank you Claus, that indeed makes sense.
David, I’m resisting all calls to download Opera again (tried it once about 18 months ago - hated it!) but if it has speech capabilities built in then I’m going to look into it! And yes, will come have another gander at yours, although I should know it by now - funny how seeking accessibility makes you look at things in a completely new light.
February 22nd, 2005 09:43
Sorry to hear that Shaide, but a big welcome back. I know the broken up orange look, I have a screen shot lurking somewhere. I think it’s something to do with caching over on the TypePad servers. Strangely though, a refresh with Ctrl F5 fixed it in the browser window (Firefox on Windows 2000) but when I put the page source into an HTML editor (HTMLPad), it would only read the old css (hence the wierd orange look). I’ve just quickly checked again and it’s now reading the correct css so hopefully, all browsers will be seeing the correct version. Well, correct until later today at least ;-0)
February 22nd, 2005 11:16
I’d like to join in, but really it’s all blah blah blah to me, so I’ll leave you with a joke:
How did the townsfolk find out the pigeons were plotting a revolution?
They heard them in the town square saying, “Coup, coup!”
February 22nd, 2005 14:10
Yup - content first, navigation second. Took me a freakin AGE to get my site layout to do that (you think you’ve got problems with two columns? Try three!! ;-)
Ohh and a personal opinion.. this sludgey brown really isn’t appealling. What kind of Daisy is this coloured? One that’s been trampled into the mud?
Anyway, have fun, I usually end up getting lost for days doing this stuff.
February 22nd, 2005 14:35
Oh do you not like the brown? I thought it looked great as a backdrop to the pink. Then again, I can’t find an acceptable (to me) colour that has enough contrast to meet guidelines so (*sob*) I think the brown has got to go.
And yes, two columns is more than enough to cope with at the minute, thank you ;-0)
February 22nd, 2005 14:37
It just occurred to me that I’m keeping a sort of a “mushroom brown” on another page so I don’t feel *too* deprived…
February 22nd, 2005 15:42
Pardon me for being frivolous, but are we going to have a pretty banner again? Please?
I often use the Windows Accessibility Wizard at work, generally because you can slow the mouse right down, which elderly newbies appreciate, try and remember what you were like when you first encountered a mouse, then add in weak or shaky hands.
February 22nd, 2005 18:41
expecting pink, and banner and and…..
i actually prefer the link list (brain-not working- can’t think of proper names for stuff) on the left hand side. not so keen on the khaki background, but saying that, it does have a calming effect….
February 22nd, 2005 19:11
Hang on a minute you. You, wha..what’s with the chasingdaisy.com thing? Have you been hiding something or did I miss a meeting?
February 22nd, 2005 21:01
Darn - think I just lost a comment, so sorry if this appears twice:
Depending on how you first arrive you either get the new layout (”sludge Daisy”, as I think of it :-)) or a broken version of the old one - it seems to depend on whether there’s “/blog” at the end of the URL you used. Once you visit the main page the new version remembers itself.
I’m not convinced by the colours either, but I’ll reserve judgement until I can see how it looks with a daisy on it (and, besides, I’ve no taste).
February 22nd, 2005 23:53
I would say place content before navigation. I often read the BBC news site on my mobile phone and it never fails to annoy me that they put the navigation first. So I have to tab through 14 or more links before I can scroll down enough to see the actual content.
February 23rd, 2005 00:58
Jann, it’s not ready to use yet but I wanted to keep the blogroll down for the minute while I faff with the layout but couldn’t bear not to have all the blogrollees not there.
Em/Richard, thanks for that advice, all makes perfect sense and has been added to the ever growing list of notes.
February 23rd, 2005 05:47
If I remember (and manage to escape at lunchtime), I’ll pay a visit via my PDA to see how Sludge Daisy fares on a 200px wide screen. The old 3-column layout was a nightmare (as was my own site).
February 23rd, 2005 07:56
Oh dear - this layout still squeezes posts into a one-word-wide column on a PDA. Oh well :-)
February 23rd, 2005 19:31
I know for a fact I only pressed “Post” once - the first one was a preview, honest.