All Systems Go!
June 3rd, 2009
As I am getting accustomed to life at Pemaquid I have been getting more involved in how things work and I’m starting to actually contribute. It is one of Pemaquid’s major concerns to make sure all their websites are accessible to everyone, including the visually impaired, so I am learning about a side of usability I had never even thought of before.
When I first started my internship we had to spend some time with getting me all geared up with the right gadgets and applications. We had to discover some free software that would help with writing in HTML so I have been using a program called jEdit. It works well so far but it definitely takes some getting used to. You have to write all the code yourself, unlike in Dreamweaver where it offers you buttons and shortcuts to get things done. Though it takes more time doing things this way I feel like I am learning a lot more. The other downfall is that it doesn’t allow you to test code directly from it to a browser, so you need a way to upload to the internet to check out what you have done. I have been using Filezilla for that, which is a very nifty little tool.
We also set me up with a bunch of Firefox add-ons, like Firebug, which allows you to inspect a website while you are on it and see how each element fits into the source code. I have also been using the Web Developer toolbar add-on that allows you to validate websites, see any site without css, disable images, outline different page elements like frames, manipulate forms and many cool things.
So, I’m all geared up. I know HTML basics. Now it’s time for me to do something useful. I have been working on a form for one of Pemaquid’s clients and I think I will be posting some changes to another client’s website today, finally starting to feel like my time at Pemaquid is benefiting them as well as me!
