Well, CRAP!

So, I obviously forgot to do my weekly post. I'm going to chalk it up due to my mental state this past week and a half. I couldn't think straight. But I'm just fine now!! So, no more excuses.

Slicing: Not Just a Sliver in Web Knowledge

Slicing is really important. It's no small thing. I have done slicing before and am kinda able to wrap my head around what needs to be sliced and what doesn't and where to slice, but it is something I need to work on. I assumed I could just use solid shapes made from coding laid on top of each other to make up my background, but it's better to take a small sliver of the solid shape with the border and have it repeat. I thought the solid shape with the border would be better suited as two different size rectangles, if that makes sense. Not sure why I didn't think of taking a small sliver and reapeating it. It's that kind of thinking that I need to start doing. I have the basics covered, but slicing takes a new approach to thinking. You have to be creative to get the images to be the smallest they can be in order to have the page load quickly.

I know that alt takes are important in web design. It is important to have a description for your images for a couple reasons. Below is a list that I found at Wikipedia.org:

1. For people with low bandwidth connections, who may opt not to load graphics
2. For people using handheld devices
3. For people with disabilities who use assistive technology, such as refreshable braille displays or screen readers
4. For people using a pay per transferred data connection
5. Search engine optimization: most search engines interpret the meaning of objects by analysing their alt attribute

I didn't realize that the naming of each images is just as important with search engines. I knew it was important so you, as the designer and for other people working on the site, can understand what each image is or at least have some clue to what it might be. I didn't know that search engines look at the titles of images and use that information when choosing what sites to display in the search results. Good to know, I say. Optimization is extremely important to a site. If it isn't optimized properly, then not as many people will see the site. Interesting, huh? Important stuff to pay attention to.