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5 easy tips for a more ADA compliant website

  • By Ian Shere , on February 05 2019 09:33
  • 4 min read

In the past, the Americans with Disabilities Act has, largely, been used against brick-and-mortar businesses to ensure easy access and movement for disabled people in stores.Alarmingly, for website owners, the ADA has turned its sights against online entities - whether or not they have a brick-and-mortar presence. Some high profile lawsuits over the last 12-18 months have had major businesses scrambling to make their websites ADA compliant.

The bad news is... there are no hard and fast guidelines 

Imagine sitting down to take an math exam, and, when you open the test paper envelope, there's a piece of paper that says, "This exam is going to test your math knowledge." and nothing else. It's going to be hard to complete that exam right? 

That's a little like the situation website owners are faced over the ADA and website design. We're told we need to be compliant, just not exactly HOW to be compliant. There are some guidelines - WCAG 1 & 2, Section 508, and PDF Matterhorn. The problem is there's a lack of guidelines on how to interpret it in regards website accessibility and how to implement it properly.

So what should YOU do?

Should you care?

If you

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6 easy tips to supercharge your website

  • By Ian Shere , on December 27 2018 10:02
  • 7 min read

New Years' resolutions are a great thing... IF you carry them out. As Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (probably) wrote, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions"! No plan is bad, but a plan that's never put into action is just as bad.

This New Year, make a resolution to get your website really cranking; and it's not hard to do! In my years of browsing I've seen some pretty horrible, and some pretty awesome, websites. Sadly, I've seen more of the former than the latter. Ever been to a site and thought, "Wow! That's a really cool looking website!" but been unable to find what you want? That's not uncommon. And there's some good reasons for this, but more on that later...

How do I supercharge the website experience for my visitors? 

Google is now placing some pretty heavy emphasis on how users interact not only with your website, but with the results on the SERPs. That's RankBrain and you NEED to understand it and what it's looking for! You can find out more on Neil Patel's article. Or dig deeper into RankBrain here.

Aside from RankBrain, there are really 2 other ranking elements - content and backlinks. And while you have

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Follow-up for Power Networkers

  • By Ian Shere , on December 10 2018 09:54
  • 2 min read
I have to admit, I can be bad at following up after a networking event. Kind of dumb really. I invested, at the very least, the time and gas to go there, but don't follow up. Now sure, I may have been the most interesting person there, but probably not! It's very likely I'll have made some connections - now what? File those cards and wait for the phone to ring, right? Wrong! Now it's time to start work.

Firstly, you should have jotted some notes on the cards you received so you can follow up intelligently. It doesn't make a good impression if you get their spouse's name wrong in your follow-up. So, secretly, write notes on the backs of their cards so you can accurately remember details.

Prior to the event, plan your follow-up. Diarize your follow-up schedule so you'll have no excuse to procrastinate in taking action. Your follow-up period should be no more than a week for your first contact. Start off with a simple email. Thank them for their time and try to find something interesting to share with them. It could be a white paper, or an article which is relevant to them.

Depending
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Braveheart on life

  • By Ian Shere , on December 07 2018 15:10
  • 2 min read
In the classic, but alas, factually incorrect film "Braveheart", on the eve of his execution William Wallace utters a very stirring line, "Every man dies. Not every man really lives." And Mark Twain said, "Sing like no one's listening. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody's watching. And live like it's heaven on earth!"

But do we? Do we truly live or are we just going through the motions of life? Do we fail to act because we're concerned about what others might think? Life should be full of adventures, love and laughter, and here are some ways to make it so.

1. Learn the value of everything and also learn that they will never be with you throughout your lifetime.

2. Do things now. Is there something you've always wanted to do, but haven't. Don't make the mistake of waking one day and realizing that there's no time left to do it.

3. Always tell your family members and friends that they are important to you and you love them. Never leave a loved one after an argument without reconciliation - there may be no time to do it later.

4. Do random acts of kindness. It
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