How to make a complaint about a website that is inaccessible

Question: How could you advise a visually disabled friend to complain about a website they couldn't access?

Answer: First, the person responsible for the website should be contacted and should be informed that their website is inaccessible. The website designer then will have to consider making his website accessible.

Incase the alert given to the website designer has not been acknowledged and it is still causing problems. The Disability Right Commission (DRC) should be contacted because the DRC is an organisation that make sure that discrimination against disabled people are prevented.

Since it is illegal to have a website that is not accessible to all users, the DRC will make sure that a legal case regarding the website accessibility will take place.

As an example of this situation, a legal case where a person took the website designer to court because it was inaccessible. The website which was called www.target.com was sued by the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) in California.After this court case www.target.com made improvements to the website and made it accessible.

Source:

http://www.dralegal.org/cases/private_business/nfb_v_target.php

Pros and Cons of 3-Tier Architecture in Web Development

There are many advantages and disadvantages for 3-tier architecture, these are looked at below.

Firstly the advantages of this system are:
- The complex application rules are easy to apply in the application server.

- Business logic is off-loaded from the data base server and client, this enhances performance.

- If there are changes to the specific business’s logic, these changes are automatically imposed by the server. The changes only require new application server software to be installed.

- Application server logic is portable to other database server platforms by virtue of the application software.

On the other hand, some disadvantages of this system are:

- It uses more complex structures

- It is more difficult to set up and maintain


There is also one disadvantage and one advantage of the performance of this system. On the plus side, it has a high performance for medium to high volume environments. However, performance of application servers containing business logic functions and database servers containing databases may be affected due to the physical separation application.

Resource:
http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:TNnzYQcGhrIJ:members.tripod.com/ChannuKambalyal/NTierArchitecture.pdf+3-Tier+Architecture+in+Web+development+advantage&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=uk

Advice for preparing a A1W group presentation

Question:

“With hindsight, what advice would you give to next year's students about preparing for the A1W group presentation?”

Answer:

Preparing for the A1W group presentation is essential; with no preparation you are more likely to achieve a low mark. There are many things you need to do to make sure you will give a high quality and effective presentation. Below are points which I advice you check before starting the presentation:

• Presentation slides must not be over loaded with text always be brief on each slide, over loading text or data on slides can lose you marks because too much text makes the slide unreadable.

• Research your subject and write notes about it and make sure you understand everything you are inserting into the presentation because, questions maybe asked at the end, so make sure you are prepared to answer.

• Use relevant pictures to go with the text; do not use meaningless pictures as it will confuse the audience.

• Make sure that all the presentation slides are numbered and titled, this will keep your presentation is organized.

• The size of the text should be reasonably large are readable, otherwise the audience will not be able to read the slides clearly. A font size of 28 to 34 with a bold font is recommended for subtitles. The title default size is 44. The san serif font for titles is recommended as it is clearer to read.

• Make sure that the colours are suitable for the presentation and clear for the audience to read, use popular colours e.g. Black, Blue, and Red etc... .

• Using animations in the presentation is a good idea but do not push the limits make sure the animation that are inserted are not going to distract the audience.

• A video or audio clip can be inserted into PowerPoint but make sure it is relevant and understandable.

• Practice Talking through your presentation to see how much time you use for each slide. Make sure you keep the presentation within the time limit given.

• Plan to get to the presentation room a few minutes early to test that the equipment is working properly and you have everything you need for the presentation.

• Turn off your mobile phone because if it rings during the presentation you might be asked to stop and might be given a very low grade.

• Speak clearly and distinctly so the audience can hear you perfectly.

• Make sure that you are wearing formal clothing to look professional.

• Body language is important when you are talking to the audience; make sure you keep your eyes on the audience and never put your hands in your pocket.

• All work taken out of a text book or a website or any other source must be referenced.

• End your talk with the summary statement or a question then thank the audience for listening and ask them if they have any questions about the presentation material you covered.

Good luck with your presentation.

The functions of Apache HTTP Web Server and comparing the similarities and difference between ‘Static’ and Dynamic’ Web sites

Question (i) Describe THREE typical functions performed by the Apache HTTP Web Server?

Answer:

Apache HTTP Web Server has different functions, below are three functions that are performed by the Apache HTTP Web Server:

• Serves both Static content and Dynamic Web pages on the WWW (World Wide Web).
• Keeps content that needs to be made available in a secure and reliable way.
• Virtual hosting allows one Apache installation to be served on many different websites.
  

Question (ii) Compare the similarities and differences between the terms ‘Static’ and Dynamic’ Web sites?

Answer:

Comparing the differences between a Static website and a Dynamic website:

• Static websites are the cheapest to develop and host but on the other hand, Dynamic sites can be more expensive to develop.
• A dynamic website is one which is designed to have regularly changing content. On the other hand a static website’s pages are worked out in advance, and don't change.
• A dynamic web site usually takes more time to design and develop. On the other hand a static web-site is easier and takes less time to design.
• A static site is written in HTML only while a dynamic site is written using more complex code and can do a lot more.
• A Dynamic website is more likely to have errors because it is updated every now and then but on the other hand a Static website is unlikely to have errors because when the website is completed no more updates will be made to it there for it is very unlikely to have errors.

The Similarities between a static website and a dynamic website:

• Both Static and Dynamic websites are written using HTML.
• Both Static and Dynamic websites are available online on the internet.

Sources

http://www.ae.salford.ac.uk/aei/article/?id=4

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_HTTP_Server

A very important point for undertaking a successful Groupwork presentation

Select one (from the given list of 10 items) which you think will be most important for your Groupwork assignment and explain your reasons why you have made this choice?

I believe even though all points mentioned on the assignment were very important in their own way, the 5th point (You should aim to hold at least three planning meetings which will be minuted) was the most important out of the rest. This is because if the group did not meet at least three times for a decent amount of time, the work would not be completed effectively. This will cause problems with the presentation such as each member in the group will be struggling to answer questions coming from the audience and other problems such as not being able to share the presentation properly between the group this will effect the marks and the outcome of the presentation.

If on the other hand the group met three or more times to discuss the presentation, the group members will be confident of what they need to do and will have a chance to ask each other questions to fully understand the subject that they will be presenting. The presentation will be nicely organized and shared between the group members, this means each member will know what part of the subject he will be talking about. In conclusion the group will achieve a better grade and will give a good quality presentation if they preform the above point which I discussed.