Field notes
What I think about websites, funnels, and doing this properly.
Practical, opinionated, from real projects. If a post makes you nod, we’ll probably work well together.
All posts
, 9 min read, Guide
ADA website compliance when your company is in Ontario and your customers are not
You meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA because Ontario put a version number in a regulation. Nothing in American law puts one in front of your business, which is why the two positions are not interchangeable and why the American one is harder to close out.
, 8 min read, Opinion
Procurement asked which assistive technologies your website supports. The answer is not a list.
There is no setting on your website for a screen reader, and no switch to flip for switch access. What those programs can do when they arrive was decided by the markup — which is why the device list somebody asked you for cannot be filled in honestly.
, 10 min read, Guide
Why a color blind friendly palette cannot carry your error state
Ready palettes, copyable hex values, and the contrast ratio for every pair — including the numbers that explain why a palette which passes every check is the one least able to tell your states apart.
, 10 min read, Opinion
The dyslexia font is the one part of that request the research does not support
You have been asked to make the site dyslexia-friendly and every list online opens with a typeface. The typeface is the weakest item on it, and the items that measure are already sitting in your stylesheet.
, 6 min read, Opinion
What an Ontario non-profit actually owes on its website
Ontario decides this on a headcount that excludes every volunteer on your roster — and which of the two obligations you are under changes what a website quote should be priced against.
, 9 min read, Guide
What Google Ads costs is three numbers, and you are usually shown one
You asked what Google Ads costs and got a monthly number. There are three costs inside it, paid to three different places, and the one that decides whether any of it works is a sum only you can do.
, 11 min read, Guide
What alt text is, and why the list your scanner gave you is the wrong place to start
Alt text is one sentence in a box. The images your scan flags are the cheap half of the job — the expensive half is the ones it called clean.
, 5 min read, Opinion
The two numbers that decide your ad spend are the two you get last
Your ad report measures what happened inside a browser. Whether the phone rang, and whether the enquiry was worth having, arrive later or not at all — and the campaign optimizes on whatever arrives first
, 7 min read, Guide
How to check whether your website is compliant, without hiring anyone
You can prove a website is not compliant in an afternoon, for nothing. You cannot prove that it is. What the free scanners catch, what none of them test, and the three-hour manual pass that finds the rest.