A website’s accessibility is a measure of how easy it is for visitors with different levels of motor, visual and auditory ability to make sense of the content on your web pages. If your website is accessible then people using screen readers, who prefer not to display images as they browse or who wish to increase the size at which text is displayed can all gain access to the information held in your pages.

Dreamweaver has a number of features which enable web developers to ensure that content on their pages Is accessible. There are useful dialogs which appear automatically when content added to a page can be made accessible. Dreamweaver also allows web page creators to check their pages for any accessibility issues.

When you install Dreamweaver CS3, there are a couple of program settings which relate to accessibility which you should ensure remain activated. To check that these settings are active, you should choose Preferences in the Edit menu then click on the Accessibility category on the left of the screen. Make sure that the options “Show Attributes For…” “Form objects”, “Media” and “Graphics” are all switched on. Also, click on the General category and activate “Use CSS instead of HTML tags”.

The result of activating these elements is that when you apply formatting attributes to text or to the body of the page, Dreamweaver will create CSS tags to achieve the formatting since CSS makes web pages more accessible by separating formatting information from the actual page content. Another consequence will be that, each time you add certain elements to a page, a dialog will appear prompting you to choose which of the relevant accessibility attributes you wish to associate with that element.

With the accessibility options activated, whenever you insert an image onto the page, Dreamweaver will display a dialog asking you to enter alternate text (alt text). The alt attribute provides a description of the image which can be seen by anyone waiting for the image to load on a slow internet connection. Anyone browsing your site with a screen reader will rely on your alt text to know what each image contains.

In addition to the alt text, Dreamweaver also allows you to browse for or enter a path leading to a long description file. This option relates to HTML’s longdesc attribute which should be used for images whose content is too detailed or too important to be described in the short alt text.

Just as the alt text describes the function of images, the label attribute describes the function of each form field. When the accessibility preferences are active, Dreamweaver will prompt you to enter a descriptive tag for each field. In addition, you can specify the tab order of each element. This is the order in which elements within the form can be accessed by users by simply pressing the Tab key.

Every time you add a Flash movie, video clip or other media element to a web page, Dreamweaver will also prompt you to make the media element accessible. There are three attributes which it refers to: the title, access key and tab index. The title should offer a brief description of the media element in a way similar to that in which an alt label describes an image. The access key is a keyboard shortcut which can be used to make the media element active. The tab index indicates where the media element lies in the tab order, the order in which elements are accessed when the Tab key is pressed.

In addition to assisting you in making elements accessible, Dreamweaver has a utility for checking the accessibility of any page in your site. To use this feature, you need to have the page open and any changes saved. Choose File - Check Page - Accessibility. Dreamweaver will perform an analysis of the page and display a summary of its results. It will list all elements which could be regarded as inaccessible. You can double-click on any element in the list to highlight it both in the code and on the page.

Some upgrades are rip-offs, some are bug-ridden, some are too minor to worry about, but some are usually must-haves. Dreamweaver upgrades tend to fall into this last category.

Dreamweaver is used in web-development and, because the web is constantly evolving, each new Dreamweaver release usually offers features which reflect the rapidly changing environment in which the program is used. Adobe recently acquired Macromedia, the company who created Dreamweaver. So what have Adobe come up with in this their first upgrade since inheriting everybody’s favourite web development tool?

Since the release of Dreamweaver 8, way back in 2005, the use of cascading style sheets (CSS) in web page layout has become widely recognised as the way forward. However, CSS page layout coding can be a little daunting for new web designers. Dreamweaver CS3 includes a wide range of customisable CSS layouts which include useful comments for inexperienced developers explaining how the designs function. The layouts may be used not only to create individual pages but also Dreamweaver templates.

Dreamweaver CS3 has useful new features for transferring CSS code from one location to another. You can move an internal CSS definition from inside an individual page to an external style sheet. It is also possible to take inline CSS (located next to the item it described) and transfer to an external style sheet.

One of Dreamweaver CS3’s nicest new CSS features is the ability to move CSS code form one place to another. This is particularly useful for updating pages created before CSS was used for page layout. CSS code can now be easily transferred from inside a page, both embedded style sheets and inline styles, to an external style sheet.

The new version of Dreamweaver now contains a great utility called the browser compatibility check. This lets you choose a particular browser, such as Internet Explorer, Opera, Firefox, Safari or Netscape, and comes up with a detailed report of any issues with the display of your CSS in the specified browser.

The fact that Dreamweaver and Photoshop are now both Adobe products is reflected a new level of compatibility between the two programs. It is now possible to make a selection in Photoshop, or to select a slice, copy it, switch to Dreamweaver and paste. The selection will automatically be converted into a web image and a new window will appear offering you a series of options for optimising the image. Dreamweaver CS3 also embraces the new Ajax technology. Ajax is a programming model which allows developers to create extremely interactive pages which are constantly refreshed with content loaded from a server but without reloading the page. Dreamweaver’s version of Ajax is through the Spry framework. This is a collection of JavaScript routines which can be inserted on the page and automatically generate all the necessary code.

There are three types of Spry content: widgets, special effects and data sets. Spry Widgets are clickable page elements which respond to user interaction in funky ways. For example, there is a tabbed panel widget which displays different content in the same part of the page depending on which tab the user clicks on. There are also widgets for creating navigational menus and submenus and for validating text fields, text areas and select elements on a form.

Spry effects can be applied to a wide range of HTML elements. They allow designers to have images and other page content fade, shrink, zoom etc. in response to actions carried out by the user such as moving the mouse pointer over a particular element.

Spry data sets are JavaScript components which allow Dreamweaver users to design pages that display data pulled in from XML files. The data can be set up in a summary/detail fashion such that anyone viewing the page can click on a something already displayed to bring up detailed information on that item.

Adobe has not forgotten Mac users in this upgrade either. Dreamweaver CS3 now has Intel-based Mac Compatibility. This makes CS3 the first version of Dreamweaver to run natively on Intel-based Macs (as well as PowerPCs).

Ask just about any computer user if they use or have used Microsoft Word and you can confidently expect the answer “yes”. Word is everywhere, even on Apple Mac. So, most bosses automatically assume that their people know how to use it and they do, up to a point. But many casual Word users make some pretty basic mistakes. This article looks at the most common.

* Are you ever guilty of pressing the Return key at the top of a document to move the cursor down, perhaps when creating a document to be printed on your company stationery? If so, this means that you are creating a document with unwanted characters at the start. Much better to click on File - Page Setup and change the top margin (in Word 2003) or click on Custom Margins in the Page Layout tab of the Word 2007 ribbon.

* A lot of Word users have the habit of entering two spaces after a full-stop. This is a recommendation that used to apply when typewriters were being used with monospace typefaces such as Courier. With the advent of word processors, and now computers, the two space rule is redundant because electronically generated fonts are proportionally spaced and it’s easy for the eye to pick out the end of each sentence.

* The habit of pressing the Return key twice at the end of each paragraph is not a good idea because it creates a sea of extra white space on the printed page. Only one return should used to end the paragraph. Extra space can then be added using the paragraph spacing commands. To find these options, in Word 2003 or earlier, choose Paragraph from the format menu. In Word 2007, click on the Page Layout tab.

* Casual users who have never attended any Microsoft Word training courses are often at a loss as to how tabs work. At worst, they use the space bar to attempt to align elements on the page. This never works and when the document is printed the columns do not align properly. The Tab key should be used instead of the space bar.

* Although you can get away with pressing the Tab key to create columns of text without actually setting any tabs, it’s not usually a good idea. This method uses Word’s default tabs and means that the user often inserts a varying number of tabs between columns. It’s much better to set up your own tabs by clicking on the Word ruler. That way, you will only ever need to press the Tab key once between columns.

* Some Word users, even experienced ones, are so seduced by the Format Painter, that they rely on it to maintain consistency of formatting throughout a multi-page document. It is much better to use Microsoft Word’s styles to make your text formats consistent. With styles, at any time, you can go back and change the attributes associated with a style and your changes will update all text in that style.

* Then there’s the question of who’s in charge: Word or the user. You will often hear users complain that Word has a mind of its own: “It tries to do everything for you”. Remember, almost any setting in Word that irritates you can be modified by going to Tools - Options in Word 2003 or earlier or choosing Word Options from the Office Button in Word 2007.

One of the main benefits of booking in-house (on-site) training, as against sending your people off to a training centre to attend a pubic course, is that your training can be customised to match the specific needs of your organisation. When you book in-house training courses, be sure to make this clear to the training company and give them a full briefing on your requirements. Produce a list of essential topics that need to be covered after discussing the matter with the staff members who will be attending the course, their manager or someone in your company who already has the skills the trainees will be acquiring.

Send a few examples of your work to the training company in advance of the training so that they have a good idea of the kind of documents your people will need to produce or edit (Be sure to remove any sensitive or confidential information first!).

A good software training session will offer users opportunities to practice the skills they are being taught. Ask the training company to incorporate your documents into the practical exercises given to delegates on the course. For example, if your people are being shown how to create corporate brochures, have the trainer ask them to create pages from some of your typical brochures during the training to check that they are mastering the relevant techniques.

You will need to find a suitable area where you can realistically conduct a training session and where the trainees can concentrate on learning without interruption, distraction or discomfort. If your organisation does not have a training room then a meeting room can be adapted for the purpose. Delegates should be able to see the trainer from their seat without having to twist around or crane their necks. Each delegate should also have the use of their own workstation or laptop for the duration of the course and enough space to use it.

The appropriate software version should be loaded on each delegate’s machine and, ideally, each person should be using the same version of the software. For example, running a Microsoft Word course with some delegates using Word 2003 and others 2007 would be a disaster, since the two versions have such significant differences.)

A workstation or laptop connected to a screen projector for use by the trainer is not essential but is extremely useful, especially with a large group (say, more than half a dozen people). If your company does not own one, they can be hired for around 25 per day. A whiteboard and pens are also very handy.

For your training to be effective, all staff must be available for the entire duration of the course and must not be interrupted by other members of staff. Ideally, they should be treated as absent from the office until their training ends. Equally importantly, they should be motivated to do the training and be shown how it will benefit them and enable them to work more effectively.