If you’re in your late teens or older, you probably know how dramatically the Web hosting industry has changed since the dawn of the twenty-first century (a mere eight years ago). Web 2.0 was born, and it spawned children named Tweets, Apps and Blogs. Broadband crawled the globe, and wireless continues to expand. Open source software and content now has equal respect, if not equal footing, with proprietary holdings. All these changes and more have altered Web hosting’s face as users become more involved with actual creation of interface and content.
But, who are the folks behind these dramatic changes? Who started hi5 Networks, one of the world’s largest social networks today? Who’s helping Dell become more environmentally friendly, and who’s the person behind Google’s financial success? We’ll tell you about these people and more, through the 25 most influential people in the Web hosting industry listed below.
There are, literally, hundreds of influential people in and around the Web hosting industry today, but we scoured the Web to find the most visible and remarkable people who are active in speaking engagements and/or in creative and substantial contributions to society as well as to their work. We looked to the most well-known and publicized companies like Cisco, Twitter and Facebook to discover who represented a driving force behind those companies. Below you will find owners, founders and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) and Engineers, and the Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) who are behind the Internet’s most innovative, productive, and astounding growth in Web hosting to users today. Read the rest of this entry »
Do you freak out if someone asks you to match print colors to Web colors? Or, maybe you just can’t decide whether the orange would work better with the blue or the green. Either way, many designers may not realize how easy it is to choose a palette for that new Web design. Additionally, many designers might be surprised to learn that they can stay on top of color trends with a few visits to fashion design Web sites.
All those tips and more are listed below in this list of 101 color resources for Web designers. The categories are listed alphabetically as are all the links contained within each category. Although the sites are numbered, this does not mean that one site is better than others. Visit them all and bookmark the ones that will help you become the most color-savvy Web designer around. Read the rest of this entry »
Have you kept up with the Target lawsuit lately? In 2006, a blind student filed suit against the online retail Target presence because he couldn’t gain access to the site. The code and layout prohibited him from entry. That lawsuit didn’t go away, despite the fact that little has been written about it. This month, a Scott Bradner at NetworkWorld wrote that Target’s appeal was denied in a Baltimore court this year and sentiment seemed against this retail giant in its bid to qualify for exemption from Web site accessibility.
The reason behind this lack of goodwill toward Target is that Web site accessibility is a human rights as well as a commercial compliance issue. In 2006, the UK produced the PAS 78 (see #72 below), a guide for UK businesses to follow based upon guidelines produced by the Disability Rights Commission. While this document pertains only to UK businesses, the change in attitude wrought by these guidelines has spread globally. In other words, if business Web sites don’t begin to follow accessibility guidelines now, a worldwide rush may be on to conform to these standards within the next few years or possibly face penalties for failure to comply. Meanwhile, web design schools still seem to be ignoring this important facet of their educating duty.
Why wait? If you already lean toward the idea that accessible sites are good for humanity as well as for business, then this list will provide plenty of reference materials for you. If you don’t have a clue about the issues that surround Web site accessibility, then this list will help you to become well acquainted with the issues involved in this movement. The categories listed below are in alphabetical order, as are the sites listed within those categories. The numbers are for convenience, and they mean nothing as to the quality or preference of the sites listed below. Read the rest of this entry »
