dirq.net | the life and work of dirk watkins

September 14, 2006
by Dirk Watkins
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Sued for Website Inaccessibility

There is a lawsuit making it’s way through federal court in California targeting Target for website inaccessibility. The National Federation for the Blind is suing Target Stores for not having alt-text available on their images on the grounds that Target’s site is not accessible to blind users. Target had argued only its physical stores were subject to the Americans With Disabilities Act but the judge denied Targets request for dismissal.

Validate Target’s website through the W3C.

The case is setting precedents for companies being liable for web accessibility. There has been a push within the web development community for a long time to adhere to web standards set by the W3C and other groups and this is one of the first cases to bring the accessibility of a virtual storefront to court.

These days you would think it would be a no-brainer to build this type of accessibility into a site in the development stage, way before go-live. Unfortunately, it seems that there are still quite a few big players that are not enabling accessibility in their sites. As well as making the site available for the blind, accessibility best practices allow a whole lot of increased access to a website – be it by search engines, screen readers or just allowing the site to be rendered correctly in multiple browsers.

Here are a few sites that tackle website usability issues:

Bluegrass Adventure Show – Friday 8PM

We got bumped up to 8PM on Friday for the Bluegrass Adventure Gig. This should make it easier for a lot of you to make it to the show. It’s at Booner’s Bar in Euren, WI so if you can get to Euren you can find Boomer’s bar. It’s the only thing in the town I hear.

We’re playing as Crabgrass. So buy a T-Shirt cause we’ll be on the back.

More information here, here, and on the BA site.

Here’s a Map to Booner’s Bar in Euren, WI.

September 11, 2006
by Dirk Watkins
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The 10th Dimension

Ever wonder what the tenth dimension is like. This site will try to show you: http://www.tenthdimension.com/

It tries to explain all the dimensions from 1 to 10. It’s kind of hard to grasp after the 4th (time) but if nothing it’s still a cool flash animation that’s worth a couple minutes of your time.

September 5, 2006
by Dirk
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Song: Drop

Here’s a song about an acidulous painting (or something of that nature).

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Lyrics

you dropped it, you dropped it, and i caught it
you hawked it, you hawked it, and i bought it
all along the mirrors showed
the air was rusty and that’s how it goes
and the rest of us seemed to hang on every word
like anybody could even know

you dropped it, you dropped it, and i caught it
you hawked it, you hawked it, and i bought it
all my ornaments were sold
to a man with absolutely no soul
and absolute power corrupts the whole world into the mold

and just strip it out so i can see the point
the restless artists are rolling a joint
and the rest hang on their words
with the slight of hand to anoint

and just lay it out so i can see it’s mine
the paintings are covered in turpentine
and the end comes not as a bang
but a whimper near a shrine

you bought it, you bought it, and i forgot it
you hawked it, you hawked it and i lost it
all you left was gold
and you know full well that gold has no soul
and all the walls are left blank like nothing ever showed

August 29, 2006
by Dirk Watkins
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Nice Tigon

Hey kids. I learned something new today. Do you want to know what I learned?

Ligers are real! Yes, Napoleon’s favorite animal, bred for their skills in magic, can be seen at the Sierra Safari Zoo near Reno. It’s a little bit of a drive for me but if I’m ever in the neighborhood I’ll definitely stop by.

Ligers are a cross between a tiger and a lion. When the father is a lion and the mother is a tiger they create a liger. When the father is a tiger and the mother is a lion the cat is called a tigon. Seriously.

Known ligers exist due to human influence, either by deliberate human intervention, or by humans putting lions and tigers in enclosed spaces together. In natural conditions tigers and lions generally do not inhabit the same territory – the two species coexist in the wild today only in the Gir forest of India although their respective ranges used to intersect in Persia, China and perhaps also Beringia. Even where they do coexist, there have been no confirmed reports of interbreeding, though there are long-standing claims that this has happened.

Ligers grow much larger than tigers or lions. This is because female lions and male tigers transmit a growth-inhibiting gene to their descendants. Being the offspring of a male lion and female tiger, the liger does not have the growth-inhibiting gene and grows much more. They will grow constantly through their lifespan until their bodies can no longer sustain their size.

People with certain types of giantism have the same issues of unsustainable growth. Poor André.