I should probably preface this section by saying that I began my relationship with the Internet in 1994, just before the graphical interface explosion. The World Wide Web and the ubiquitous web browser have now supplanted the various technologies then in use on the 'Net. But I fondly remember long evenings spent in MOOs and MUSHs, using various flavors of IRC, and GOPHERs.
This site is a reflection of my own evolution which has perhaps not paralleled, but has certainly followed the same direction as that of the technology. Today, I am the webmaster (or is it webmistress?) of several sites, many of which are private and password-protected. (See my Portfolio for reasonable facsimiles of the index pages of those sites.)
And like me, this site will probably — hopefully — display an appreciation for the random nature of the universe and the magical synchronicity of the world.
The capital letter "D" that you see under some of the graphics on my site is what's called a "d-link." When you can't convey enough information about an image so that non-visual users get all the same information about it as a visually oriented user would in the limited space available for an ALT attribute, common practice is to follow the image by the letter "D." Those who look for such descriptions know that clicking on that link will lead them to a textual description of the image.
The graphics for this site were produced (by me, of course!) in Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Image Ready. The font used for the buttons and banners is "Visitation," which I downloaded from one of the free font sites I've found over the years. If time permits, I'll track down which site and put it in my Recommended section so that you'll be able to find it on your own.
ALSO ... This site was designed to accommodate screens with resolutions from 640X480 all the way up, and I've tested it's download times at 28.8 (which, since I live in rural Rensselaer County will be as fast as my Internet connection can EVER be!), so I know that it works. I've also turned off graphics to see if the site can be used without them, and I'm happy to say that it can!
And while I'm on the subject, I'd also like to point out that this site is, in all the significant ways, compliant with the Priority 1 Checkpoints of the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Accessibility Initiative's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (phew, that was a mouthful!).
I make this point for two reasons: (1) there seems to be a misconception among the web design community that making an accessible site equates to making a text-only site; and (2) I firmly believe in universal access to the web. I serve on the NYS Information Technology Access Steering Committee, a multi-agency work group which strives to ensure that everyone has equal access to State government information and services, and have expended considerable time and effort (on a voluntary basis) to advance this cause among other web developers.
