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VisiBone Products and New ALA

Friday, September 28th, 2001 at 9:45 AM Category: Meryl's Notes Blog 3 comments

I wrote about the new Web Designer’s HTML Card from Bob Stein of Visibone. Yesterday, I received more products:

HTML Foldouts – the newest product from VisiBone that comes in three foldouts: Tags, Styles, and Characters. It’s the same information as the HTML Card divided into three cards with larger print. Definitely much easier to read and still as accessible as the Card. In determining which to buy:

If you have trouble reading small print, go with the Foldout.
If you easily misplace things and don’t have trouble reading small print, go with the Card.
If you easily misplace things and do have trouble reading small print, open the Foldouts and staple them together.

Web Designer’s Color Hexagon Mouse Pad – of all the color layout resources, this is the most useful since it sits right here on my desk with my mouse. Just look for the color and there’s the code. The only complaint I have is the surface material. The slippery material does not have enough traction for the mouse movements and I prefer the soft, rubbery mousepad. The rubbery mousepad’s dull and rough surface may make the colors not match as closely as this smooth one.

Web Designer’s Color Card – the standard portrait sized color chart with three-holes for putting into your planner or notebook. It’s laminated with high quality material, so no worries about messy co-workers or kids messing with it. Hang it up in your cubicle and bring it to life with some color. I prefer the mousepad since my “home” cubicle has no walls, but if I did Web design in my office – it’d be my first choice.

The Color Card shows the 216 Web safe colors just like the mousepad and has an additional small version of the color chart in the lower left-hand corner to stimulate deuteranopia, a form of color blindess. Did you know that color blindness affects 1 in 12 men? 1 in 250 women? More on colorblindness in my previous blog entry on Vischeck.

Also, the 8 1/2 x 11 Card has a Visual Index so you can find the color by its code. It only took a minute to figure out how it works.

VisiBone provides many options of its color and HTML products. You can’t go wrong once you figure out which best fits your needs. You WILL use it. Boy, this sounds like a marketing / sales spiel, but I’m telling it like it is and I get no money for saying this.

ALA Issue Up Today

What a nice way to begin the Jewish New Year — we get treated to the first ALA in a month (understandable). It features an article from J. David Eisenberg on How To Read W3C Specs. I am so relieved! I thought I was the only person who couldn’t understand W3C’s specs — OK, I understand *some* things. Smart people like Eisenberg understand them and write about them for us in articles and readable user guides.