Ohlone College Web Team Blog

WebAnywhere is a web-based screen reader for the web. It requires no special software to be installed on the client machine and, therefore, enables blind people to access the web from any computer they happen to have access to that has a sound card.

I tried using the WebAnywhere Alpha Release on the Ohlone College website, but had problems because there is “no frames” JavaScript code on the site to prevent the College website from being displayed using HTML frames on another website.

There is a demonstration video on the WebAnywhere website.

http://www.htmlkit.com/services/favicon/

I’ve been using Xenu Link Sleuth (free) to check for broken links. I also use the output report to review web page titles (which are displayed as links in most search engines) and to produce a list of valid links for use with the batch mode of the WDG HTML Validator (100 URLs at a time).

I knew W3C had an Markup Validator and a CSS Validator, but was unaware of the W3C Link Checker until now.

A free online tool to create a 60-second video from your photos and music: Animoto at http://animoto.com/:

1. It analyzes your images
2. It feels your music
3. It customizes a video

Jim Wright, VP of Instruction here at Ohlone College, mentioned Blurb (http://www.blurb.com/) to me recently as a possible tool for faculty who want to publish materials for their courses. I’ve noted it here for future reference.

This list may be added to as additional free wiki websites are discovered.

• PBwiki - “Make a free wiki as easy as a peanut butter sandwich.”
  http://www.pbwiki.com
• Wetpaint - “free click-and-type wikis you can share with like-minded people.”
  http://www.wetpaint.com/
• Wikispaces - “Create simple web pages that groups, friends, and families can edit together.”
  http://www.wikispaces.com/

What is a wiki?

A wiki is a website that allows the visitors themselves to easily add, remove, and otherwise edit and change available content, typically without the need for registration. This ease of interaction and operation makes a wiki an effective tool for mass collaborative authoring.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki]

I tried this and IT’S GREAT!!!

http://www.pandora.com/

The music hasn’t been interrupted by a D.J. or commercial or advertisement. I’m still trying to figure out how they’re paying for the music and making money from the service…the online ads are basically ignored once you’ve selected the “channel” you want to listen to.