The night of the long titles

We’ve made a few changes to the Gateway to websites. The front page is now (we think) cleaner and crisper, with icons at the bottom linked to related pages. Within several of the category pages there are links to Webtastic, the revised and greatly improved website suggestions for homework.

And when you visit a category page, you will see that all the other categories are listed on the left, so that you can switch between them without going back to the front page every time.
Please let us know if you have any comments or suggestions.

A good look

RNIB Technology Information Sheets doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue as a title, and the page itself doesn’t grip me with its dazzling brilliance. But the actual information is very much to-the-point. For people with sight problems, IT equipment can be daunting. All the online and on-screen stuff that normally-sighted people take for granted these days can be of little or no use unless the equipment can be adapted or demystified.

I looked at "Developing keyboard skills", and it’s good stuff. It starts with a summary of why you would bother - the keyboard is the most reliable and, for some people, the only workable method of inputting information to a computer. Then the available courses are discussed, with price indications and links to suppliers.

All the hardware gubbins you can tack on to a computer to assist you, and all the software you can install to "bend" the machinery to your personal needs, are covered in other information sheets. The emphasis is very much on helping you to help yourself; contact details are included for the RNIB’s Technology Team, so you don’t have to struggle alone.

(From the Gateway to websites, select "Computers and the Internet". RNIB Technology Information Sheets are under "Accessibility".)

All the developments

Another snappy title is A History of Photography from its beginnings till the 1920s, but at least it tells you pretty much all you need to know about this website. You can be fairly sure it’s not about moonwalking or the Dead Sea Scrolls!

Robert Leggatt is the author of this site, and he tells us that it's for dipping into rather than being a course of academic study. In rather small type, he deals with the origins of photography, "significant people" (there are quite a lot of these), and the various photographic processes (almost as many of these).

You might spot that - unless I missed them somewhere - there aren’t any actual photographs on the site, but there is a list of places where you can see them.
Take Robert at his word - don’t try reading the lot, or you might just lose the will to live. The website justifies its place in the Gateway because, if you need a quick(ish) rundown on a photographer or a type of photo, you can probably get it here.

(From the Gateway to websites, select "Art & design".A History of Photography from its beginnings till the 1920s is under "Photography".)





Picture credit: taliesin/morguefile.com