Design Theology for This Domain
Authorship and contact for errors
This website authored by John Ruskin using common HTML and CSS elements, a design strategy providing a common look and feel across all browsers. If you have problems with the design on your browser, or are aware of any errors in design or content, please contact me and let me know.
The focus is on content. If you have questions about the content, please contact me directly.
The underlying content is identical on all browsers and for all devices. Some minor variability occurs in layout across browsers (for example, the appearance of borders' color or width). Unfortunately, due to time constraints, no effort is made to design specifically for smart phones, other than to present a simplified layout which adapts reasonably well to their screens and usage.
Specific design goals and theology
Text based, HTML files, avoiding use of image files, flash and other processor and bandwidth intensive add-ons.
No java, javascript or other, similar script based calls, with the exception noted below.
Low file sizes
More secure transmission and fewer crashes, in the absence of flash or other proprietary formats.
Lower bandwidth required, resulting in quicker downloads when coupled with low bandwidth internet connections
Assistance for the visually impaired: by preference for relying on black text on white backgrounds, minimizing use of alternative colors and avoiding distracting backgrounds. While not fully compliant with visual impaired site design standards, this site should be accessible to the visually impaired on typical browsers. One major exception is the exclusion of the author's phone number and address within the image fields used to display that information - to preserve the author's sanity by eliminating junk email and robo-calls.
Avoiding graphic files for textual information. Again, reducing bandwidth and improving accessibility. The only exceptions are address and phone number displays, to preserve the author's sanity by eliminating junk email and robo-calls.
Preference for CSS based layout tools, forging a consistent look/feel to the website, with less design effort -- more effort placed into content
Use of the CSS "max-width: 10in" to minimize the over-wide site presentation on common, wide screen laptops.
No cookies. No background analytical tools, with the exception noted below. No 3rd party content.
URLs directed to other sites, the NFIP, for example, are clearly delineated as such, in surrounding text, and/or in the URL displayed. Those sites may likely use cookies, and tracking scripts and similar utilities.
Scripting and/or Background tracking tools
Other than the following experiment, on a single web page on a non-commercial sub-domain of this domain, no tracking tools are utilized on this website.
The Experiment
The site author is experimenting with one tracking technology: mouse tracking technology described and offered by http://mouseflow.com. This provides some insight on how site visitors view an individual web page, on the assumption that the mouse is pointing to areas that have the user's attention and focus. A short javascript entry on a given page enables the tracking of the mouse position and clicking locations for that one page; the script is inserted in the body or heading of that web page. All pages without that code are not tracked.
To date, on this website, this code has been inserted as an experiment on only one single web page within the "lighterside" sub-domain – that sub-domain is a non-commercial sub-domain. The Mouseflow.Com service is free to web authors for only 200 page visits a month; since the author of this site took up that free, limited status, only a small fraction of that page's visitors are actually studied, in a given month. All other pages on this website are without that code, and are not part of this experiment, and therefore are with no tracking.
The Mouseflow privacy policy is found here: http://mouseflow.com/privacy/. Web users may opt out of the Mouseflow tracking by going directly to: http://mouseflow.com/opt-out/.
Again, other than this experiment, on a single web page, no other tracking tools are utilized on this website. This site, and all of its sub-domains, do not require any trackers to view any content.
Web users should note that Mouseflow tracking is one of many hundreds of tracking tools used by other domains and websites, offered to web authors by well known companies like Google, Yahoo and others, and also offered by many other independent companies.
Alternative means for "opting out" of various trackers are available. Blocking these trackers may be accomplished by other methods, including: disabling or limiting cookies; disabling javascript; enabling private browsing; blocking graphics; installing add-ons like Ghostery, Adblock or other blockers on Firefox browsers, or; other methods and settings available with different browsers.
Disabling cookies or other trackers, using private browsing, or disabling javascript will not break any content on this domain or any of its sub-domains. Blocking graphics will limit visualization of presented graphic imagery; this domain and all of its sub-domains do not use graphic files for tracking. Using Ghostery or AdBlock should not break any content, unless one accidentally blocks content on this site or external sites referred to, using AdBlock tools.
