Web Standards, Accessibility and Other Stuff

Here’s some TV commercials I think are really good:

• Burger King - The latest TV spots use that big, goofy “King” character in different situations. They’re kinda weird, but quite memorable. Here’s a low-quality bit of the BK football commercial.
• Any Victoria’s Secret commercial - Professional, tasteful, and sexy. A recent features legendary model Heidi Klum singing along to a cute holiday jingle. [view Victoria’s Secret ad]
• Casino Royale - The commercial for the new James Bond film does a great job of (and the movie’s good too). Couldn’t find the video on the web, but here’s the Casino Royale trailer.
• Pepto Bismol - The classic stomach remedy has a great ad with old-school monsters and superheroes, and a very funny but effective jingle. [view Pepto Bismol ad]

Bad and Overplayed TV Commercials >

I will be giving a presentation on Web Accessibility at the Refresh Detroit meetup at 6:30pm on Wednesday, January 24, at the office of 3point7designs in downtown Ann Arbor, Michigan. If your interested in web accessibility (or web standards, usability, etc.), you’re welcome to show up. Refreshments will be provided. I’ll be audio recording the presentation and posting it on my web accessibility podcast, Web Axe.

Went to the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit, Michigan, last Friday. There sure were some really cool cars. I especially liked the concept Ford Mustang, concept Ford Airstream, Lexus LF-A, and the Chevrolet Volt. The MINI exhibit was the coolest; it had games, live DJ, and great cars. My two-year-old son Carson had a great time too!

Flickr pics of North American International Auto Show

What’s MIUPA? The Michigan Chapter of the Usability Professionals Association of course! January’s event was hosted by ProQuest in Ann Arbor. It was nice to see some familiar faces from when I attended the World Usability Day event in East Lansing a couple months ago. The speaker was Louis Rosenfeld, who’s a highly regarded expert in web site architecture. The presentation was on search analytics, which served for me only as a “nice-to-know”. But overall, the information, munchies, and networking was well worth the twenty bucks.

My podcast Web Axe now has a new, custom design! My co-host Ross Johnson sent me a Photoshop mockup thru You Send It, and I ran with it. Working with Blogger’s template was a little quirky, but not too bad overall. Web Axe is a podcast and blog featuring practical web design accessibility tips.

Here’s some great places to get some serious chow.

• Moe’s Southwestern Grill - great Mexican-American food (and surprisingly, good oatmeal-raisin cookies)
• Jimmy John’s - great, fast, fresh sandwiches (don’t forget the salt-n-vinegar potato chips)
• Cold Stone Creamery - yummy ice cream, and with mix-ins
• Potbelly Sandwich Works - awesome grilled subs (and milkshakes)
• Zoup! - delicious soups (but the Greek salad sucks)