Webbit Pills 2004

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Webbit - Padigline 8

As compared to the last edition a bit more fair, but still Webbit: three days in Padua, which I summarise through the seminars I found most interesting.

Semantic Web: a concrete approach

My Webbit got off to a good start: Paolo Castagna guides me through the basic ideas of the semantic web and his answers to my repeated questions make it definitively clear that the semantic web has little to do with artificial intelligence.

His interventions at Webbit are available on his site.

The Semantic Web revolution for information systems management

The bane of my existence is doing things I know the computer could do for me.

Beginning with the statement by Dan Connolly summarising the intentions of the semantic web, Andrea Rota illustrates how the addition of semantic relations between data can bring benefits in everyday work, even in Office-like applications. The webliography he proposes is interesting: for those who want to understand how the semantic web could translate into reality.

Assistive technologies: the computer without barriers

Silvia Dini talks smilingly about important problems and conveys the idea that they can be tackled successfully. Her presentation is a welcome opportunity for those who wonder what technologies and tools enable a disabled person to use a computer. There is even a talking scanner with OCR built in!

The dressed word: type-graphics for the web

With a neat presentation and clear content, Letizia Bollini explains the basics of typography on the web. I would have appreciated more insights: perhaps more Italian webdesigners should know about the existence of IFR.

Card sorting in the evaluation of website usability

Stefano Bussolon explains how to use card sorting to optimise the way information is arranged in a system and thus to improve its findability.

The scent of information. Usability, navigation and semantics

The theories that Maurizio Boscarol presents are interesting: they are based on the idea that users navigate following a kind of scent of information, which brings them closer to the target at each step. Although interesting, some doubts remain as to their practical usefulness: a button that cannot be reached because the screen is too small can be a big limitation for usability, but none of the theories presented points this out.