Refresh Detroit: Ann Arbor Designers Announce The Latest Tool To Improve Web Usability, Standards and Accessibility

September 4, 2006; 09:55 AM
Refresh Detroit is part of the Refreshing Cities movement, a community of Web designers and developers that spans several countries and seeks to upgrade, or "refresh," the Internet through a common goal of defining and promoting various protocols for design, technology, usability and standards.

By working together to promote various standards in Web design, Refresh Detroit members can make Internet Web sites easier to access and navigate for all users. Specific improvements include increasing the speed of Web sites; increasing the use of Web sites across browsers, platforms, and devices and expanding Web site accessibility to include all users, especially those with disabilities.

"We want to bring together the collective knowledge of Web design from developers throughout the Detroit-Ann Arbor metropolitan area," Lembree said. "There are many great Web designers in Michigan. We"re looking to make Web design the best it can be, and to share our knowledge with one another and other Refreshing Cities communities across the nation."

Refresh Detroit seeks to create an environment of "learning through one another," as Johnson noted.

Refresh Detroit plans to develop and lead conferences, seminars and workshop across metro Detroit. The group also plans to publish and distribute documents outlining standards in Web design.

"By promoting Web standards, we can further ourselves as an industry," Johnson said.

Refreshing Cities can be found across the globe. Refresh communities are located in most major U.S. cities, including Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Detroit, Dallas, and Houston, among others.

CheckEngine USA and 3.7 Designs are Web design companies based in the Ann Arbor area.

For more information about the Refreshing Cities movement, visit www.refresh-detroit.org.

For additional information about Web standards and accessibility, visit www.checkengineusa.com, or www.3point7designs.com.