10 June Every Website Will Break (Eventually) June 10, 2020 Accessibility, General, Technology, Trends change, technology, trends I know - the headline sounds dire. And, to some degree, it is. But I've been thinking about this a lot lately and I feel like we, as designers and developers, should have an open dialogue. Recently, after a spate of websites I maintain faced a variety of problems, I came to a stark realization: Every website I've ever worked on is probably going to break at some point. We'll get into the reasons why in a second. But, let that last statement just sink in for a moment. Now, do you get that sinking feeling in your stomach, too? Is it true? How can this happen? Sadly, I do believe it's true. And I actually wonder why it took me so long to figure it out. Maybe you were a bit more on-the-ball and realized it long before I did. As to why a website is going to break - there are a number of reasons for that. Just a few of the possibilities include: CMS Core/ Plugin / Theme Conflicts Any website that is built on a content management system like DNN, WordPress, Drupal or Joomla! are bound to run into a mischievous software update sooner or later. Different parts could then conflict with each other - resulting in anything from a small display issue to an inaccessible site. Legacy Code As programming languages like PHP evolve, some methods for coding become deprecated and (eventually) unsupported. When that happens, older code can break as web hosts routinely upgrade their software versions. Security Holes Nefarious bots are constantly in search of poorly coded and outdated sites. They scan for security holes, both known and unknown, and can do all sorts of damage when they find the proper victim. Hosting Woes Sometimes, a website goes down simply because a web hosting service is failing. It could be that a cheap account is overloaded with sites and slows to a crawl. Or, any number of hardware and software issues can occur. And, in some cases, data loss is a possibility (I've seen this one firsthand - it's not pretty). Not to sound paranoid, but there are a number of forces conspiring against us in our quest to create a website that works in perpetuity. What can we do about it? On the bright side, there are plenty of things we can do to make websites stronger. Using best practices in your code, only using trusted plugins and third party services, and putting security measures in place can all make a positive impact. Those things will make both us and our clients feel good - and we should. Doing the best job you possibly can is something to be proud of. And it may, in fact, lessen the chances of something breaking. Still, sometimes we're all subject to factors that we can't possibly control or even predict. While we can take many steps towards stability - there's still no guarantee. This is especially so for freelancers and small agencies. Larger entities most often have more resources and redundancy in place. This helps to keep things running - even when there is a problem. But, even then, problems can still strike. Anyone who tried to buy a NES Classic Edition during the holidays saw it firsthand as the crunch of sales crashed many a site (including Amazon). A New Approach Since the bulk of my career has been spent freelancing, that's the lens I see things through. Without the resources to build up a ton of redundancy or pay hefty prices for regular code audits, the odds seem especially stacked against us small-timers a bit. There are other, less expensive ways to keep on top of things, though. Following the latest software and developer news can give you a hint about possible problems coming down the road. Using an uptime service will at least let you know when a problem does occur. And being judicious about applying updates can save some unwanted headaches. Perhaps the biggest thing we can do is to change our thinking. Rather than pretending that we've created a bulletproof website, admitting that the thing is probably going to have a hiccup or two down the road is a more realistic approach. With that new approach, we can become even more motivated to stay on top of the latest developments and be better equipped to handle problems when they arise. In the end, preparation may be the best line of defense against the inevitable. Related Posts 5 Website-Related Skills Your Clients Should Know A big part of web design is in implementing creative solutions. One area that requires a lot of attention is in making things easier for clients to manage. This often comes with the use and customization of a CMS such as DNN. But fully autonomous websites aren’t really a thing yet. So, no matter how much customization we’ve done, clients are still going to need to do some things for themselves. There are a number of tasks that they just can’t escape. That’s why it’s vital for them to have at least a working knowledge of some common skills. Just as important, we need to communicate these requirements and, if necessary, help guide them on the path to learning. After all, they may not even be fully aware of what’s involved. With that in mind, here are five such web-related skills that clients will need to get the most out of their website. 2019 UI and UX Design Trends It feels like we’re getting somewhere with all the tools, advancements in technology, and growth of our understanding of how user-facing products really have to work. Sooner than later, we’ll develop the mindset for universal design that encompasses everything we produce, and not just sell. The way we do things for ourselves needs better design choices. The way we even sound as nations can be designed in a better way. Still, a far cry from where we could be in the future, let’s get into the interface and experience design trends of 2019. The Challenges Web Designers Face in Ensuring Website Accessibility Over the past several years, accessibility has become one of most-discussed topics in web design. And that’s a good thing. As more of our daily lives are moved online, making sure that content and services are available to as wide an audience as possible is crucial. The obligation to do so is both moral and, in some cases, legal. The Five Inconvenient Truths of Web Design Being a web designer isn't easy. Depending on your niche, it requires a combination of finely-tuned technical and visual skills. And it takes a major commitment in order to keep those skills relevant in an ever-changing industry. What's more, the proverbial rug can be pulled out from under us at any moment. Tried-and-true methods can turn to dust and great tools can disappear without a trace. Even industry-related legislation can throw everything into a tizzy. Taken together, it can all be very difficult to deal with - let alone thrive in such an environment. But it's not impossible. Part of the path to maintaining both success and sanity comes from embracing the things we learn from experience: the inconvenient truths. Over my 11+ years as a designer, I'd like to think that I've experienced quite a wild ride. In that spirit, I've put together a list of “truths” that, once understood, can help to make for a smoother journey. Web Accessibility 101: Designing for All People, Not Most Web design is about accessibility. Most web designers aim to create products for the largest swath of people within their audience, casting their designs out like gaping nets to yield them the greatest influx of users. And while there’s logic to that design principle, it overshadows a somewhat simpler and more inclusive principle: Design for all people, not most. Turn On Auto-Updates Everywhere You Can Google announced that it had patched a wicked vulnerability in Chrome, by far the most popular browser in the world. Not only that, the search giant also confirmed that hackers had been actively exploiting the bug, in tandem with one found in Windows. Soon after came a wave of reports imploring people to update Chrome right now. But thanks to Google’s embrace of auto-updating its software, for most people it was already taken care of.