About Robert Spangler

I am a graduate of Full Sail's Digital Media Program (now called Digital Arts and Design). I am currently living in Baltimore, Maryland, and I'm currently working at Groove Commerce doing website design. I enjoy working with user interfaces such as the web, and doing print design such as catalogs.

I've started to construct a list of things to do before I die, you can peek if you'd like.

  1. Marry Becky
  2. Attend a large web conference
  3. Attend a large seo conference
  4. Bowl at SXSW Bowling
  5. Spend at least 2 weeks in Europe, specifically Scotland
  6. Go back to Africa
  7. Own a MacBook
  8. Finish the 1-year Bible
  9. Lead a small group for high school/college aged guys
  10. Start my own business of some sorts
  11. Bowl a 200+
  12. Delete my MySpace account
  13. ...

If you would like to full out stalk me, MySpace would probably be a good place to start.

About Web Standards
and Accessibility

I design all of my websites in xHTML Strict (unless I have a good reason not too). And I do my best to keep them as accessible and usable as possible.

Why does it matter?

Well the most important reason is that websites are more usable, not only to you and me, but people with disabilities affecting their vision, hand dexterity, etc... I don't think that the internet should be an exclusive thing.

The other, and less important reason, is money. Standard's based websites are much smaller in size than non-standard's based websites meaning less bandwidth is being used up. Not only that, but standard's based websites are loved by search engines, the content is there and very clear because it's separate from the styling, so more clients/consumers are arriving at your site. Want another reason? Well updates are going to be cheaper because it takes much less time to redesign/update a standard's based site.

Show me what you've got

Style Separate From Content

Code complies to W3 standards for xHTML 1.0 with a Strict doctype.

This Makes:

Accesskeys

Need to jump to another page quickly? Go ahead and use "Alt" + "1" through "6" on this site ("Ctrl" on Mac). No need to scroll back up to get to the navigation.

Alternate Text

All non text-based objects on the page should have an alternate description just incase the user is viewing the website through a screen reader. Not only that, but what if your image or flash navigation doesn't load? People should still be able to view your site!

Form Fields

Labels
Any text associated with a form field, when clicked, takes you to that input field.
Field Focus
Notice how sometimes you have to click in that first field of a contact form to type a message? If it's done right, that cursor should already be blinking in that name field! (unless of course the first field is below the average screen height)

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    About the Designer

    My name is Robert Spangler and I am a Full Sail graduate with a degree in Digital Media. I specialize in interface design, web design, and print. Still need more?

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