

(Rural) Web Site Design Guidelines - sixtofour
http://www.kawcitychamber.org/Guidlines_1.html

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ck2
BTW webpagetest.org can show you REAL 56k dialup waterfalls.

Another option might be to show users a link to the mobile version of your
website. Many people who don't use cellphones wouldn't realize there is
<http://amazon.mobi> for example.

I would think the biggest problem for dialup users is just large
graphics/flash.

So just make sure the html and stylesheet shows up first by using deferred
image loading and deferred external javascript by using a small javascript
embedded right into the parent html.

Unfortunately with the reliance on jquery these days, many people have
forgotten how to hand code small scripts like deferred image loading without
large libraries.

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spitfire
The very best website I have /ever/ seen is Berkshire Hathaway. Why? Because
it is precisely fit for purpose. It serves its need perfectly.

Likewise, I think more designers should pay attention to this outline. We
would be better served by less decoration and more content.

<http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/>

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xbryanx
Only a company as financially successful as Berkshire Hathaway could get away
with this non-existant branding. I doubt people would appreciate this spare
design from a consumer level bank.

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spitfire
What do you mean non-existent branding? That simple plain style IS berkshire
hathaway's brand. Read some of their annual reports. The website is a further
extension of that focus. As are their offices and business style.

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balanceiskey15
I'm saddened that these have to exist. We need to be pushing for better
broadband penetration.

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Vivtek
My dad lives far enough out that even the cable companies fear to go there -
there just plain isn't enough money to run all those miles of wire. (If it
weren't for rural electrification and good ol' socialism, I would have grown
up by candlelight.)

He's got Verizon GPRS broad(ish)band now. Pushing for broadband penetration is
missing the point; it might have made sense fifteen years ago, but now,
wireless has leapfrogged it - just as it did for voice throughout the Third
World, and for the same reasons.

If you're not from a rural area, I think it's difficult to comprehend just how
many miles there _are_ out there, and how few paying customers to foot the
bill.

A more realistic goal for rural communications would be to have Congress re-
subsidize daily postal delivery, to be honest.

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randomdata
I recently visited a farm in rural Saskatchewan, a province of vast areas of
farmland and only one million people residing within. Broadband was readily
available even way out on the farm. For comparison, the only US state with a
lower population density is Alaska.

I hale from rural Ontario and while our density is greater, we are still a
long way away from urban centres. Here, they are working on rolling out fibre
right to the farms. High speed DSL has been available for over a decade.

It really is difficult to comprehend that people are still using dialup.

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sixtofour
What gets broadband out that far, regulation or business motivation?

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randomdata
There is no regulation that I am aware of, though the government did provide
some assistance dollars a few years back. What is regulated is the price of
access, which does make rural access challenging – being forced to sell your
services at the same rate as those in the city.

In Ontario we had DSL access on the farms before the government programs were
created, so there is room for a business to make it work. What is different in
my area is that the customers own the telephone company, so that provides a
good motivator to provide the services that customers want, even if it means
lower profits at the end of the year.

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msisk6
Although this page isn't a very good example, the problem with the lack of any
sort of broadband in large swaths of rural American is a real issue. You don't
need to get far out of town before your options drop all the way down to
dialup or expensive high-latency two-way satellite.

Cellular wireless is what most folks I know out in the boonies use, and that
is a pretty frustrating experience with speeds and latency all over the place.

I recommended an iPad with 3G to a friend in Missouri and she loved it until a
tornado came along and blew the local 3G tower away. She's still waiting for
it to get rebuilt and has gone back to WebTV. Yes, it still exists.

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jhamburger
Hilarious that this site has advice about text readability

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donnacha
Rural Web Site CONTENT Guidelines

1\. Use simple words of no more that seven letters.

2\. Try to frame your points in terms of livestock and planting seasons.

3\. A photo of an attractive sheep will help retain the user's interest.

4\. Ask visitors to wipe their feet before entering your website.

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tpr1m
I thought it was funny.

