As the games on the website are largely designed for use with touch screen monitors, I decided to add an Amazon banner to the sidebar showing touch screen monitor product links. Unfortunately, the generated banner code also includes an awful flashing “free delivery” graphic at the top. The Web Accessibility Initiative guidelines state that for a website to be accessible “any moving, blinking or scrolling information that (1) starts automatically, (2) lasts more than five seconds, and (3) is presented in parallel with other content, there is a mechanism for the user to pause, stop, or hide it unless the movement, blinking, or scrolling is part of an activity where it is essential” (link to this guideline here).

So, I contacted Amazon, explained the accessibility dilemma and asked if they would provide an accessible banner that doesn’t flash.

This morning, I received an email from them saying that they “appreciated my needs as an individual” (!) but couldn’t provide me with a personalised banner and suggest that I make my own accessible banner. Think they might have missed the point a little, so I emailed them back with more information about the WAI guidelines and reminded them that this banner would be useful for anyone who uses these guidelines to build an accessible website, not just me.

Anyway, as I’m not really expecting them to change their mind, I decided to take their advice in creating my own banner. I’m using the “recommended product” widget, which dynamically shows a number of touch screen monitors. The code Amazon give for placement on my a website looks a little something like this:

<iframe src="http://rcm-uk.amazon.co.uk/e/cm?t=specialneedssoftware-21&o=2&p=14&l=st1&mode=electronics-uk&search=touch%20screen%20monitor&fc1=000000&lt1=&lc1=3366FF&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" width="160" height="600" border="0" frameborder="0" style="border:none;" scrolling="no"></iframe>

All I wanted to do was get rid of the animated ‘free delivery’ graphic, so I created my own static ‘free delivery’ graphic by downloading their one and removing the animation frames. I uploaded the new static banner to my own website and created a PHP page that looked for the reference to their animated banner and replaced it with my own, then outputs the new banner:

$contents = file_get_contents('http://rcm-uk.amazon.co.uk/e/cm?t=specialneedssoftware-21&o=2&p=14&l=st1&mode=electronics-uk&search=touch%20screen%20monitor&fc1=000000&lt1=&lc1=3366FF&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr');
echo str_replace('http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/associates/recommends/recommends_160x80.gif','http://www.special-needs-software.co.uk/recommends_160x80.gif',$contents);

Then instead of putting the IFRAME containing their banner on my website, I put an IFRAME containing my PHP page.

code><iframe src=”http://www.special-needs-software.co.uk/amazon.php” marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ width=”160″ height=”600″ border=”0″ frameborder=”0″ style=”border:none;” scrolling=”no”></iframe>

And it works a treat!

Animator vs Animation by Alan Becker

Animator vs Animation 2 by Alan Becker

Enjoy!

The plugin is called Kimili Flash Embed and you can install it through WordPress Admin > Plugins > Add New, then search for the “Kimili Flash Embed”.

New 'f' button appears after plugin installation

Once the plugin has been installed and activated, you’ll find a new button has appeared in your post/page editor with an ‘F’.  The first step is to upload your flash movie (either through FTP or using the Media Uploader in WordPress).  Then, click the new F button and complete the fields (swf file location, movie size etc.) to embed your flash movie.

So, what do you do if YOU get this email about YOUR website?

Firstly, you need to identify the problem.  It’s fairly unlikely that there’s any malware on your website; instead, it’s far more likely that a script has been inserted into one or more of your web pages that connects to a different website, where the malware is actually hosted.

If you’ve received the email from Google and h ave set up Google Webmaster Tools, you should be able to get a better idea of what’s happening.  Then, I’d suggest doing a quick Google search using the information you do have, to see if you can find out more information about the problem and what the solution might be.  If the attack is due to a vulnerability in your system (e.g. Oscommerce) it’s highly likely to be affecting other websites, so you may well find quite a lot of information.

You should let your hosting company know that there’s a problem, as it may turn out to be their server that’s infected.  Even if it isn’t, they may still be able to help with fixing the problem.

You’ll need to change all your passwords – control panel, FTP and admin areas.  Ask your hosting company if you’re not sure how to do this.  You should also run a virus scan on your own computer, to make sure you aren’t infected with something that’s allowing someone access to your passwords.

Now, onto the website itself.  You’ll need to remove any malicious lines of code throughout your entire site – this can be a big job if your site is large.  Ask your hosting company if they can do a search & replace!  Failing that, use FTP software such as Filezilla to download a copy of your website and remove the affected code manually.  Take a backup of the files you’ve downloaded, in case it all goes horribly wrong

Re-upload your website files and your site should be infection free.  You will need to make sure that any vulnerabilities are fixed – what the vulnerability is, will depend on the infection – otherwise it will simply happen again.

Need a hand?  I’m available for hire for one-off jobs or ongoing maintenance.

1. Register your domain name
   Whether your choose your trading name or a name based on your keywords, your first step is to check it’s available then BUY it!  Domain names start at around £3 per year and can be purchased from websites such as 123-reg or Heart Internet.  There are plenty of other domain name registration companies out there, but these are two that I’ve used personally and can therefore recommend.
2. Choose your hosting company
   This is the magical part – I’m going to tell you where to find web hosting for an incredibly low price! Pop along to M8 Internet and you’ll find they have packages starting from £1 per year.  I’m not affiliated with M8 but I am a happy customer of theirs, which is why I’m happy to recommend them.  You can also register your domain through M8 and it sometimes is easier to keep everything in one place but that’s your choice!  There are other hosting companies which offer similar packages to M8, but I haven’t found anyone else who offers such good value.
3. Set up your website in a few easy clicks
   Once M8 (or your chosen web host) have created your hosting package and your domain is fully set up (it can take anything from a few minutes to a couple of days for your domain registration to work its way around the internet!), you’ll be able to login to your website control panel.  Scroll down and you’ll see a section called “E-commerce” and below that “CGI Scripts” – these contain several powerful website packages which will give you e-commerce capabilities … and won’t cost you a penny, due do them being “open source”.  I won’t tell you which package to choose, but Zen Cart and OsCommerce are very popular.  All you need to do is click on your choice of package and follow the simple instructions to have your website up and running in minutes.

The Web Accessibility Initiative develops and publishes a list of guidelines in web accessibility that are considered the international standard.  You can read the guidelines for yourself at http://www.w3.org/WAI/ along with some more information on why accessibility is important.

I’ve always found that the best way to make sure your website is accessible is to experience it through assistive technologies.  Download Thunder, a screen reader for Windows, then try navigating your website and see where you need to make improvements.

Download it for free here.

Great fun – have a go!!

All in One SEO Pack

Amongst other features, it allows you to add unique titles, meta descriptions and meta keywords to each of your pages.  Lots of other options to choose from!

To install on your WordPress site:

• Ggo into WP Admin, click Plugins then Add New
• Search for “All in one SEO“
• Click on “All in one SEO“, then click “Install“
• Once installed, just click “Activate Plugin” and adjust the settings as required in Settings > All in one SEO
• You’ll find you now have the ability to add unique meta titles, descriptions and keywords in each of your blog posts & pages.