Page 7248 – Amanda Unvarnished

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· 18 Adar II 5779 (Monday 25 March 2019) · 1 minute to read

I am so glad to be done working for today. Today was as crazy as Mondays usually are, except towards the end of the day things got very crazy very fast. I ended up multitasking during my last meeting, and we all know how dangerous multitasking can be. For now though, it’s time to think about dinner.

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Better Link Text: 4Ss for Encouraging Clicks

Amanda CAARSON

· 18 Adar II 5779 (Monday 25 March 2019) · 2 minutes to read

Better Link Labels: 4Ss for Encouraging Clicks by Kate Moran

Specific link text sets sincere expectations and fulfills them, and is substantial enough to stand alone while remaining succinct.

Link text which makes sense out of context is often cited as an accessibility concern. It’s not only an accessibility concern, it’s also beneficial for the people in your audience who do not have a disability of any kind. Like several of the other things which are primarily accessibility concerns but which also end up benefiting the rest of your audience, (captions for videos, transcription for audio, heading structure of your website as a whole and each piece of your content separately, just to name a few), it turns out that link text which can be made sense of out of context by assistive technology users are also a great way to increase clicks generally. Most people do not read an entire page on the web. They scan it instead, so links that make sense out of context, along with being distinguishable in othere ways from the rest of the text, (underlining links, anyone)? are more likely to capture the attention of your visitors than are links which have vague or repetative text as their label. I will note that you can’t take advantage of any of these benefits if your primary platform for content distribution is a social media presence as opposed to a website you own and control. (Indieweb for the win, again).

So, score one more for accessibility benefiting everyone. And, if you’re not doing so already, spend some time putting some thought into your link text. If you’re using social media as your personal or professional home on the web, here’s one more reason to consider either starting your own website, or hiring someone to build one for you.

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Amanda CAARSON

· 15 Adar II 5779 (Friday 22 March 2019) · 1 minute to read

I’ve achieved my maximum six hundred points for today, which means I’m tied in one Apple Watch challenge and kicking ass in the other. All my rings were closed by 1600, and I’ve just finished work for the week. Consequently it is time to do some serious resting and relaxing. I’ve been invited to socialize over the weekend and there is going to be good food and alcohol involved. I am looking forward to this. Shabbat shalom (a peaceful Sabbath) everyone, and I’ll see you on the other side.

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Amanda CAARSON

· 15 Adar II 5779 (Friday 22 March 2019) · 1 minute to read

I am participating in two Apple Watch challenges this week and I am determined to win them both. I’ve started spending some time on one of those indoor bikes with the handle bars that move your arms as well as your legs. I started Sunday and if I keep it going until Sunday I’ll have my first perfect exercise week, plus moving and standing perfection. admittedly yesterday was pretty hard, but I got on the bike this morning before work instead of after work, and that seems to have gone much better.

903 S Pugh St, State College, PA 16801

36 °F Cloudy

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Amanda CAARSON

· 15 Adar II 5779 (Friday 22 March 2019) · 1 minute to read

I’ve made a point of staying out of all political discussions as of late, but I’m looking at Twitter and seeing reports of someone who despises Trump as much as, (or more than), I do going out of their way to approach Eric Bolling at a Trump hotel to throw his son’s death by overdose in his face. I don’t care how you feel about any politician, right or left. Throwing the death of a child in their parent’s face, simply because you don’t like who they voted for or who they’re associated with is inexcusably way over the line. I haven’t scrolled much yet, but I’m sure there are people minimizing this and making excuses for it. There are no excuses which would make this acceptable, and if you’re minimizing it, you need to take a break from social media, or politics, or both, because that’s pretty damn low.