Avoid the Aweber LightBox sign up box at all costs - for the sake of humanity
Children of the Internet, put down your drinks, put iTunes on mute and pay good attention. The "big players" of the blogging world have suddenly discovered LightBox and a company called Aweber have turned it into a bundled package of evil.
For those who don't know what LightBox is; it was a Javascript enhanced piece of website layout that allows a new layer to overlay the entire visible page thus taking user focus to the item in question. This was originally used for images (see the original LightBox implementation) but people soon used similar effects for other things. I use it a lot in my work as a web developer - in fact a site we recently launched (Nido Student Living) has the effect when you click "Where Next" in the header.
It's great for enhancing a specific call to action or enriching user experience for media. However, upon visiting John Chow's site today I was greeted with this blatent disregard for the user:
The reasons this makes me upset
1. It's a popup, these are invasive and show a lack of respect for the user
2. John's site loads pretty slowly, so the site essentially loads and then it leaps out at you
3. In Firefox (as well as Opera, maybe more too) you can't actually see the close button, as the layer is incorrectly sized so all you see is scroll bars and the form
So as a user it's on a par with people installing popup advertising on their website, something I find unforgivable.
As a web developer it's poorly implemented and looks sore. As an accessibility enthusiast (it's part of my job, obviously) it's appalling because this layer appears without any clear way of getting rid of it. In Opera the scroll bars refused to work while the page continued to load - something that takes a long time on John's advertising-rich site.
So please bloggers, I emplore you to ignore the quotes that John and Darren (Rowse) have about how well it increases subscription numbers. It's evil for aesthetics, usability, accessibility and reader confidence. It's so bad that if I was visiting an unfamiliar site and it popped up, I'd close the browser tab and never return.
Don't alienate thousands of potential readers just for an extra couple of subscribers - it isn't worth it.
Enjoy this article? Why not subscribe to the full RSS feed?





Showing most recent 20 of 82 comments [View all comments]
styler they're ghd uk accusing you of suspicious behavior in the women's lingerie changing cheapest ghd straighteners
uk There is nothing so wrong in this world that a sensible woman can't set it right cheapest ghd mk4
straighteners in the course of an afternoon.
To buy discount Louis vuitton handbag on line,cheap Louis vuitton bag on sale~! buy this louis vuitton Purse online,discount discount Louis vuitton handbag for sale cheap Louis vuitton handbag online sale Louis Vuitton replica handbag cheap sale Louis Vuitton handbag sale fake discount Louis vuitton bag online,buy replica cheap Louis vuitton bag for cheap,discount Louis Vuitton replica bag on sale.buy replica Louis Vuitton bag sale on line. buy LV discount handbags for cheap, buy LV handbags online on sale cheap LV handbags on sale for sale~! discount LV handbags cheap on sale for sale. buy cheap buy discount louis vuitton handbags online. discount very cheap LV handbags on sale~! cheap designer fake LV handbags cheap for sale. buy buy discount LV handbags online.discount cheap louis vuitton handbags on sale for sale~! cheap very cheap louis vuitton handbags for sale! buy cheap buy louis vuitton discount handbags online. discout cheap LV handbags replica for sale. buy cheap louis vuitton handbags on sale online. discount fake designer louis vuitton handbags on sale! best replica louis vuitton handbags cheap on sale on sale! buy replica cheap fake LV handbags online. discount designer discount fake designer louis vuitton handbags on sale on sale! buy designer louis vuitton fake handbags online. cheap louis vuitton handbags for cheap for sale! designer cheap fake louis vuitton handbags for sale! buy discount fake louis vuitton handbags cheap online. buy cheap louis vuitton handbags knockoffs. discount fake LV handbags on sale on sale~! buy discount LV handbags for cheap online. cheap cheap louis vuitton handbags replica for sale~! cheap designer designer louis vuitton handbags on sale~! buy designer good knock off louis vuitton handbags online. discount fashion louis vuitton handbags for sale~! buy louis vuitton handbags online online sale. cheap designer fake louis vuitton handbags for sale~! discount designer LV handbags on sale~! designer LV fake handbags online sale~! buy discount cheap designer louis vuitton handbags online. cheap fake designer LV handbags on sale for sale. fake designer louis vuitton handbags on sale for cheap, good knock off LV handbags on sale LV handbags knockoffs for sale~! discount cheap designer LV handbags for sale. buy cheap fashion LVn handbags online. discount designer fake LV handbags on sale~! cheap designer fake designer LV handbags on sale for sale. buy discount fake designer LV handbags on sale online.discount louis vuitton handbags clearance for sale~! cheap LV handbags clearance for sale!
ghd hair Straighteners
ghd mk4
GHD straighteners wholesale
GHD styler
GHD IV styler
GHD Babyliss Hair Straighteners
GHD IV Mini Styler
GHD IV Salon Styler
GHD IV Styler Mk4 Black
GHD IV Styler MK4 Dark
GHD IV Styler MK4 Gold
GHD IV Styler MK4 Kiss
GHD IV Styler MK4 Pink
GHD IV Styler MK4 Pure
GHD IV Styler MK4 Purple
GHD IV Styling Set
GHD MK5 Black
GHD MK5 Dark
GHD MK5 White
New GHD RARE Styler
GHD Precious Gift Set
GHD Benefit
GHD Pretty in Pink
GHD RARE Styler
Instyler Rotating Hot Iron
New Instyler Rotating Hot Iron
Newest Instyler Rotating Hot Iron
Very happy I can comment here!
Best wishes for this year.
That's awesome! I can't wait to get into it.
Tiffany Charms, romance and dreams as the theme, but the wind reputation for nearly two centuries Tiffany Bracelet. It is full of sensual Tiffany Sets and Tiffany Rings, delicate sensibility to meet all of the world women's fantasies and desires.Tiffany Earrings is currently only nine stores in mainland China: Chengdu 1, Shenyang Zhuo show one, two Beijing, Tianjin and one, two Shanghai, Qingdao 1, Hangzhou 1. Tiffany Necklace silver to buy the remaining channels may be fake Tiffany Pendant, please note Tiffany Accessories identification .From the leisure clothing brand Gucci some brand history.Gucci Shoes he opened the first store to launch a series of iconic products.All the avant-garde techniques used on denim today make it a way to turn heads while maintaining a level of comfort not normally associated with fashion. G Star Raw is a frontrunner in the denim design race. For G Star Fall 2010 Collection, they are presenting the Jeans G Star and more sophisticated side of denim,The G Star sale Fall/Winter G Star shop and G Star jeans Collections demonstrates the fusion of G Star jacket,G Star t shirts elegant tailoring and G Star clothing in vibrant colors.G Star shoes Eye-catching metallic washes and G Star raw clothing further enhance the G Star raw jacket, highlighting the G Star raw jeans and G Star raw denim that is distinctively G Star raw t shirts. The urban feel that is always G Star raw shoes is still present,but the G Star Mens and G Star Womens are clean and can serve as perfect additions to your G Star Accessories.and shamwow.the wind reputation for nearly twoiphone revolution
china coach purses
buy china coach purses
wholesale coach purses
buy designer coach purses
buy designer coach handbags
buy designer coach bags
coach of new york
i like coach
coach nice
buy nice coach handbags
444 nike max
air max shoes
nike air max
nike max shoes
air max 1
nike air max 1
air max 2
nike air max 2
air max 89
nike air max 89
air max 90
nike air max 90
air max 91
nike air max 91
air max 95
nike air max 95
air max 97
nike air max 97
air max 180
nike air max 180
air max 360
nike air max 360
air max 2003
nike air max 2003
air max 2009
nike air max 2009
air max ltd
nike air max ltd
air max tn
nike air max tn
air max tailwind
nike air max tailwind
womens air max 1
womens air max 90
womens air max 95
womens air max BW
womens air max LTD
womens air max TN
womens air max 360
womens air max 2003
womens air max 2007
womens air max 2009