This is Devlin's blog

.CA is the only domain name reserved just for Canadians. It’s the online equivalent of wearing a Canadian flag on your backpack while travelling through Europe. If you are proud to be a Canadian owned business, it makes sense to have a .CA web address.

The CIRA, which stands for Canadian Internet Registration Association, offers memberships that ensure you get the most out of making the internet benefit you and your company. Resources, networking and exclusive information on digital issues are just some of the items you’ll get from joining this community of .CA web address holders.

Members also have the unique opportunity to shape the way Canadian culture is expressed online. Privacy concerns and internet best-practices, along with advanced technological devices are all important issues that are discussed by .CA members.

For more information on ways to get involved, check out: https://member.cira.ca/en/memberguide.html

Dx3, Canada’s first and only trade show dedicated to digital marketing, advertising and retailing was held last week in Toronto and Devlin was there to take it all in.

The two day event featured speakers, panels, contests and vendors from all over the country, who live, speak and breathe digital.  It was a fun opportunity to network with like-minded business professionals and share ideas, opinions and theories on where digital is at and where it’s heading.

Our favourite speaker was Day Two’s keynote, the CEO of Mountain Equipment Co-op, (MEC) David Labistour who spoke about the changing face of retail. He spoke passionately about the shift in control from retailers to consumers because of advances in technology and social media.

Today’s consumer has more information at their fingertips than every before, but less knowledge.  In order to benefit from this change, the retailer has to look at consumer’s transactions, instead of asking them about their purchasing habits. The truth is, purchasing habits are changing so quickly that consumers haven’t developed a buying pattern yet. Retailers need to use big data from these transactions to figure out the best way of targeting the consumer.

Loyalty is also fading as consumers are going to the cheapest retailer since it’s easy to compare prices online. Retailers must offer incentives to purchase from them, either through lower prices, promotions, or by offering a better in-store experience.

Stores need to become channels for content, that provide brand touch-points and make the consumer feel connected, even when he’s offline.  Lululemon is a good example of a store whose atmosphere mimics the products and lifestyle that it sells. Offering community yoga classes and running groups, it is a brand that practices what it preaches.

Social media, blogs and websites are excellent tools to enhance that brand experience while keeping messages integrated. MEC has seen its online growth skyrocket from 30% to 70% due to richer content which it shares in the form of personal stories through blogging and positive reviews through social media. MEC delivers the brand experience as close to what its consumers say it is, by listening to them through social media. Email is interesting as it can help drive sales but it’s not as engaging as Facebook as it’s only a one-way conversation.

Disruptive technologies are destroying industries. Your competition is now the world. Be prepared by listening to your customers and not subscribing to traditional marketing models. Organizations and industries need to be anti-fragile and grow with stress. Ultimately, a fundamental retooling of philosophy about the way we market our brand needs to occur in this changing digital landscape.

With the ubiquity of Instagram photos helping the amateur seem like Ansel Adams, the average mobile device needs to be armed with the latest in camera apps and accessories.

Enter the Olloclip lens for the iPhone. A light-weight multi-use lens that easily fits over the iPhone to create wide angle, macro and fisheye shots. At $70 it’s cheaper and more convenient than lugging around your Nikon D40.

Snapseed is a handy app from Google that lets you easily edit photos on your mobile device with the flick of a finger.  The variety of options available make it feel like Instagram on steroids. It’s surprisingly simple to use and to share your made-over masterpiece photos. Like the best things in life, Snapseed is free and promises to provide countless hours of editing entertainment.

Pixlr-o-matic is pretty cool too. It’s an app that focuses on filters and borders, offering numerous variations to spruce up your pictures. I particularly like how each filter is named after a person and is listed in alphabetical order, making it easy to remember your filter friends. My favourites are Hagrid, Karen and Sophia. The borders ranging from frosted to whimsical, supply endless ways to make that cappuccino look like a piece of art.

The days when you used to save up for that $500 camera and $400 Photoshop Creative Suite are fading. They are being replaced with the ability to capture moments that make the every day more exciting. So snap away, share and smile.

Devlin Digital is very pleased to lend a help to those in Toronto most committed to tearing down, smashing up, crashing through (need I go on?) barriers. ‘Access for One – Access for All’ has long been a mantra here in the Studio.  There is much to do to support the tireless work of those in the digital accessibility camp, not only here in Toronto, but across the country and around the world. Let’s all put our heads and hearts together to devise ever greater improvements.

En Garde D’Artagnan!  En Garde Jennison! All for One and One for All…

Startup Raising Accessibility Announces Whitepaper on Mobile App Design for Blind Users and the Senior Demographic

Guest Post By Sean Power

Raising Accessibility, a startup app development firm devoted to providing technological solutions that make life easier for the accessibility community and senior demographic, today announced the results of a low vision iPhone usability study that offers app makers recommendations for mobile developers looking to create barrier free apps.

The whitepaper was developed in conjunction with inclusive design experts, including accessibility consultant and organizer of the Toronto Accessibility & Inclusive Design Meetup group George Zamfir, man behind the accessibility-consulting firm Good Wally. The study took place in the Usability Lab at award-winning digital agency Devlin Digital. The Devlin Usability Lab was among the first of its kind in Canada.

Download Mobile App Design and Functionality for Low Vision Users .

By the numbers:

285 million people worldwide are visually impaired.

516 million people worldwide are age 65 and over.

13% of people age 65+ in America own a smartphone.

31% of people age 55-64 own a smartphone.

We believe that it is only through active collaboration with mobile developers, user experience experts, and the accessibility community that true inclusive design will be achieved.

This whitepaper offers several recommendations to developers and designers based on observations from a November 2012 usability study. The study observed eight subjects with different types of blindness as they interacted with a prototype iPhone magnifier app.

App makers with global endeavours need to keep this population segment in mind when designing and developing their app. The recommendations in the whitepaper we released today identify opportunities for app developers to optimize user experience for a wider and inclusive user base:

1. Make the most of audible and haptic (vibrating) alerts.

Developers should incorporate sounds and beeps to inform users when they have performed specific tasks or interactions. Equally important, though often overlooked, is a set of sounds and beeps that indicate when the app is waiting for input before performing a specific function.

2.  Use custom multi-touch gestures to improve navigation.

Multi-touch gestures simplify navigation and create shortcuts for users. Custom gestures can replace the need to see a user interface. Including a set of gestures ensures a great user experience and high user retention for individuals who experience low vision.

3.  Use high contrast, large buttons.

Designers who love slick interfaces avoid large buttons and constrain themselves to specific contrast colors. Everybody’s eyes work differently. Adding the ability to change contrast colors empowers users to tailor their experience of your app.

4.  Think twice about how your app uses the camera.

Most devices position the camera lens off-centre. This position is not intuitive to low vision users, especially those users who are new to mobile devices. If your app uses the device’s camera, think about how obstacles associated with position and lighting might be overcome.

5.  Consider how spatial awareness might impact how users interact with your app.

Subjects using the iPhone magnifier app were unsure where to hold the device relative to their face. Most subjects experimented with distance until they found an optimal length. This length varied from test to test, from person to person, and from task to task. Consider making a flexible and fluid interface that accommodates personal preference. Make it easy for users to find consistency.

Following these recommendations will go a long way in making mobile experiences equally enjoyable regardless of ability.

We encourage all developers to join us in making the mobile world barrier free. Let’s make assistive technology an obsolete term.

Sean Power is a marketing consultant and the Project Lead for the Raising Accessibility research paper titled Mobile App Design and Functionality for Low Vision Users. Sean sits on the Board of Directors and the Accessibility Committee for a local meal kitchen whose patrons and volunteers often experience low vision. Sean works with an African health charity with whom he recently hosted a panel discussion on working with people with disabilities in international development.

Sean Power breaks down barriers.

Raspberry, Blueberry, BlackBerry: A Brief Review of BlackBerry 10.

Guest post by Jeff Beemer & Raymond Bach

Yesterday marked what will either be a new beginning or the end for Blackberry maker Research In Motion. As many of us already know, the Waterloo, Ontario based company released their much anticipated (and arguably behind schedule) Blackberry 10.

RIM had been facing turmoil while trying to keep up with Apple IOS and Google Android operating systems. BlackBerry has remained at the top of the game for security and communication applications, which has allowed the company to maintain contracts with the business and corporate side of the market. This doesn’t help much when it’s the flash and bang that the consumer market craves, which is where Blackberry has lacked in the quickly evolving market of Smart and Super phones.

It seems that RIM has improved on their weaknesses though. BlackBerry has lacked in their availability of apps. Apple’s App Store and the Google Play store already have hundreds of thousands of apps available in their stores. That’s all fine and good, but much of those numbers fall on apps that are simply garbage. It is predicted that BlackBerry will focus on the main apps that the user tends to want and keep on their phone, not the flash in the pan app that gets deleted after a couple weeks (cough* Draw Something *cough).

This continues into the world of developers. RIM has reached out to developers through events and incentives for developing quality apps for the BlackBerry. RIM has been adding incentives to developers as well, by allowing them financial compensation to “port-over” their apps from one platform to the BlackBerry platform. You’re a developer with a great Android app? For a Robert Borden ($100), RIM wants your app!

The operating system is clearly strong. While Apple and Android struggle with running more than one application at a time on their screen, RIM has made attempts to be able to run multiple apps at once. Their organization of these apps is like using a computer. Think of “Spaces” on a Macbook. BlackBerry has managed to apply this concept of a quick swipe to bring up multiple applications at once and run them all within the same screen!

But that’s not all! The BlackBerry 10 seems to excel over its competitors in organization. This is obvious with their new hub. It groups together all your communication apps in a simple location.  Facebook, SMS, text, email, twitter, etc. are all grouped together in a simple list. You can access your Facebook and post your status without closing other apps.

Overall, it seems the BlackBerry 10 is poised to give Apple and Android devices a run for their money. But that will be up to the consumer, not the developers.