If you've visited the blog in the couple of months since its launch, you will have noticed that the site wasn't very intuitive to navigate and there were a fair few wonky bits held together with sellotape and crossed fingers.
After several weeks of blood, sweat, tears, and copious quantities of tea, I can finally release this shiny new blog out into the wild!
I'm not a natural at coding or web design as brain fog and dyscalculia conspire to make it as tricky as possible. With the help of an ace template by BloggerTemplates, and some wise advice from the lovely Eve at Fearne Creative Design, it is finally ready.
One of the most important changes to the new blog was increased accessibility. I have tried to implement the kinds of tools that I would find beneficial as a reader, and the biggest of these is the new TTS function. With help from the kind folks at websitevoice.com I have been able to add a 'read it aloud' function to each of the information pages and all of the full blog posts. This way, anyone whose ability to read print fluctuates day to day can choose between reading the reviews, listening to them, or reading along while listening - which I know helps many people to focus on the text. More information about this function can be found on the 'Accessibility' section of the main menu, under the 'Info' tab.
The 'recent posts' carousel at the top of the page scrolls through a few of the latest reviews to help you discover a new favourite listen, and there's a lot of info in the Audiobook FAQ about the different ways to listen to audiobooks and podcasts, my current favourites, and the best audiobook deals!
The new design integrates all the features of the full site on the mobile view so it should make it much easier to browse reviews by category, search for specific books or authors, and subscribe to the email newsletter. (Though do please check your spam folder for the link to confirm your subscription!).
There may be one or two gremlins lurking within the fresh pages of this new site, all of which I hope to have packed off to live on a very nice farm somewhere very shortly. If you spot one before I do, please do not feed it and report the sighting to pest control.
I hope you enjoy the new site, and would love to hear your thoughts on the revamp via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or the comments below.
Time to celebrate with a cup of tea and a good audiobook. After all this faffing it's no wonder that I'm Hearing Things again...
After several weeks of blood, sweat, tears, and copious quantities of tea, I can finally release this shiny new blog out into the wild!
I'm not a natural at coding or web design as brain fog and dyscalculia conspire to make it as tricky as possible. With the help of an ace template by BloggerTemplates, and some wise advice from the lovely Eve at Fearne Creative Design, it is finally ready.
One of the most important changes to the new blog was increased accessibility. I have tried to implement the kinds of tools that I would find beneficial as a reader, and the biggest of these is the new TTS function. With help from the kind folks at websitevoice.com I have been able to add a 'read it aloud' function to each of the information pages and all of the full blog posts. This way, anyone whose ability to read print fluctuates day to day can choose between reading the reviews, listening to them, or reading along while listening - which I know helps many people to focus on the text. More information about this function can be found on the 'Accessibility' section of the main menu, under the 'Info' tab.
The 'recent posts' carousel at the top of the page scrolls through a few of the latest reviews to help you discover a new favourite listen, and there's a lot of info in the Audiobook FAQ about the different ways to listen to audiobooks and podcasts, my current favourites, and the best audiobook deals!
The new design integrates all the features of the full site on the mobile view so it should make it much easier to browse reviews by category, search for specific books or authors, and subscribe to the email newsletter. (Though do please check your spam folder for the link to confirm your subscription!).
There may be one or two gremlins lurking within the fresh pages of this new site, all of which I hope to have packed off to live on a very nice farm somewhere very shortly. If you spot one before I do, please do not feed it and report the sighting to pest control.
I hope you enjoy the new site, and would love to hear your thoughts on the revamp via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or the comments below.
Time to celebrate with a cup of tea and a good audiobook. After all this faffing it's no wonder that I'm Hearing Things again...
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