What is the term for web sites that have application software built into the site for visitors to use?

A website is a group of globally accessible, interlinked web pages which have a single domain name. It can be developed and maintained by an individual, business or organization. The website aims to serve a variety of purposes. Example: Blogs.

A website is hosted on a single or multiple web server. It is accessible via a network like the Internet or a private local area network via IP address.

In this tutorial, you will learn,

What is a Web Application?

A web application is a software or program which is accessible using any web browser. Its frontend is usually created using languages like HTML, CSS, Javascript, which are supported by major browsers. While the backend could use any programming stack like LAMP, MEAN, etc. Unlike mobile apps, there is no specific SDK for developing web applications.

Web Applications came to prominence with the advent of Software as a Service (SaaS) movement.

Why you need a Website?

Here, are prime reasons why you need a website:

  • An effective method to showcase your products and services
  • Developing a site helps you to create your social proof
  • Helps you in branding your business
  • Helps you to achieve your business goals
  • Allows you to increase your customer support

Why you need a Web Application?

Web applications are more popular because of the following reasons:

  • Compared to desktop applications, web applications are easier to maintain by as they use the same code in the entire application. There are no compatibility issues.
  • Web applications can be used on any platform: Windows, Linux, Mac… as they all support modern browsers.
  • Mobile App store approval not required in web applications.
  • Released any time and in any form. No need to remind users to update their applications.
  • You can access these web applications 24 hours of the day and 365 days a year from any PC.
  • You can either make use of the computer or your mobile device to access the required data.
  • Web applications are a cost-effective option for any organization. Seat Licenses for Desktop software are expensive where SasS, are generally, pay as you go.
  • Web-Based Apps are Internet-enabled apps that are accessed through the mobile’s web browser. Therefore, you don’t require to download or install them.
What is the term for web sites that have application software built into the site for visitors to use?
Guru99 is a website while Salesforce is a Web Application

Characteristics Of Website

  • Quality and relevant Web Content is which richly displayed.
  • User-friendly navigation and web design
  • Can be easily searched using search engines like Google.

Characteristics Of Web Application

  • Cloud-hosted and highly scalable
  • Mostly Cross-platform
  • Modular and loosely coupled
  • It is easily tested with automated tests.

Web Application vs. Website

What is the term for web sites that have application software built into the site for visitors to use?

Below given are the prime difference between web application and web site:

Parameter Web Application Website
Created for A web application is designed for interaction with the end user A website mostly consists of static content. It is publicly accessible to all the visitors.
User interaction In a web application, the user not only read the page content but also manipulate the restricted data. A website provides visual & text content which user can view and read, but not affect it ‘s functioning.
Authentication Web applications need authentication, as they offer a much broader scope of options than websites. Authentication is not obligatory for informational websites. The user may ask to register to get a regular update or to access additional options. This features not available for the unregistered website visitors.
Task and Complexity Web application functions are quite higher and complex compared to a website. The website displays the collected data and information on a specific page.
Type of software The web application development is part of the website. It is itself not a complete website. The website is a complete product, which you access with the help of your browser.
Compilation The site must be precompiled before deployment The site doesn’t need to be pre-compiled
Deployment All changes require the entire project to be re-compiled and deployed. Small changes never require a full re-compilation and deployment. You just need to update the HTML code.

Disadvantages of Website

  • A website can crash which is not good for anyone. It is the biggest disadvantage for your business
  • Contact form published on your website may invite lots of unwanted spam e-mails.
  • The information on any website might be unreliable if it is not updated regularly.

Disadvantages of Web Application

  • Security is not guaranteed, so it is vulnerable for unauthorized access.
  • The web app may not support multiple browsers with equal precedence.
  • The web application is built explicitly for a certain operating system, so it is difficult to discover from the app store.
  • Limited scope to access the device’s features.

Summary:

  • A website is a group of globally accessible, interlinked web pages which have a single domain name.
  • A web application is a software or program which is accessible using any web browser.
  • Developing your website helps you in branding your business.
  • App store approval not required in web applications
  • Quality and relevant Web Content are the most important characteristics of a good web site.
  • Cloud-hosted and highly scalable are the most vital characteristics of a good web application.

When websites and web tools are properly designed and coded, people with disabilities can use them. However, currently many sites and tools are developed with accessibility barriers that make them difficult or impossible for some people to use.

Making the web accessible benefits individuals, businesses, and society. International web standards define what is needed for accessibility.

Page Contents

The power of the Web is in its universality.
Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect.

Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the World Wide Web

The Web is fundamentally designed to work for all people, whatever their hardware, software, language, location, or ability. When the Web meets this goal, it is accessible to people with a diverse range of hearing, movement, sight, and cognitive ability.

Thus the impact of disability is radically changed on the Web because the Web removes barriers to communication and interaction that many people face in the physical world. However, when websites, applications, technologies, or tools are badly designed, they can create barriers that exclude people from using the Web.

Accessibility is essential for developers and organizations that want to create high-quality websites and web tools, and not exclude people from using their products and services.

What is Web Accessibility

Web accessibility means that websites, tools, and technologies are designed and developed so that people with disabilities can use them. More specifically, people can:

  • perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web
  • contribute to the Web

Web accessibility encompasses all disabilities that affect access to the Web, including:

  • auditory
  • cognitive
  • neurological
  • physical
  • speech
  • visual

Web accessibility also benefits people without disabilities, for example:

  • people using mobile phones, smart watches, smart TVs, and other devices with small screens, different input modes, etc.
  • older people with changing abilities due to ageing
  • people with “temporary disabilities” such as a broken arm or lost glasses
  • people with “situational limitations” such as in bright sunlight or in an environment where they cannot listen to audio
  • people using a slow Internet connection, or who have limited or expensive bandwidth

For a 7-minute video with examples of how accessibility is essential for people with disabilities and useful for everyone in a variety of situations, see:

What is the term for web sites that have application software built into the site for visitors to use?
Web Accessibility Perspectives Video (YouTube)

Accessibility is Important for Individuals, Businesses, Society

The Web is an increasingly important resource in many aspects of life: education, employment, government, commerce, health care, recreation, and more. It is essential that the Web be accessible in order to provide equal access and equal opportunity to people with diverse abilities. Access to information and communications technologies, including the Web, is defined as a basic human right in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD).

The Web offers the possibility of unprecedented access to information and interaction for many people with disabilities. That is, the accessibility barriers to print, audio, and visual media can be much more easily overcome through web technologies.

Accessibility supports social inclusion for people with disabilities as well as others, such as:

  • older people
  • people in rural areas
  • people in developing countries

There is also a strong business case for accessibility. As shown in the previous section, accessible design improves overall user experience and satisfaction, especially in a variety of situations, across different devices, and for older users. Accessibility can enhance your brand, drive innovation, and extend your market reach.

Web accessibility is required by law in many situations.

Making the Web Accessible

Web accessibility depends on several components working together, including web technologies, web browsers and other "user agents", authoring tools, and websites.

The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) develops technical specifications, guidelines, techniques, and supporting resources that describe accessibility solutions. These are considered international standards for web accessibility; for example, WCAG 2.0 is also an ISO standard: ISO/IEC 40500.

Making Your Website Accessible

Many aspects of accessibility are fairly easy to understand and implement. Some accessibility solutions are more complex and take more knowledge to implement.

It is most efficient and effective to incorporate accessibility from the very beginning of projects, so you don’t need go back and to re-do work.

Evaluating Accessibility

When developing or redesigning a website, evaluate accessibility early and throughout the development process to identify accessibility problems early, when it is easier to address them. Simple steps, such as changing settings in a browser, can help you evaluate some aspects of accessibility. Comprehensive evaluation to determine if a website meets all accessibility guidelines takes more effort.

There are evaluation tools that help with evaluation. However, no tool alone can determine if a site meets accessibility guidelines. Knowledgeable human evaluation is required to determine if a site is accessible.

What is the term for web sites that have application software built into the site for visitors to use?

Images should include equivalent alternative text (alt text) in the markup/code.

If alt text isn’t provided for images, the image information is inaccessible, for example, to people who cannot see and use a screen reader that reads aloud the information on a page, including the alt text for the visual image.

When equivalent alt text is provided, the information is available to people who are blind, as well as to people who turn off images (for example, in areas with expensive or low bandwidth). It’s also available to technologies that cannot see images, such as search engines.

Keyboard Input

What is the term for web sites that have application software built into the site for visitors to use?

Some people cannot use a mouse, including many older users with limited fine motor control. An accessible website does not rely on the mouse; it makes all functionality available from a keyboard. Then people with disabilities can use assistive technologies that mimic the keyboard, such as speech input.

Transcripts for Audio

What is the term for web sites that have application software built into the site for visitors to use?

Just as images aren’t available to people who can’t see, audio files aren’t available to people who can’t hear. Providing a text transcript makes the audio information accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing, as well as to search engines and other technologies that can’t hear.

It’s easy and relatively inexpensive for websites to provide transcripts. There are also transcription services that create text transcripts in HTML format.

W3C WAI provides a wide range of resources on different aspects of web accessibility standards, education, testing/evaluation, project management, and policy. We encourage you to explore this website, or look through the WAI Resources list.

Digital Accessibility Foundations - Free Online Course provides the foundation you need to make your digital technology accessible.

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