I get that the “Woo, let’s all pile on 24ways.org” thing is well over a week old, but it’s only just now that I’ve sat down and thought about what it is precisely that gets up my nose about the……

However, I’m not sure a low profile site could have gotten away with it, and grey on grey does pose some issues. I’d not concede though that I can read the RSS feed for content, that’s almost a negligent statement concerning usability and accessibility – I’m kind of surprised you said that. Would that statement apply to any site, if we can read RSS feeds then they’re alright? WCAG anyone? But that wasn’t the point of the post… sorry.

It’s one of those things about websites though that often people overlook. Success needs to be a measurable thing – if your business case is being proved then you’re meeting your goals. Innovation can be a good tool. But it also poses risks. But in one sense business success is all we’re asked to do. In another sense – chairs with 3 legs are just harder to sit on, right?

Could I ask your opinion of WCAG (either one)? Just in passing.

If the visual design isn’t to your tastes, the RSS feed offers full content with no design (and always has).

As far as the success of the relaunch goes, traffic has increased twofold this year, which I attribute partly to the visual redesign, partly to the better IA we’ve introduced, and partly to the immediacy and viral effects of Twitter.