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What Are the Best Free FTP Clients? Our Top 5
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What Are the Best Free FTP Clients? Our Top 5

by Adrian Ababei on Apr 12 2016

A FTP Client is the software program you use to transfer files to and from your server or web host. Other more secure alternatives can include FTPS and SFTP.

What to look for in a FTP Client:

Having a GUI: This is a big plus when it comes to FTP clients. Some FTP clients offer a regular command-line interface but a graphical user interface is the norm nowadays – it’s also much easier to use and faster.

Supporting secure file transfer protocols: Plain FTP isn’t really secure – it doesn’t encrypt the data you’re transferring. As such, your data can become compromised en route to the server or web host. If that happens, just about anyone can read your username and password.

SFTP or SHH File Transfer Protocol is a more secure alternative to plain old FTP.

1. FileZilla

FileZilla is a free open source FTP client. FileZilla is fast and able to handle multi-threaded transfers or simultaneous transmissions. If security is your thing, FileZilla also supports FTPS and SFTP. This free FTP client is also available on all operating systems – Linux, Mac OS and Windows.

2. Cyberduck

Cyberduck can handle tons of simultaneous file transferring: Amazon S3, WebDav, SFTP and more. This FTP client features a minimalist UI, making it very easy to use. It’s available on Mac OS and Windows.

3. FireFTP

FireFTP is a Mozilla Firefox add-on with a strong SFTP/FTP client right in your browser. FireFTP is available on all platforms which run FireFox, including Linux, Mac OS and Windows.

4. Classic FTP

Classic FTP is free for non-commercial use. It features a very simple and intuitive interface, making it easy to use even for beginners. This file transfer client also features a “Compare Directories” feature which is quite useful – this feature helps you see any differences between your remote files and your local files. Classic FTP is available on Mac OS and Windows.

5. WinSCP

WinSCP is a very popular FTP client simply due to its long list of features. WinSCP can handle multiple file transfer protocols such as WebDav, FTP, SCP and SFTP. You can also make quick text edits with WinSCP’s built in text editor. Scripting support is available for power users on this Windows-only FTP client.

6. Transmit

Transmit is a very popular FTP client used by most developers on Mac OS. Although all of the FTP clients included in this list are free, Transit will set you back around $35 – it might not be the best choice for everyone but it does offer quite a few innovative features along with its user friendliness.

 

 

 

 

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The Ultimate Guide to Canadian Web Accessibility Laws

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By supporting your visitors to overcome accessibility barriers in their interaction with your site, you position your brand as a trustful one. Therefore, the benefits of web accessibility extend to your business as well, not only your website's users.  Web content accessibility doesn't just include people with disabilities. It also refers to content that can be easily understood and interacted with by smartphone users, elderly people, persons with low literacy, or those who have low English skills.  An accessible website includes the following: ALT text for all types of images Captions and transcripts for audio and video content to help persons with disabilities, hearing loss, or low English skills understand the information provided.  Link names that contain meaningful and descriptive text which can be easily interpreted by screen readers. Relevant, appropriately formatted headlines that help people with disabilities that use assistive software easily find the information they are interested in. This accessibility step also improves your SEO and SERP rankings.  Use meaningful link texts that clearly describe what the URL i about. Try to include specific keyword and avoid raw URLs.  Clear website instructions that make your users' interactions with your site more straightforward and streamlined.    What is accessible content? Maybe your website is an Ecommerce platform, or it might be a publishing site on various topics. Regardless of its scope, your website has to provide clear, meaningful, and concise content in order to be considered accessible.  As a content editor, you need to pay attention to how you write your copy so that it is always: Perceivable. Website users should easily perceive any piece of content that is presented on the site. Operable. When structured, a site's content should focus on operability. 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According to the Canadian Standard on Web Accessibility, all Governments of Canada websites and web applications must conform to WCAG 2.0 Level AA.  Note: This does not apply to any business outside the government.    Provincial regulations The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) established in 2005 was the first provincial accessibility law and is currently the only provincial law with an explicit digital accessibility element.  Public sector organizations, private, and non-profit organizations with more than 50 employees need to comply to AODA regulations. 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The ACA encourages the Government of Canada to collaborate with stakeholders and persons with disabilities to create new accessibility regulations for private or non-profit organizations, banking, telecommunications, or transportation industries.  To discover the right direction of the ACA development, the Government of Canada asked its citizens what an accessible Canada meant to them. 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10 Best Practices for Making Web Icons Accessible

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