+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 23, Issue 17, October 23, 2024.

An email newsletter to distribute news and information about web design and development. 

++ISSUE 17 CONTENTS.

SECTION ONE: New references.
What's new at the Web Design Reference site?
https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/
New links in these categories:

01: ACCESSIBILITY.
02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.
03: EVENTS.
04: HTML.
05: INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE.
06: JAVASCRIPT.
07: MISCELLANEOUS.
08: NAVIGATION.
09: TYPOGRAPHY.
10: WEBWASTE & SUSTAINABILITY.

SECTION TWO: 
11: What Can You Find at the Web Design Reference Site?

[Contents ends.]


++ SECTION ONE: New references.

+01: ACCESSIBILITY.

Foundations: Form Validation and Error Messages
By Demelza Feltham. 
"…Accessible form validation and error messages come in two forms, in-line error messages, and post-submission error messages…"
https://tetralogical.com/blog/2024/10/21/foundations-form-validation-and-error-messages/

No Industry For Old Men (Video)
By Steve Faulkner.
"Having been in the accessibility field for far too long, I provide a retrospective of significant (for me) developments in relation to HTML… ARIA… Screen Readers… W3C…"
https://2024.stateofthebrowser.com/speaker/steve-faulkner/
Steve's slides:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1v1cXVvJlBH7M74tFlWAaM54A8Bb43nfZ/edit#slide=id.p1

Understanding VPATs and ACRs: Key Insights
By Nat Tarnoff.
"This week I had a bunch of requests from clients surrounding VPATs and ACRs. This article will be a living article where I'll post extra questions I receive as they come in…"
https://tarnoff.info/2024/10/14/understanding-vpats-and-acrs-key-insights/

Native Mobile App Accessibility - Choice of Platform Is Essential
By Bogdan Cerovac.
"Native mobile applications are often more focused and with that - less noisy for users (and I meant that visually and non-visually). But platform choices can lead to inevitable inaccessibility as some abstractions lack support…"
https://cerovac.com/a11y/2024/10/native-mobile-app-accessibility-choice-of-platform-is-essential/

Developing a Web Site Nonvisually in a Linux Environment
By Jason J.G. White.
"Now that this Web site is essentially functional, it is a suitable opportunity to document the decisions made in its initial development…"
https://jasonjgw.net/blog/technology/web-site-creation/

Evaluation of the Accessibility and Usability of University Websites: A Comparative Study of the Gulf Region
By M. Fakrudeen.
"…This study examines the accessibility and usability of 198 university homepages in the Gulf region: UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. Based on Webometrics ranking, a sample of websites was analyzed using automated online testing tools…"
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-024-01160-9

The Elephant in the New Accessibility Law: PDFs
By Rebecca Woodbury.
"If your government agency is typical, you have a lot of PDFs. Probably thousands. They are probably not accessible…"
https://deptcivicthings.substack.com/p/the-elephant-in-the-new-accessibility


+02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.

Request for Developer Feedback: Customizable Select
By Una Kravets.
"Styling form controls like the <select> element has been reported as a top developer pain point for years, and we've been working on a solution…"
https://developer.chrome.com/blog/rfc-customizable-select

CSS min() All The Things
By Victor Ayomipo.
"Victor Ayomipo experiments with the CSS min() function, exploring its flexibility with different units to determine if it is the be-all, end-all for responsiveness. Discover the cautions he highlights against dogmatic approaches to web design based on his findings…"
https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2024/10/css-min-all-the-things/


+03: EVENTS.

The State of Accessibility - Episode 2
October 24, 2024
Online
https://www.tpgi.com/the-state-of-accessibility-episode-2/

Mid-Day Drupal Meetup
November 14, 2024.
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A.
https://www.meetup.com/twin-cities-drupal-group/events/btvnntygcpbsb/

UX Virtual Training
December 7-13, 2024.
Online
https://www.nngroup.com/training/december/

In-Person Web Accessibility Training
December 10-11, 2024.
Logan, Utah, U.S.A.
https://webaim.org/training/


+04: HTML.

I've Been Doing Blockquotes Wrong 
By Michelle Barker.
"…It's pretty easy to write bad HTML, because for most developers there are no consequences. If you write some bad Javascript, your application will probably crash and you or your users will get a horrible error message. It's like a flashing light above your head telling the world you've done something bad. At the very least you'll feel like a prize chump. HTML fails silently. Write bad HTML and maybe it means someone who doesn't browse the web in exactly the same way as you do doesn't get access to the information they need. But maybe you still get your pay rise and bonus. So it's frustrating to see the importance of learning HTML dismissed time and time again…"
https://css-irl.info/ive-been-doing-blockquotes-wrong/

Web Components: Little Bits (Video)
By David Darnes.
"Web Components are a way to enrich standard HTML with new behaviours by creating custom elements! Join me as I share my experience of developing complex design systems as well as custom open-source tools, all with the power of Web Components…"
https://2024.stateofthebrowser.com/speaker/david-darnes/


+05: INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE.

Organize Information with "LATCH" (Video)
By Nielsen Norman Group. 
"The LATCH framework organizes information based on location, alphabet, time, category, and hierarchy. This method helps transform complex datasets into meaningful structures, facilitating effective navigation."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdkPLINAUU0


+06: JAVASCRIPT.

Aria-activedescendant Is Not Focus
By Sarah Higley.
"For anyone who has not found themselves wading waist-deep through the nigh-unintelligible morass of accessible combobox patterns, aria-activedescendant might seem like yet another esoteric line item in the ARIA spec, or might be wholly unfamiliar. For those unfortunate souls who have peered into the vortex of combobox accessibility long enough for their eyes to bleed and their ears to echo with the distant chanting of 1,000 cursèd <div>s, aria-activedescendant can feel a little magical…"
https://sarahmhigley.com/writing/activedescendant/

Improving Accessibility With ARIA-AT: A Web Standards Case Study (Video)
By Lola Odelola.
"…This talk is about the practical benefit of web standards and how the ARIA-AT project is improving the web experience of those who rely on screen reader use by improving interoperability between assistive technology vendors…"
https://2024.stateofthebrowser.com/speaker/lola-odelola/


+07: MISCELLANEOUS.

Tips for Inclusive and Accessible Hiring and Recruiting
By Glenda Sims.
"…In this post, we'll explore how to build accessibility into your hiring process in a way that's a win for both your company and your future employees…"
https://www.deque.com/blog/tips-for-inclusive-and-accessible-hiring-and-recruiting/

If You Care
By Melanie Sumner.
"I avoid using the word 'care' when I talk about accessibility, and I believe that part of my success in reaching engineers is that I have avoided that word…"
https://melsumner.github.io/if-you-care

Boring Web Development
By Jens Oliver Meiert.
"…Boring but successful web development means brilliance in the basics…"
https://meiert.com/en/blog/boring-web-development/

The Mazy Web She Whirls: Starting Open Web Advocacy (Video)
By Stuart Langridge.
"…There is an organisation called OWA. There is a muse called the Lady of Shalott. They're both believers in opening the web. And both of them need your help. If you've ever wondered (while you're looking angrily at caniuse) why you are half-sick of drop-shadow(), or why the web is cracked from side to side… your loyal knight and true is here…"
https://2024.stateofthebrowser.com/speaker/stuart-langridge/

Sustainable Futures: Funding the Web Ecosystem (Video)
By Stephanie Stimac.
"…In this talk, I'll give an overview of the current state of things, how we currently fund the web, why this is a problem, and possible ways to fix this so that access to information remains stable and sustainable for future generations to come.…"
https://2024.stateofthebrowser.com/speaker/stephanie-stimac/


+08: NAVIGATION.

How to Build Accessible Navigation Menus With the Popover API
By Alexander Lehner.
"…I'll show you how to leverage the power of modern web features like the Popover API to easily create an accessible fly-out menu…"
https://www.oidaisdes.org/accessible-navigation-menu.en/

The Design of Visited Links
By Niq with Q.
"About indicating visited links…"
https://niqwithq.com/posts/the-design-of-visited-links


+09: TYPOGRAPHY.

Fluid Typography (And Its Role in Design Systems) (Video)
By Richard Rutter.
"Using a fun metaphor, Richard will take the audience on a journey from static to responsive web design through to fluid typography…"
https://2024.stateofthebrowser.com/speaker/richard-rutter/


+10: USABILITY.

Accelerators Maximize Efficiency in User Interfaces
By Rachel Krause and Aurora Harley.
"Alternate methods for accomplishing frequent actions in user interfaces support expert users by speeding up their interactions, without hindering novice users…"
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ui-accelerators/

Building a Website Clutter Questionnaire
By Jim Lewis and Jeff Sauro.
"…The development process for a standardized questionnaire has two major research activities: exploratory and confirmatory. In this article, we focus on the exploratory research…"
https://measuringu.com/exploratory-development-of-a-clutter-questionnaire-for-websites/

'We're Not That Gullible!' Revealing Dark Pattern Mental Models of 11-12-Year-Old Scottish Children
By Karen Renaud, Cigdem Sengul, Kovila Coopamootoo, Bryan Clift, Jacqui Taylor, Mark Springett, Ben Morri.
"Deceptive techniques known as dark patterns specifically target online users. Children are particularly vulnerable as they might lack the skills to recognise and resist these deceptive attempts. To be effective, interventions to forewarn and forearm should build on a comprehensive understanding of children's existing mental models. To this end, we carried out a study…"
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3660342

Why Your Name Fields Might Be Slowing Down Checkout? (Video)
By Christian Holst.
"Our research reveals how a common design choice might be slowing down your users and adding unnecessary friction to the process. These small interruptions can add up, impacting the overall user experience and potentially costing you conversions. Let's explore the reasons behind this and how to fix it…"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn7bfCH6KTk

Create Efficient Error Messages (Video)
By Evan Sunwall.
"You need efficient error messages to keep users engaged in their workflow. Follow these four efficiency guidelines to design error messages that respect users' effort and offer time-saving guidance."
https://www.nngroup.com/videos/efficient-error-messages/


+10: WEBWASTE & SUSTAINABILITY.

Crap Data Everywhere
By Gerry McGovern.
"We need to talk about data. Crap data. We're destroying our environment to create and store trillions of blurred photos and cat videos, binge watch Netflix, and ask ChatGPT inane questions and get instant wrong answers…"
https://gerrymcgovern.com/crap-data-everywhere/

How Much Power Do We Actually Need?
By Tom Greenwood.
"…The environmental impact of energy is not just the direct impact of the energy production itself, whether that be fossil, nuclear or any flavour of renewable, but also the impact of applying that energy to alter our physical world…while conventional efforts in energy efficiency and renewable energy are important parts of the sustainability puzzle, they will never be truly effective if we ignore the other half of the puzzle, which is our own hunger for physical power over the environment…Until such time that we have the collective self-control to know when enough is actually enough, developing more powerful energy technologies will likely just feed our addiction to energy consumption and its corresponding environmental destruction…"
https://tomgreenwood.substack.com/p/how-much-power-do-we-need

[Section one ends.]


++ SECTION TWO:

+11: What Can You Find at the Web Design Reference Site?

Accessibility Information.
https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/accessibility.html

Association Information.
https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/associations.html

Book Listings.
https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/books.html

Cascading Style Sheets Information.
https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/css.html

Color Information.
https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/color.html

Drupal Information.
https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/drupal.html

Evaluation & Testing Information.
https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/testing.html

Event Information.
https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/events.html

HTML Information.
https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/html.html

Information Architecture Information.
https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/architecture.html

JavaScript Information.
https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/javascript.html

Miscellaneous Web Information.
https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/misc.html

Navigation Information.
https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/navigation.html

PHP Information.
https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/php.html

Sites & Blogs Listing.
https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/sites.html

Standards, Guidelines & Pattern Information.
https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/standards.html

Tool Information.
https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/tools.html

Typography Information.
https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/type.html

Usability Information.
https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/usability.html

WebWaste & Sustainability Information.
https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/webwaste.html

XML Information.
https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/xml.html

[Section two ends.]


++END NOTES.


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+ SIGN OFF.

Until next time,

Laura L. Carlson
Information Technology Systems and Services
University of Minnesota Duluth
Duluth, MN U.S.A. 55812-3009
mailto:lcarlson@d.umn.edu 


[Issue ends.]