+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE. - Volume 25, Issue, February 25, 2025. An email newsletter to distribute news and information about web design and development. ++ISSUE 35 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: EVALUATION & TESTING. 03: EVENTS. 04: HTML. 05: JAVASCRIPT. 06: MISCELLANEOUS. 07: USABILITY. 08: WEBWASTE & SUSTAINABILITY. SECTION TWO: 09: What Can You Find at the Web Design Reference Site? [Contents ends.] ++ SECTION ONE: New references. +01: ACCESSIBILITY. Inclusive Design Patterns For 2025 (Video) By Vitaly Friedman. "Vitaly led a comprehensive discussion on the importance of accessibility in design, emphasizing its shift from a technical detail to an inclusive design…" https://smashingmagazine.zoom.us/rec/play/TxCs5SWK009LpMya-0HgJsahay0uuGNHVQk4g4gf-Rp7oCAgg5mEifmjLDmjf8qofHNu92QWxLYsV062.vMiyuEePybDwRkTw A11y 101: 1.3.4 Orientation By Nat Tarnoff. "…we need to pay attention to how our sites look on various screen dimensions. We won't know what the viewer is using…" https://tarnoff.info/2025/02/24/a11y-101-1-3-4-orientation/ WCAG 3 a Change of Context By Steve Faulkner. "The old skool WCAG 2x definition of a web page is not fit for purpose when WCAG is used to test non web user interfaces as it is, for example native apps it leads to suboptimal outcomes…" https://html5accessibility.com/stuff/2025/02/24/wcag-3-a-change-of-context/ 1.4.10: Adversarial Conformance By Adrian Roselli. "…If your audience is only LLM crawlers, then this approach may be fine. But for everyone else, this experience is frustrating. This is something I call adversarial conformance. HAL the UI designer can claim that it followed WCAG even though it's clear that HAL expended effort on minimally conforming while negative outcomes are seemingly obvious. This assumes your press release isn't really a signal to fake-genAI in the form of a call for help through some weird steganographic wrapping." https://adrianroselli.com/2025/02/1-4-10-adversarial-conformance.html These (Still) Aren't the SCs You're Looking (Video) by Patrick H. Lauke. "WCAG is supposed to give us a reasonably objective way of saying whether or not the sites we are building/auditing are "accessible" (to a particular baseline). However, they are only as useful as our understanding and interpretation of the guidelines' normative text. And, of course, it is not perfect - with some omissions, handwaving, and straight-up loopholes. So where does this leave developers and auditors?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADIgU53Y2Rg Digital Accessibility and the Cost of Exclusion By Greg Williams. "…Today, I'm going to turn that approach around and consider the disadvantages of exclusion…" https://www.deque.com/blog/digital-accessibility-and-the-cost-of-exclusion/ Generic LLM Chatbot Attestation By Adrian Roselli. "LLM-powered chatbots are here to stay. As a result, I am playing around with a disclaimer to recommend for clients…" https://adrianroselli.com/2025/02/generic-llm-chatbot-attestation.html Section 508 Compliance: What You Need to Know By Michael Beck. "…let's break it down. What is Section 508? Who does it apply to? And, most importantly, how can you ensure compliance while improving digital accessibility for all users…" https://afixt.com/section-508-compliance-what-you-need-to-know/ +02: EVALUATION & TESTING. How Much Should You Over-Recruit? By Jeff Sauro and Jim Lewis. "A lot goes into planning a moderated session such as a usability test or an in-depth interview. And recruiting qualified participants is an essential step in making those sessions successful…" https://measuringu.com/how-much-should-you-over-recruit/ Surveys vs. Usability Tests: Choosing the Right UX Research Tool By Richa Gupta. "…Which one is right for your product? Let's dive in…" https://www.loop11.com/surveys-vs-usability-tests-choosing-the-right-ux-research-tool/ +03: EVENTS. Designing IT Accessibility Training for Multiple Stakeholders in Postsecondary Institutions with Sheryl Burgstahler February 27, 2025. Online. https://go.3playmedia.com/wbnr-02-27-2025-training Benchmarking Usability and the Cognitive A11y Frontier March 4, 2025. Online and New York, New York, U.S.A. https://www.meetup.com/a11ynyc/events/305866148/ Meets CSS April 1, 2025. Online https://smashingconf.com/meets-modern-css Tools of the Trade: Accessibility Without the Cost April 3, 2025. Online and New York, New York, U.S.A. https://www.meetup.com/a11ynyc/events/305974159/ Accessibility Club Summit 2025 May 24-25, 2025. Würzburg-Schweinfurt, Germany https://accessibility.club/event/accessibility-club-summit-2025 +04: HTML. It's Right There In the Back of the Book By Homer Gaines. "…So with this, I would like to just ask that if you ever catch yourself adding an onclick to a
or a or using them for some other reason in place of a more suitable semantic element, for that matter, stop and flip to the back of the book and choose to right bad code instead. Doing so will improve the structure of your code, reduce accessibility errors, and help with SEO." https://rightbadcode.com/its-in-the-back-of-the-book Which HTMLElement Are You [Quiz]? By James G. "Have you ever wondered which HTML element am I?. If so, this is the quiz for you!…" https://jamesg.blog/2025/02/13/html-quiz +05: JAVASCRIPT. Simplify Nested Code By Keith J. Grant. "One of the most common pieces of feedback I leave in code reviews, at least in the realm of code readability, is to reduce nesting. In general, the more deeply-nested code is, the more complex it is to track mentally. This is especially the case with if statements…" https://keithjgrant.com/posts/2025/02/simplify-nested-code/ +06: MISCELLANEOUS. A Lawsuit Threatens the Disability Protections I've Known My Whole Life By Rebekah Taussig. "Like so many Americans, I've been trying to avoid social media lately. My brain feels fractured and frazzled trying to keep up with the headlines that are only escalating with red-alert alarm…" https://time.com/7258245/disability-protections-section-504-texas-v-becerra-essay/ +07: USABILITY. How to Create Better Error Alerts: A Guide to Improving User Experience By Simon Sterne. "Effective error alerts inform, guide, and reassure users with clarity and empathy. Prioritize actionable messages, avoid jargon, and iterate based on feedback to improve user experience…" https://webdesignerdepot.com/how-to-create-better-error-alerts-a-guide-to-improving-user-experience/ UX Is Dead, Long Live UX By Kim Flaherty. "Businesses must shift their focus from a narrow, product-level view of UX to a holistic one that spans a customer's lifelong experience." https://www.nngroup.com/articles/long-live-ux/ +08: WEBWASTE & SUSTAINABILITY. Does What You Scroll Burn Coal? Mythbusting Energy Consumption on the Web By Zak Datson and Mohit Arora. "Our devices consume energy when we surf the web, but the causal relationships between web design and energy use remain unclear…" https://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/articles/2025-01-sustainability-web-energy-consumption Page Bloat Update: How Does Ever-Increasing Page Size Affect Your Business and Your Users? By Tammy Everts. "The median web page is 8% bigger than it was just one year ago…" https://www.speedcurve.com/blog/page-bloat-2025/ Tim Frick on Web Sustainability and Building a Greener Digital World By DesignWhine Editorial Team. "…we spoke with Tim Frick, a leading voice in web sustainability and co-chair of the W3C Sustainable Web Interest Group…" https://www.designwhine.com/web-sustainability-guidelines-with-tim-frick/ Sustainable UX Revolution: An Inspiring Conversation with Thorsten Jonas By DesignWhine Editorial Team. "…Thorsten experienced a transformative burnout that led him on a journey to explore digital sustainability. His personal experience fueled a career shift toward advocating for environmentally and socially conscious design, challenging the industry to move beyond user-centricity and embrace a more holistic, responsible approach…" https://www.designwhine.com/sustainable-ux-network-thorsten-jonas/ Green Web Foundation's Bold Mission: A Fossil-Free Internet by 2030 By DesignWhine Editorial Team. "…DesignWhine sits down with Hannah and Chris - Director of Operations and Executive Director at the Green Web Foundation - to explore the intersection of technology, design, and sustainability…" https://www.designwhine.com/fossil-free-internet-2030-green-web-foundation/ From E-Waste to Profound Enlightenment: Joanna Murzyn's Journey to Conscious Tech By DesignWhine Editorial Team. "Joanna Murzyn is on a mission to redefine our relationship with technology…" https://www.designwhine.com/e-waste-joanna-murzyns-journey/ [Section one ends.] ++ SECTION TWO: +09: 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. + SUBSCRIPTION INFO. WEB DESIGN UPDATE is available by subscription. For information on how to subscribe and unsubscribe please visit: https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/webdev_listserv.html The Web Design Reference Site also has a RSS 2.0 feed for site updates. + TEXT EMAIL NEWSLETTER (TEN). As a navigation aid for screen readers we do our best to conform to the accessible Text Email Newsletter (TEN) guidelines. Please let me know if there is anything else we can do to make navigation easier. For TEN guideline information please visit: http://www.headstar.com/ten + 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.]