+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE. - Volume 25, Issue, March 4, 2025. An email newsletter to distribute news and information about web design and development. ++ISSUE 36 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: EVALUATION & TESTING. 04: EVENTS. 05: HTML. 06: MISCELLANEOUS. 07: NAVIGATION. 08: TOOLS 09: TYPOGRAPHY. 10: USABILITY. SECTION TWO: 11: What Can You Find at the Web Design Reference Site? [Contents ends.] ++ SECTION ONE: New references. +01: ACCESSIBILITY. What Is Audio Description? By Elisa Lewis. "Imagine trying to enjoy a TV show, movie, or live performance, but not being able to see it. It would be challenging to gain a complete understanding of what is happening…" https://www.3playmedia.com/blog/what-is-audio-description/ A11y 101: 1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose By Nat Tarnoff. "…When you allow users to paste and use autocomplete on their end, you help those with disabilities. And the security gaps get smaller as the user is more independent." https://tarnoff.info/2025/03/03/a11y-101-1-3-5-identify-input-purpose/ In Defense of Text Labels By Christopher Butler. "Why Icons Alone Aren't Enough…" https://www.chrbutler.com/in-defense-of-text-labels Why Icon-Only Design Is Failing Users: The Case for Text Labels By Louise North. "Icons may look sleek, but they often create confusion and increase cognitive load, especially in complex applications. Text labels, on the other hand, provide clear, unambiguous communication, making them a far superior choice for usability and accessibility in design." https://webdesignerdepot.com/why-icon-only-design-is-failing-users-the-case-for-text-labels/ Views on Views By Hidde de Vries. "If WCAG 3 would adopt the word 'view' instead of 'web page', the standard would be more useful in non-web contexts like native apps, documents and XR…" https://hidde.blog/views/ Discussion on Defining "View": https://github.com/w3c/wcag3/discussions/286 Creating Inclusive Websites with Plain Language (Video) By Jay Brite and Jackie Pysarchuk. "Discover plain language and writing for the web techniques to enhance accessibility and user experience. The presentation will cover best practices, showcase examples where we transformed highly specialized content into plain language, and discuss ways to balance multiple access needs.…" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cTirNXP_Ig Jay and Jackie's Slides (PDF): https://www.deque.com/axe-con/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Creating-Inclusive-Websites-with-Plain-Language_a11y.pdf Practical Approaches to Digital Accessibility (Video) By Eric Zirlinger. "In this session, we will explore practical approaches and essential strategies for creating accessible digital experiences. As digital accessibility continues to be a key component of inclusive design, this session will provide actionable insights on how to implement accessibility principles without compromising creativity or user experience…" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8aOrm6dQU8 Eric's Slides (PDF): https://www.deque.com/axe-con/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Practical-strategies-for-digital-accessibility_a11y.pdf Panel: Digital Accessibility in Higher Education (Video) By Mark Nichols, Eudora Struble, and Al Nemec. The panel discussion focuses on the impact of recent Title II and Section 504 regulation updates on universities, with insights from experts at Virginia Tech, Wake Forest University, and the University of Wisconsin, Madison. The panelists discussed their institutions' approaches to compliance and the broader implications for accessibility in higher education. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHNWEMRqfYg 2024 Web Almanac: Uncovering Global Accessibility Insights With Axe (Video) By Mike Gifford. "Discover the state of web accessibility through the lens of the 2024 Web Almanac, the most comprehensive annual review of digital inclusivity…" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edpjQLSGHSY Values By Eric Eggert. "…The reality is: These percentages, hundredths of percentages, that is what web accessibility people should care about. This is where it matters. Promising 100% coverage or close to it, siphoning funds off real accessibility changes, will lock out people quickly…I think the misstep in tone in any presentation, especially with 'AI', is to not acknowledge the threats that concern disabled people and the community that supports them…" https://yatil.net/blog/values Be Wary of Accessibility Guarantees from Anyone By Adrian Roselli. "…anyone promising you that a total solution to digital accessibility is coming, and they are the ones bringing it, may be lying…" https://adrianroselli.com/2025/03/be-wary-of-accessibility-guarantees-from-anyone.html The Digital Accessibility Legal Landscape (Video) By Lainey Feingold. "Digital accessibility is a civil right of disabled people, making the difference between inclusion and exclusion. This talk will be a lightening overview of what's happening in the United States legal space: lawsuits, negotiations, state and federal laws, regulations, and government agency guidance. It will also touch on the growing global digital accessibility legal framework, how ethics fits in, and offer resources to help you stay current. This is a talk for everyone: whatever your role let's put the law in our pockets to help build an inclusive digital world." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=165oVyIdfRQ Lainey's Slides (PDF): https://www.deque.com/axe-con/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/The-Digital-Accessibility-Legal-Landscape_a11y.pdf Minnesota Court Rules Websites Are Public Accommodations Under ADA By Andrew E. Tanick. "Joining a number of courts across the country that have ruled similarly, the District Court for District of Minnesota held recently that the Americans with Disabilities Act's (ADA) prohibition against discrimination in 'places of public accommodation' applies to websites…" https://ogletree.com/insights-resources/blog-posts/minnesota-court-rules-websites-are-public-accommodations-under-ada/ The First Title II Web Accessibility Case After DOJ's Rule is from Louisiana? By Ken Nakata. "Wow, February was a busy month! I'll start with some of the new cases-- starting with a Title II case and then two cases that chip away at the nexus standard. Then, I'll talk about two more states that are proposing digital accessibility laws and we'll wrap up with a dubious bill to limit abusive web accessibility litigation…" https://convergeaccessibility.com/2025/03/03/legal-update-february-2025/ Overlay Timeline By Overlay Timeline. "A reverse-chronological record of headlines, lawsuits, and commentary about accessibility overlays and the companies who make them." https://overlaytimeline.com/ +02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS. A Solution for the Visual and Source Order Disconnect (Video) By Rachel Andrew. "At axe-con 2021 I spoke on the subject 'Grid, content re-ordering, and accessibility', showing demos of how easy it was to cause a disconnected tab order when positioning items using grid layout. The advice back then was to avoid reordering at all, even though this meant avoiding some features of grid layout. A solution to this problem is now being designed! In this talk I'll introduce the reading-flow property, and then work being done to solve this problem through the CSS Working Group.…" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toEzdBfQldc Rachel's Slides (PDF): https://www.deque.com/axe-con/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/A-solution-for-the-visual-and-source-order-disconnect_a11y.pdf Decoding CSS Selectors: :has(:not) vs :not(:has) By Kilian Valkhof. "CSS functions like :is(), :not() and :has() are powerful tools that make it much easier to select elements specifically. We've written before about how ::where() :is() and :has() make your life easier, as well as how they handle specificity…" https://polypane.app/blog/decoding-css-selectors-has-not-vs-not-has/ Debugging CSS Anchor Positioning By oddbird. "It is frustrating to track down why an anchor isn't being found. James and Miriam talk with Tab Atkins-Bittner about ways to troubleshoot CSS Anchor Positioning issues, and dive into the details to get a better understanding of how Anchor Positioning works…" https://www.oddbird.net/2025/02/20/winging-it-16/ +03: EVALUATION & TESTING. Streamlining the SUPR-Qm: The SUPR-Qm V2 By James Lewis and Jeff Sauro. "The SUPR-Qm is a standardized questionnaire for the assessment of the UX of mobile apps. In this paper, we describe our analysis of large-sample datasets to (1) replicate the Rasch model reported in the initial publication of the SUPR-Qm in 2017, (2) identify redundant items from the original 16-item SUPR-Qm that could be removed to create a streamlined 5-item version (SUPR-Qm V2), (3) demonstrate the stability of the SUPR-Qm and SUPR-Qm V2 over two multiyear periods in which data were collected for 155 mobile apps across 23 industries, and (4) develop interpretive norms (including curved grading scales) for the SUPR-Qm and SUPR-Qm V2…" https://uxpajournal.org/streamlining-the-supr-qm-the-supr-qm-v2/ User Personas: Designing for Users With Disabilities (Video) By Madison Russell and Nicola Richardson. "Using real examples from the team at Elsevier, learn how to create your own collection of accessibility personas. We will share the value they bring, how to involve persons with disabilities in user research, and how to tailor personas to your domains and distribute them across an organization.…" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TphSSQKElzQ Madison and Nicola's Slides (PDF): https://www.deque.com/axe-con/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/User-Personas-designing-for-users-with-disabilities_a11y.pdf Incorporating Accessibility into SEQ Usability Testing: Designing for Inclusive Experiences By Rebecca Topps and Alison Williams. "Join Rebecca and Alison as they explore their approach to integrating accessibility into SEQ (Single Ease Question) usability testing at Atlassian…" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRbxLxe2WCg Rebecca and Alison's Slides (PDF): https://www.deque.com/axe-con/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Incorporating-Accessibility-into-SEQ-Usability-Testing_a11y.pdf The Hawthorne Effect: 5 Guidelines to Avoid it (Video) By Rachel Banawa. "The Hawthorne effect is a phenomenon where people change their behavior because they know they are being observed. Here are 5 guidelines for" mitigating the Hawthorne effect in user research. https://www.nngroup.com/videos/the-hawthorne-effect/ +04: EVENTS. Graphs and Charts: Meeting WCAG 2.2 Level AA Requirements March 5, 2025. Online https://accessingenuity.com/pages/webinar/graphs-charts-meeting-wcag-2-2-level-aa-requirements-digital-accessibility-webinar Expert Insights: Digital Accessibility with Sheryl Burgstahler March 11, 2025. Online https://www.pce.uw.edu/events/03-11-2025-expert-insights-digital-accessibility-info-meeting-online Accessibility and Inclusive UX with Vitaly Friedman May 7-15, 2025. Online https://smashingconf.com/online-workshops/workshops/accessibility-inclusive-vitaly-friedman/ UX Virtual Training May 31-June 13, 2025. Online https://www.nngroup.com/training/june/ The ADA and Your Content: How To Be Compliant June 4, 2025. Online https://www.prsa.org/event/2025/06/04/default-calendar/the-ada-and-your-content-how-to-be-compliant-wbnr2508 HotCarbon Workshop on Sustainable Computer Systems June 4, 2025. Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A. https://hotcarbon.org/cfp Web Directions Code Leaders June 11, 2025. Melbourne, Australia https://webdirections.org/leaders +05: HTML. When to Use Lists for Better Accessibility By Scott Vinkle. "When creating HTML content, using lists appropriately is crucial for accessibility, especially for screen reader users. Here's a breakdown of when to use different types of lists and why…" https://scottvinkle.me/blogs/work/when-to-use-lists-for-better-accessibility Is the Button Focusable? By Manuel Matuzović. "Let's play a game. I'll hide a button using different techniques in HTML and CSS, and you have to guess whether it's still focusable." https://matuzo.at/blog/2025/is-the-button-focusable +06: MISCELLANEOUS. It Is Designed to Break Your Heart: Cultivating a Harm Reduction Mindset as an Accessibility Practitioner (*Content Warning) (Video) By Eric W. Bailey. "…(this presentation contains material that may be triggering or upsetting. It includes references to substance abuse, compulsive behaviors, depression, and self-harm)…Working in digital accessibility requires so much. From design, to code, to theory, to practice. There's also minding arcane, technical details, all the way up to the holistic big picture. Then factor in concerns like history, politics, law, and armchair psychology. For many of us, it is also deeply personal work…" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQLRVr9iBp8 Eric's Slides(PDF): https://www.deque.com/axe-con/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/It-is-designed-to-break-your-heart-Cultivating-a-harm-reduction-mindset-as-an-accessibility-practitioner_a11y.pdf When Your Role Has You Spinning Plates and All You Can Hear Is the Sounds of Smashing Crockery (Video) By Neil Milliken. "This talk is for the people trying to grapple with the responsibility of being in charge of accessibility programs in large and complex environments. It will talk about the enormity of the scope and how to prioritize given the mismatch in most organisations between what is needed to be done and the resources available.…" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo24R6sxOv0 Burnout, Bullsh*t, and Broken Systems: Surviving Digital Accessibility in the Trenches (*Content Warning) (Video) By Kevin Andrews. "…(this presentation contains material that may be triggering or upsetting. It includes references to potentially sensitive topics such as ableism, workplace bullying, harassment, and discrimination.) Navigating the world of digital accessibility often feels like a never-ending uphill battle, especially when large organizations provide inadequate resources for meaningful change…" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqukKzKN9Go Kevin's Slides (PDF): https://www.deque.com/axe-con/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Burnout-Bullsh_t-and-Broken-Systems_-Surviving-Digital-Accessibility-in-the-Trenches-_Content-Warning_a11y.pdf What It Really Takes: Building an Accessibility-First Corporate Culture (Video) By Lesley Hanlin. "'What it really takes: Building an Accessibility-first Corporate Culture' will highlight the critical steps for disrupting the DNA of a large corporation in order to embed accessibility. This discussion will explore strategies for making accessibility a core value, setting clear and measurable goals across the enterprise through cross-departmental collaboration. Further, it will emphasize the importance of viewing accessibility as a key driver of innovation and inclusivity, ensuring that everyone experiences equal access to digital properties…" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGv9LNk_xFM Lesley's Slides (PDF): https://www.deque.com/axe-con/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/What-it-really-takes-Building-an-Accessibility-first-Corporate-Culture_a11y.pdf Gregg Vanderheiden Responds to Jim Thatcher Lifetime Achievement Award (Video) By Gregg Vanderheiden. "Thank you very much for this honor. Now, not everyone here knew Jim Thatcher, so I'd like to say a couple words about him first…" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WFmQgezTrw What Do Developers Want in a Design Handoff? We Asked Them. By Nick Moore. "Many of the most persistent development problems are hiding under 'that's just how it is.'…" https://zeroheight.com/blog/what-do-developers-want-in-a-design-handoff-we-asked-them/ +07: NAVIGATION. There's No Such Thing as 'Menubar Navigation' By Martin Underhill. "There's a problem markup and interaction pattern I encounter again and again. Developers search the web with the intention of creating the most accessible navigation, and often end up on this example of navigation from the W3C. But this is not how navigation should work…" https://www.tempertemper.net/blog/theres-no-such-thing-as-menubar-navigation Skip Links: What, Why, and How By Martin Underhill. "If you're like me an you're a bit of a hybrid mouse/keyboard user, you might have noticed something as you browse the web: pressing the ⇥ (tab) key when you land on a website sometimes causes a previously-hidden 'Skip to main content' (or words to that effect) link to appear…" https://www.tempertemper.net/blog/skip-links-what-why-and-how +08: TOOLS. Guidedogs By Access Hound. "Try our Guidedogs now! Get 15 free consultations with our guidedogs to help you improve your accessibility writing…" https://guidedogs.accesshound.com/describe-now +09: TYPOGRAPHY. Typographer vs. Accessibility (Video) By Oliver Schöndorfer. "…In a fun, engaging session, Oliver takes an often overwhelming and fuzzy topic for creatives and breaks it down. You will walk away inspired with practical guidelines on how you can set the text of your next design project beautifully accessible, to reach and convince more people…" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeUxSkabdYM Oliver's Slides (PDF): https://www.deque.com/axe-con/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Typographer-vs.-Accessibility_a11y.pdf +10: USABILITY. Design For Everyone (Video) By Laura Kalbag. "In this talk, Laura will explore the pitfalls of designing in the tech industry today, how we can design more accessibly, and how we can respect our users' rights. She'll walk through practical guidelines and personal and collective approaches we can use to design better for everyone.…" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lh4S6GODlDg Laura's Slides (PDF): https://www.deque.com/axe-con/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Design-for-Everyone_a11y.pdf But…Why? (Video) By Melanie Sumner. "…In this talk, Melanie will unpack some common UI patterns frequently missing critical elements for digital accessibility. She'll explain a few key details about accessible names and share actionable steps to improve the accessibility of common patterns." https://www.deque.com/axe-con/sessions/but-why/ Melanie's Slides (PDF): https://www.deque.com/axe-con/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/But-Why_a11y.pdf User-Interface Elements: Glossary By Raluca Budiu and Kara Rivenbark. "Use this glossary to quickly clarify definitions for key graphical user-interface elements and controls." https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ui-elements-glossary/ [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. + 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.]