[webdev] Web Design Update: September 18, 2008

[Laura Carlson]

+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 7, Issue 12, September 18, 2008.

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

++ISSUE 12 CONTENTS.

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

01: ACCESSIBILITY.
02: ASSOCIATIONS.
03: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.
04: EVALUATION & TESTING.
05: JAVASCRIPT.
06: MISCELLANEOUS.
07: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES & PATTERNS.
08: TOOLS.
09: USABILITY.

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

[Contents ends.]


++ SECTION ONE: New references.

+01: ACCESSIBILITY.

Keyboard Support: Mysteries Unveiled
By Mike Cherim, edited by Tommy Olsson.
"...There are many aspects of providing for the disabled that can be 
pretty tricky to get right, but link focus is very easy. If it's 
omitted there's really no excuse. None at all. But I'm not writing this 
to shame those who are forgetting. Rather, this is a reminder. I'll 
even provide a quick overview. I don't want to upset anyone, I want to 
fix this blatant oversight. I want developers to remember. I can't get 
them to care, and I don't care if they do, but I do want them to be 
accommodating all the same. I'm not the only one pushing for this. 
There are other developers who are passionate about accessibility, then 
there are those who actually need it. These groups are also ready for 
web-wide adoption..."
http://green-beast.com/blog/?p=312

New Issue: Understanding Disabilities When Designing a Website
By Leona Tomlinson.
"Digging into accessibility guidelines and standards can be as 
difficult and confusing as any language specifications, but Leona 
assures us that a few minor changes and a clear mind set can make a 
huge difference to users with disabilities."
http://tinyurl.com/5swxuz

Digital Discrimination
By Jim Blansett.
"Ten years after Section 508, libraries still fall short of addressing 
disabilities online..."
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6585927.html

Time to Name and Shame Websites
By Graham Downie.
"Government publishers who did not provide material in accessible 
formats on websites would be named and shamed, Discrimination 
Commissioner Graeme Innes said yesterday..."
http://tinyurl.com/4pfcbe


+02: ASSOCIATIONS.

World Wide Web Foundation (W3F)
"Tim Berners-Lee Announces World Wide Web Foundation...The World Wide 
Web Foundation seeks to advance One Web that is free and open, to 
expand the Web's capability and robustness, and to extend the Web's 
benefits to all people on the planet. The Web Foundation brings 
together business leaders, technology innovators, academia, government, 
NGOs, and experts in many fields to tackle challenges that, like the 
Web, are global in scale."
http://www.webfoundation.org/


+03: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.

Valid Replacement for <ol type="a">
By Russ Weakley.
Valid replacement for
"I was recently sent this question: 'I have used <ol type="a"> in my 
markup. The W3C validator tells me that this is invalid. How can I 
change the "type" of an ordered list's the list without using this 
attribute?".
http://www.maxdesign.com.au/2008/09/16/valid-replacement-for-ol-type/

Anchor Buttons
By Dave Shea.
"I can't be the only one bored to tears of simple border and background 
colour styling for button formatting..."
http://mezzoblue.com/archives/2008/09/17/anchor_butto/

Context Highlighting Using CSS Only
http://users.skumleren.net/cers/examples/formhighlight.html


+04: EVALUATION & TESTING.

Formative Evaluation: A Practical Guide
By Lisa Neal.
"The purpose of formative evaluation is to obtain user feedback during 
the design and development stages of a project, such as an online 
course or a Web site..."
http://elearnmag.org/subpage.cfm?section=tutorials&article=25-1


+05: JAVASCRIPT.

Secrets of JavaScript Closures
By Stuart Langridge.
"Just come off stage after doing my presentation at Fronteers 2008 on 
the secrets of JavaScript closures. Go download it if you like that 
sort of thing."
http://www.kryogenix.org/code/browser/secrets-of-javascript-closures/

10 Smart Javascript Techniques to Improve Your UI
By Glen Stansberry.
"Javascript can add a lot of special effects that can really improve 
the user's experience. Here are 10 simple and clever Javascript 
techniques that add an extra dose of usability to any web page..."
http://tinyurl.com/6la4eq

Built-in Accessibility in GWT 1.5 Applications
By Alex Rudnick.
"As websites and applications become more interactive, users relying on 
assistive technology can find navigation difficult. Dynamic web 
applications are often written in ways that screen readers -- which 
interpret visual interfaces by speaking out loud or producing braille 
-- have difficulty interpreting..."
http://tinyurl.com/6nddl5

Set of ARIA Test Cases
http://wiki.codetalks.org/wiki/index.php/Set_of_ARIA_Test_Cases


+06: MISCELLANEOUS.

Podcasts and Transcripts from Accessibility 2.0
Includes Keynote: Jeremy Keith - Open Data, Making Twitter Tweet - 
Steve Faulkner, Fencing in the Habitat - Christian Heilmann, Rich media 
for people with learning disabilities - Antonia Hyde, User Generated 
Content - Jonathan Hassell, A social network for disabled people - 
Stephen Elsden, Tools to watch out for and avoid - Ian Forrester, and 
the Panel Discussion.
http://www.abilitynet.org.uk/accessibility2/podcasts.html


+07: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES & PATTERNS.

When Guidelines Should Be Descriptive or Prescriptive
By Jens Meiert.
"Every time I'm setting up guidelines and standards, mostly within 
companies, one of the questions I need to ask and answer myself is 
whether or not they, or which parts of them, should be descriptive or 
prescriptive..."
http://meiert.com/en/blog/20080913/descriptive-or-prescriptive/

How HTML 5 Is Already Changing the Web
By Scott Loganbill.
"HTML 5 represents the biggest leap forward in web standards in almost 
a decade. Unlike the specifications that came before it, HTML 5 is not 
merely intended to present content to a web browser. Its goal is to 
bring the web into maturity as a full-fledged application platform ? a 
level playing field where video, sound, images, animations, and full 
interactivity with your computer are all standardized. And it may be a 
long way off still, but elements of HTML 5 are already reshaping the 
way we use the web..."
http://www.webmonkey.com/blog/How_HTML_5_Is_Already_Changing_the_Web

Any-Element Linking in HTML 5 (sort of)
By Bruce Lawson.
"A while ago, Eric Meyer suggested that HTML 5 should allow any element 
should be able to turn into a link by taking an href attribute - see 
his Any-Element Linking Demo. I suggested that, as a stop gap, HTML 5 
should legalize the fact that all the big five browsers allow the a 
element to surround multiple elements and block level elements...."
http://www.brucelawson.co.uk/2008/any-element-linking-in-html-5/

This Week in HTML 5 - Episode 5
By Mark Pilgrim.
"The big news this week is the merging of the Web Forms 2 specification 
into the HTML 5 specification, and updating it with the collected 
feedback of the last two years...."
http://blog.whatwg.org/this-week-in-html-5-episode-5


+08: TOOLS.

Test Your Color IQ
Drag and drop the colors in each row to arrange them by hue order.
http://www.xrite.com/custom_page.aspx?PageID=77


+09: USABILITY.

The Complexity Tax
By Gerry McGovern.
"The complexity tax is demanded by those who want to create 
dependency..."
http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/nt/2008/nt-2008-09-15-complexity.htm

United States Embassy Web Site: Thumbs Down
By Rachel McAlpine.
"The Plain English Awards ceremony 2008 last Thursday celebrated heroes 
of plain English in New Zealand. Four categories are for web sites, and 
web content is a big factor in other categories too..."
http://www.contented.com/contented/?p=467


[Section one ends.]


++ SECTION TWO:

+10: What Can You Find at the Web Design Reference Site?

Accessibility Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/accessibility

Association Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/associations

Book Listings.
http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/books

Cascading Style Sheets Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/css

Color Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/color

Dreamweaver Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/dreamweaver

Evaluation & Testing Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/testing

Event Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/events

Flash Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/flash

Information Architecture Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/architecture

JavaScript Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/javascript

Miscellaneous Web Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/misc

Navigation Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/navigation

PHP Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/php

Sites & Blogs Listing.
http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/sites

Standards, Guidelines & Pattern Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/standards

Tool Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/tools

Typography Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/type

Usability Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/usability

XML Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/xml

[Section two ends.]


++END NOTES.


+ SUBSCRIPTION INFO.

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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 at d.umn.edu


[Issue ends.]