[webdev] Web Design Update: November 13, 2009

Laura Carlson lcarlson at d.umn.edu
Fri Nov 13 06:09:40 CST 2009 

+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 8, Issue 20, November 13, 2009.

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

++ISSUE 20 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: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.
03: EVENTS.
04: JAVASCRIPT.
05: MISCELLANEOUS.
06: NAVIGATION.
07: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES & PATTERNS.
08: USABILITY.

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

[Contents ends.]


++ SECTION ONE: New references.

+01: ACCESSIBILITY.

Apple Publishes Accessible iTunes U Guidelines
By Larry Goldberg.
"The National Center for Accessible Media at WGBH has created 
guidelines for content providers who would like to create accessible 
iTunes U media via captions, subtitles and audio descriptions. This 
guidelines document provides step-by-step documentation on creating 
fully accessible media, including..."
http://trace.wisc.edu:8080/mailarchive/uaccess-l/msg03258.shtml

Headings and Document Structure Conclusions
By Roger Johansson.
"...There appears to be no single perfect solution that will end all 
discussion regarding headings and document outlines, but the two 
options I describe here make the most sense to me..."
http://tinyurl.com/ygo7jxh

Big East Is a Big Loser in Web Accessibility for Disabled People, Study 
Says
By Marc Parry.
"The worst of the worst are Villanova University, Baylor University, 
and Providence College, says the study by Jon Gunderson, coordinator of 
assistive communication and information technology at the University of 
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The study skewered those institutions and 
13 others on a list called 'Schools Who Need New Coaches.'"
http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Big-East-a-Big-Loser-in-Web/8737/

Make Video Accessible, Localized, Mobile and Searchable by Captioning
By Henny Swan.
".I had my first foray into captioning this week for a short 
video...Captioning the 4.27 minute video took be the best part of 10 
hours BUT this included researching tools, false starts as well as a 
bit of reading around the subject. If it's a long video you definitely 
want it to be transcribed for you but if a short one like this you 
could estimate 1 to 2 hours depending on your typing speed and how 
audible the sound is."
http://tinyurl.com/y9qnurx

e-Assessment and Accessibility
By David Sloan.
"Recently, I've been doing work looking at accessibility implications 
of electronic assessment (e-assessment for short). E-assessment covers 
any use of electronic means, often a web interface, to ask questions of 
and gather information or evidence from a user in order to provide some 
form of assessment of their levels of knowledge, skills or competencies 
in  a particular subject or activity..."
http://58sound.com/2009/11/06/e-assessment-and-accessibility/

Introduction to Web Accessibility
By Nicholas C. Zakas.
"One topic that is close to my heart is web accessibility. It's not 
something that I've written spoken about in the past, and so I thought 
it was time to get the ball rolling. At Yahoo!, we're fortunate to have 
a great number of people who are not only aware of accessibility issues 
but who also champion the cause among engineering. Outside of Yahoo!, 
however, there still seems to be a lot of misconceptions about 
accessibility, what it means, and what you have to do to make a web 
site or web application accessible..."
http://tinyurl.com/yd8nyt9

Image Replacement and WCAG2.0
WebAIM Thread.
"...Would it be OK to use a graphical heading and satisfy level AA of 
WCAG 2.0 - Does anyone know the specific guideline that points to 
this?..."
http://webaim.org/discussion/mail_thread.php?thread=4007

Mouseover/Hover and Keyboard Accessible Expandable Menu?
WebAIM Thread.
"Does anyone on this group know of a left-hand vertical navigation menu 
that will expand on mouseover or hover, however is keyboard accessible?"
http://webaim.org/discussion/mail_thread.php?thread=4001


+02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.

Using CSS background-image to Style Links
By Virginia DeBolt.
"There are many ways to style links with CSS. One possible way is to 
use the background-image property to distinguish the various link 
states..."
http://tinyurl.com/ydx9yaz

5 Simple, But Useful CSS Properties
By Nick La.
"This post is about 5 useful CSS properties that you should be very 
familiar with, but will most likely rarely use. I'm not talking about 
the new fancy CSS3 properties. I'm referring to the old CSS2 properties 
such as: clip, min-height, white-space, cursor, and display that are 
widely supported by all browsers. So, don't miss this post because you 
might be surprised how useful they are..."
http://tinyurl.com/ykmxfn3

20 Useful CSS Tips For Beginners
By hongkiat.
"...Whether you are interested in picking up CSS to create your own 
website, or merely to tweak your blog's look and feel a little ? it's 
always good to start with the fundamentals to gain a stronger 
foundation. Let's take a look at some CSS Tips we thought might be 
useful for beginners..."
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/20-useful-css-tips-for-beginners/

CSS Frameworks: Pros and Cons
By Joshua Johnson.
"A prefab CSS framework can be a great help or serious hindrance. This 
article will give proper coverage to both sides of the fence by looking 
at common arguments for and against using a CSS framework..."
http://designshack.co.uk/articles/css/css-frameworks-pros-and-cons


+03: EVENTS.

Standards.Next - CSS
November 20, 2009.
New York, New York U.S.A.
http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/4878729/?ps=6


+04: JAVASCRIPT.

ARIA and Validation
By Henny Swan.
"...in the real world how does this impact your design decisions and 
code choices? Does validation go out the window or does pragmatism 
prevail?..."
http://www.iheni.com/aria-and-validation/


+05: MISCELLANEOUS.

Dan Cederholm on Bulletproof Web Design, CSS3 and Dribbble
By Keir Whitaker.
"Today's entry  in our series of web deign interviews is Dan Cederholm. 
Dan is a recognized expert in the field of standards-based web design 
and has worked with Google, MTV, AIGA, ESPN, Blogger, Fast Company, 
Inc.com, and many more. He's a renowned speaker and author and blogs 
about web design related topics at SimpleBits..."
http://tinyurl.com/yes43ao

Web 2.0 Will Change Everything! But How?
By Brian Kelly.
"And before seeking to predict how such changes might affect University 
businesses there is a need to explore which aspects of Web 2.0 might 
act as the key drivers to radical changes with the sector. Some 
thoughts on aspects of Web 2.0 which could 'change everything' :"
http://tinyurl.com/ycsb9z5


+06: NAVIGATION.

How to Write a Great Web Link
By Gerry McGovern.
"A link is a signpost, a promise. If a customer clicks on your  link 
they are spending their time. Don't make them waste it."
http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/nt/2009/nt-2009-11-09-Write-great-links.htm

Do Aesthetics Need to be Compromised for the Sake of Usability?
By Paul Boag.
"...In essence Gerry seems to be arguing that aesthetics should always 
take second place to usability. I disagree with this. It depends on the 
type of site. On some sites it is important to communicate more than 
information. Some websites are about conveying emotion and feeling 
too.."
http://boagworld.com/design/aesthetics-usability

Mouseover/Hover and Keyboard Accessible Expandable Menu?
WebAIM Thread.
"Does anyone on this group know of a left-hand vertical navigation menu 
that will expand on mouseover or hover, however is keyboard accessible?"
http://webaim.org/discussion/mail_thread.php?thread=4001


+07: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES & PATTERNS.

Who Needs Valid ID ATTRIBUTES or One HTML Tag Anyways?
By Robert B. Yonaitis.
"...I am concerned with what will be the unintended consequences of 
institutional violation of long time standards..."
http://tinyurl.com/yawwkg5

HTML 5 Overview and Resources Showcase
By Webitect.
"...So what is HTML 5? Well, this article is supposed to act as a 
what's what of HTML 5, giving you an overview of just what HTML 5 is 
trying to achieve and where you can find more information on some 
specifics of the language..."
http://webitect.net/development/html-5-overview-and-resources-showcase/

Is HTML5 Good for Application Developers?
By Vlad Alexander.
"HTML5 will make the Web browser into an application runtime 
environment similar to how Java and .NET work, but will use a mishmash 
of old technologies to achieve this. Is this good for application 
developers? Is this a good way to develop applications for the next 20 
years or is this a big step backwards in application development?..."
http://rebuildingtheweb.com/en/is-html5-good-for-app-developers/

HTML5 at London Web Standards
By Bruce Lawson.
Bruce's presentation slides.
http://my.opera.com/ODIN/blog/2009/11/10/html5-at-london-web-standards

HTML 5: Client-side Storage
By Arpan Dhandhania.
"What is client-side storage? In a few years, all our files and 
documents will be stored in the cloud. We won't be storing anything on 
our desktops. While this has several advantages, such as location 
independence, data accessed over the internet can never be as speedy as 
accessing data locally. No matter how fast the internet connection, it 
can't compete with data being read locally from your hard drive. At a 
macro level, everything is moving towards the cloud and less and less 
data is been stored locally by users. However, at a micro level, 
specifically with browsers, a lot of data is being stored on the client 
side. The following are the reasons..."
http://www.webreference.com/authoring/languages/html/HTML5-Client-Side/


+08: USABILITY.

Usability Issues That Impact Online Learning
By Patti Shank.
"What it comes down to is technical and learning usability - the ease 
(or lack of ease) with which learners interact with online 
instructional materials (pages, forms, media, etc.) and people (the 
instructor, peers, help sources). Good usability for online learning 
materials means the site, content, and media are easy to find, use, and 
navigate. And good usability for people means the interaction tools 
(such as email and discussion forums) are easy to use and facilitate 
getting input or help as needed."
http://www.facultyfocus.com?p=3151

UPA Code of Professional Conduct
By Usability Professionals' Association.
"The Code of Professional Conduct of the Usability Professionals' 
Association expresses the our recognition of responsibilities to the 
public, clients, employers, and colleagues."
http://www.upassoc.org/about_upa/leadership/code_of_conduct.html

Your Web Content: The Elves Won't Fix It
By Rachel McAlpine.
"Strange, isn't it, that so many companies and government organizations 
will cheerfully spend hundreds of thousands of dollars every year on a 
content management system for their web sites and intranets..."
http://tinyurl.com/yhaa8qc


[Section one ends.]


++ SECTION TWO:

+09: 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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+ 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 
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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.]

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