[webdev] Web Design Update: June 25, 2010

[Laura Carlson]

+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 8, Issue 52, June 25, 2010.

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

++ISSUE 52 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: DREAMWEAVER.
04: EVALUATION & TESTING.
05: EVENTS.
06: JAVASCRIPT.
07: MISCELLANEOUS.
08: NAVIGATION.
09: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES & PATTERNS.
10: TOOLS.
11: USABILITY.

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

[Contents ends.]


++ SECTION ONE: New references.

+01: ACCESSIBILITY.

Forthcoming Updates on Federal Section 508 Rules
By Joe Dolson.
"...To help explain these changes in Federal web accessibility
standards, I'm going to look at three specific questions. These
questions will hopefully answer some of the questions concerning
what's coming up..."
http://www.joedolson.com/articles/2010/06/forthcoming-updates-on-federal-section-508-rules/

Justice Department Advances Update of ADA Regulations
By John Eric Brandt.
"The Department of Justice (DOJ) is moving to issue final rules that
would update its ADA regulations, including standards governing the
construction and alteration of facilities covered by the law. On April
26, DOJ submitted final rules to the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for approval. If cleared within OMB's standard 90-day review
period, DOJ may publish the updated regulations in late July or early
August..."
http://jebswebs.net/blog/2010/06/justice-department-advances-update-of-ada-regulations/

On Web Video, Captions Are Coming Slowly
By Brian Stelter.
"...Closed-captioning is mandatory on television, but not for TV
programs on the Internet. And that has turned Web sites like ABC.com
into battlegrounds for advocates like Ms. Matlin, who have spoken up
on the lack of captions on sites like CNN.com  and services like
Netflix..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/21/business/media/21captions.html

Captions Need a Push in Congress
By Suzanne Robitaille.
"I'm really glad the New York Times is paying notice to the issue of
captioning on new and digital technologies..."
http://abledbody.com/profoundlyyours/2010/06/21/captions-need-a-push-in-congress/

Optimize Your Writing for Users with Impaired Vision
By Virginia DeBolt.
"Users with screen reader devices will scan and skim your web page in
a manner somewhat similar to the way a visual user will. Screen
readers can be programmed to read only headings, subheadings and
links. When something of interest pops out from this 'skimming'
process, the user can stop and have all the information in a
particular section of the page read completely."
http://www.webteacher.ws/2010/06/24/optimize-your-writing-for-users-with-impaired-vision/

Adaptable Content. WCAG 2.0 for Content Authors
By Rachel McAlpine.
"Create content that can be presented in different ways (for example
simpler layout) without losing information or structure..."
http://www.contented.com/contented/2010/adaptable-content-wcag-2-0-for-content-authors


+02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.

Stop Forking with CSS3
By Aaron Gustafson.
"You may remember when JavaScript was a dark art. It earned that
reputation because, in order to do anything with even the teeniest bit
of cross-browser consistency, you had to fork your code for various
versions of Netscape and IE. Today, thanks to web standards advocacy
and diligent JavaScript library authors, our code is relatively
fork-free. Alas, in our rush to use some of the features available in
CSS3, we've fallen off the wagon. Enter Aaron Gustafson's eCSStender,
a JavaScript library that lets you use CSS3 properties and selectors
while keeping your code fork- and hack-free."
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/stop-forking-with-css3/

Taking Advantage of HTML5 and CSS3 with Modernizr
By Faruk Ates.
"Years ago, CSS browser support was patchy and buggy, and only daring
web designers used CSS for layouts. Today, CSS layouts are commonplace
and every browser supports them. But the same can't be said for CSS3
and HTML5. That's where Faruk Ates' Modernizr comes in. This
open-source JavaScript library makes it easy to support different
levels of experiences, based on the capabilities of each visitor's
browser. Learn how to take advantage of everything in HTML5 and CSS3
that is implemented in some browsers, without sacrificing control over
the user experience in other browsers."
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/taking-advantage-of-html5-and-css3-with-modernizr/


+03: DREAMWEAVER.

Using Regular Expressions - Part 1
By David Powers.
"Learn how to find text using regular expressions in Dreamweaver." 	
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/dreamweaver/articles/regular_expressions_pt1.html

Using Regular Expressions - Part 2
By David Powers.
"Learn practical uses for regular expressions in Dreamweaver and how
to use them in ColdFusion, JavaScript, and PHP."
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/dreamweaver/articles/regular_expressions_pt2.html


+04: EVALUATION & TESTING.

Web Testing is the New PR
By Gerry McGovern.
"I was recently testing some website tasks with a customer. At the end
of the tests I asked him if he had any observations. He said he was
impressed by the way this organization was showing a real willingness
to observe and respond to its customers' needs..."
http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/nt/2010/nt-2010-06-21-Testing-PR.htm

Ethnography in UX
By Nathanael Boehm.
"In his book The Human Factor, Kim Vicente presents the Human-Tech
Ladder, which categorizes human and societal needs according to five
factors: physical, psychological, team, organizational, and political.
Many UX professionals are familiar with usability testing, which
focuses on the first two rungs of this ladder-the physical and
psychological factors of people's interactions with technology.
However, in this article, I want to look at ways in which UX
professionals can conduct research, usability testing, and evaluation
for the upper rungs of the Human-Tech Ladder-the social elements of
technology design and how people interact with a particular technology
while working together within an organization..."
http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2010/06/ethnography-in-ux.php

Website Usability Testing - Yes, There's More
By Andrew Chan.
"...Rapid paper-prototype usability testing is a great way to measure
the usefulness of your website. Not only is it quick and easy, but it
is also free to perform. It provides you with feedback from real
customers that will help improve the quality and presentation of your
information..."
http://technology.blog.state.ma.us/blog/2010/06/website-usability-testing-yes-theres-more.html


+05: EVENTS.

Arkansas Higher Education Web Conference
July 23, 2010.
Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.A.
http://ahewc.org/

Adobe MAX 2010
October 23-27, 2010.
Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
http://max.adobe.com/


+06: JAVASCRIPT.

Less.js Will Obsolete CSS
By Dmitry Fadeyev.
"If you design websites you may have heard of interesting tools called
CSS pre-processors. A couple of great ones are LESS and SASS. I helped
Alexis, the creator of LESS with the design of the language and built
the public site..."
http://fadeyev.net/2010/06/19/lessjs-will-obsolete-css/

Is it Now Acceptable to Require JavaScript?
By Jonathan Christopher.
"Has building a proper Web stack become old school?...I've tried to
wrap my head around these poorly implemented Web applications to find
out the real inspiration behind them. Are companies rushing JavaScript
dependent platforms out the door simply to get things live before the
competition? Are metrics showing that supporting JavaScript simply
doesn't make fiscal sense? Are we to a point where leading Web
companies care more about dollars and cents than users?.."
http://mondaybynoon.com/2010/06/21/is-it-now-acceptable-to-require-javascript/


+07: MISCELLANEOUS.

CSS Trickster Chris Coyier (Interview)
By Paul Boag.
"Chris Coyer is best know for his work on CSS-Tricks a ever growing
web design community. However, as you will discover in this interview
it isn't just limited to CSS."
http://boagworld.com/technology/chris-coyier


+08: NAVIGATION.

Taxonomy - A 'Disambiguation'
By The Content Strategy Noob.
"Taxonomy is an ancient scientific practice. It means to find names
for things. In naming things, you try to figure out how sets of things
are related to one another, so that each, unique item will not only
have a unique name, but also a reference to the others to which it
relates. Taxonomy creates a hierarchy of inheritance, from general
down to specific and back: A giant tree, on which there is a unique
place for every item, like the leaves at the ends of twigs at the ends
of branches connected to a trunk and running deep into the earth."
(The Content Strategy Noob) courtesy of basevers
http://contentstrategy.rsgracey.com/2010/06/18/taxonomy-disambiguation/

Removing Inline Links to Increase Readability
By Tom Johnson.
"In the unfolding saga of inline links within posts and the decline in
readability that these links bring about, Adriel Hampton's post helped
me persuade me more to this idea."
http://idratherbewriting.com/2010/06/19/finally-convinced-about-removing-inline-links-to-increase-readability/


+09: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES & PATTERNS.

HTML5Rocks
By Google.
"This site, the HTML5 playground, and the presentation  slides are
open source projects."
http://www.html5rocks.com/

The Confusion Surrounding HTML5
By Ian Devlin.
"...People need to be educated properly as to what any new emerging
technologes actually are and what they are used for. Misleading the
public will only lead to problems and misunderstandings as to what can
do what and how, causing all sorts of issues between clients and web
designers/developers who I'm sure are already dreading bring asked:
'This design is a bit bland. Can you add some HTML5?'"
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2010/06/22/the-confusion-surrounding-html5/

HTML5 and CSS3 Confusion
By Adrian Roselli.
"Too often I have found myself trying to explain to people what HTML5
is and how it won't make the web look better. Then I get into a
discussion of CSS3 and, other than the standards-obsessed, that's when
I lose most people..."
http://blog.adrianroselli.com/2010/06/html5-and-css3-confusion.html


+10: TOOLS.

Button Maker
By Chris Coyier.
"...to use this Button Maker thing, you just adjust the settings until
you have a nice looking button, then press the button and it will give
you the CSS. Copy and paste at your leisure. Now you can use the class
name 'button' on HTML elements to make them look like buttons. The CSS
isn't formatted real pretty. If someone has an idea on how to make
that better, please do let me know."
http://css-tricks.com/css3-button-maker/


+11: USABILITY.

Website Response Times
By Jakob Nielsen.
"Slow page rendering today is typically caused by server delays or
overly fancy page widgets, not by big images. Users still hate slow
sites and don't hesitate telling us."
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/response-times.html

Beyond Frustration: Three Levels of Happy Design
By Dana Chisnell.
"...It seems we're all aspiring to an ideal of designing for delight,
but most of us are landing somewhere short of delight, but at least
better than frustrated. Users can use our designs, but they're not
excited about it. (Okay, you can't be excited about everything.) We
want users to trust our designs, but there's still too much overhead
for users to easily reach their goals...Want your users to fall in
love with your designs? Fall in love with your users. The companies
I've showcased here are just a few that have done that, and it shows.
That's how users become excited about designs-being desired is very
seductive."
http://uxmag.com/design/beyond-frustration-three-levels-of-happy-design

Don't Listen to Le Corbusier-or Jakob Nielsen
By Amy Hoy.
"Cheerful software, above all, honors the truth about humanity: Humans
are not rational beings..."
http://cheerfulsw.com/2010/dont-listen-to-le-corbusier%E2%80%94or-jakob-nielsen/

[Section one ends.]


++ SECTION TWO:

+12: 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.]