[webdev] Web Design Update: September 4, 2010

Sat Sep 4 02:21:30 CDT 2010

+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 9, Issue 10, September 4, 2010.

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

++ISSUE 10 CONTENTS.

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

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

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

[Contents ends.]

++ SECTION ONE: New references.

+01: ACCESSIBILITY.

Giz Explains: How Blind People See the Internet
By John Herrman.
"Your eyes are absorbing this webpage. They're passing over this,
this, then this word, right now. That's how reading works, online: you
take this for granted. But what if you couldn't?"
http://gizmodo.com/5620079/giz-explains-how-blind-people-see-the-internet

Screen Reader Support for HTML Tables
By Leonie Watson.
Screen reader support for tables is something of a curiosity. Although
tables are among the most common of HTML elements, they're often
misused and poorly coded. To some extent this has influenced screen
reader support, but even so the variations in screen reader behaviour
are quite remarkable.
http://tink.co.uk/2010/08/screen-reader-support-for-html-tables/

PowerPoint Accessibility
By WebAIM.
"Microsoft PowerPoint is one of the most popular tools for creating
slide show presentations. It is often used to organize thoughts for a
meeting or lesson, to present key points in a live presentation, and
even to create handouts. This article outlines how to can make
PowerPoint files more accessible on the web..."
http://webaim.org/techniques/powerpoint/

Accessibility in Online Teaching
By Accredited Online College Degrees.
"Accessibility means being able to obtain or use something with
minimal inconvenience..."
http://www.accredited-online-college-degrees.com/teaching.htm

Report Finds Five U.S. State Benefits' Websites Inaccessible
By Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology.
"The report, "The Closed Digital Door: State Public Benefits Agencies'
Failure to Make Websites Accessible to People with Disabilities and
Usable for Everyone," discusses the findings from web accessibility
research of agency web sites in California, Florida, Michigan, New
York, and Texas. "
http://www.coataccess.org/node/9811

+02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.

Styling HTML Lists with CSS: Resetting Padding and Margins
By Alejandro Gervasio.
"In this first part of the series on styling HTML lists with CSS I
explain how to reset their padding and margins..."
http://www.devarticles.com/c/a/Web-Style-Sheets/Styling-HTML-Lists-with-CSS-Resetting-Padding-and-Margins/

Styling HTML Lists with CSS: Manipulating Padding and Margins at the Same Time
By Alejandro Gervasio.
"...I demonstrate how easy it is to manipulate simultaneously the
padding and margins of an HTML list with CSS. In fact, the process is
so simple that you shouldn't have major trouble replicating it when
designing your own web pages..."
http://www.devarticles.com/c/a/Web-Style-Sheets/Styling-HTML-Lists-with-CSS-Manipulating-Padding-and-Margins-at-the-Same-Time/

Writing Clean CSS3 Code
By Tom Kenny.
"One of the main problems with writing CSS3 code are the vendor
prefixes. These are the -moz- or -webkit- you see before properties
such as border-radius or text-shadow. They're a necessary evil at
worst and you'll have to use them to get the most out of what CSS3
currently has to offer..."
http://inspectelement.com/articles/writing-clean-css3-code/

Highly Maintainable, Efficient, and Optimized CSS
By Zoe Gillenwater.
"Earlier today, I gave a presentation at Think Vitamin's HTML & CSS
Online Conference..."
http://zomigi.com/blog/maintainable-efficient-css/

CSS Gallery
By Geoffrey Stonham.
Online gallery
http://CSSGallery.com

+03: COLOR.

Accessibility Problem in Word: Don't Rely on Color
By Rachel McAlpine.
"...many WCAG 2.0 accessibility guidelines have much wider
applications. Bear them in mind also whenever you're writing any
electronic documents."
http://contented.com/contented/2010/accessibility-problem-in-word-dont-rely-on-colo

+04: EVALUATION & TESTING.

6 Things You Didn't Know About Heuristic Evaluations
By Jeff Sauro.
"Maybe you already use Heuristics Evaluations. Here are six things you
might NOT know about this popular usability method."
http://www.measuringusability.com/blog/he.php

+05: EVENTS.

Web Developers Conference
October 27, 2010.
Bristol, United Kingdom.
http://webdevconf.com/

+06: JAVASCRIPT.

YUI Theater - Douglas Crockford: 'Crockford on JavaScript - Scene 6:
Loopage' (52 min.)
By Eric Miraglia.
"Douglas Crockford's latest installment in the 'Crockford on
JavaScript' series, a talk in which he covers the role of event loops
and the importance of server-side JavaScript, is now available on
video..."
http://www.yuiblog.com/blog/2010/08/30/yui-theater-douglas-crockford-crockford-on-javascript-scene-6-loopage-52-min/

Accessible ARIA Tabs
By Jason Kiss.
"The WAI-ARIA specification remains unfinished and its implementation
incomplete. All the same, some of it, e.g., landmark roles, can be
used right now to improve the accessibility of web content and
applications without causing a detrimental effect in older browsers or
assistive technologies. I'm a big fan of WAI-ARIA, and think it is
already a very useful collection of techniques with which to improve
accessibility..."
http://www.accessibleculture.org/research/aria-tabs/

+07: NAVIGATION.

Finding Your Way
By Joshua Brewer.
"Have you ever found yourself staring at something that is supposed to
be helping you understand where you are and where you are going? Have
you ever stood there long enough to finally realize that you won't be
able to decipher the unidentifiable cluster of lines, shapes and
letters on the map without the aid of another human being. It's
frustrating, somewhat humiliating, and above all, makes you wonder if
the person who designed it ever had to use their own creation to find
their way..."
http://52weeksofux.com/post/1049250085/finding-your-way

+08: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES & PATTERNS.

Using Microformats in HTML5
By Scott Gilbertson.
"With all the attention being paid to HTML5's <video> tag, few have
clued in to what is perhaps the most useful magical pixie dust hidden
inside the web's next markup language: the new semantic tags..."
http://www.webmonkey.com/2010/09/using-microformats-in-html5/

+09: TOOLS.

Ten Tools to Ensure Website Accessibility
By Webmaster Format.
With the web changing day to day, it can be a challenge to find
current web accessibility tools. This list highlights the most up to
date tools available to check all aspects of web accessibility, from
color schemes to closed captions.
http://webmasterformat.com/blog/top-ten-accessibility-analysis-tools

[Section one ends.]

++ SECTION TWO:

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

Accessibility Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/accessibility.html

Association Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/associations.html

Book Listings.
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/books.html

Cascading Style Sheets Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/css.html

Color Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/color.html

Dreamweaver Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/dreamweaver.html

Evaluation & Testing Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/testing.html

Event Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/events.html

Flash Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/flash.html

Information Architecture Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/architecture.html

JavaScript Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/javascript.html

Miscellaneous Web Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/misc.html

Navigation Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/navigation.html

PHP Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/php.html

Sites & Blogs Listing.
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/sites.html

Standards, Guidelines & Pattern Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/standards.html

Tool Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/tools.html

Typography Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/type.html

Usability Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/usability.html

XML Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/xml.html

[Section two ends.]

++END NOTES.

+ SUBSCRIPTION INFO.

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As a navigation aid for screen readers we do our best to conform to
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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.]