No subject

By Bill Schmidt.
"...In Part II, I'll first explore what it would be like to instead go
from code to wireframes. Then, for those of you who want to try
employing a process flow that progresses from wireframes to code, I'll
discuss what types of prototyping tools would be best for your
projects and how their use would impact your product development
process..."
http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2011/02/from-wireframes-to-code-part-i=
i.php

Rapid Prototyping with Sinatra
By Al Shaw.
"If you're a web designer or developer, you're well acquainted with
prototyping. From raw wireframing to creating interfaces in Photoshop,
designers map out how sites will work before they create them. Over
the past few years, the protoyping process has changed significantly.
With browser makers generally agreeing on web standards and the rise
of tools such as Firebug and WebKit's web inspector, we can sometimes
skip Photoshop and go straight to the browser. Plus, JavaScript
frameworks like jQuery let us play with browser events with only a few
lines of code. But what if we need to do even more? As websites
increasingly become web apps, we now need to prototype backend
functionality, too. Learn how Sinatra, a so-called 'micro' web
framework, helps you create real (albeit simple) web apps extremely
fast, letting you prototype flows and behavior you may want to
integrate into a final product..."
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/rapid-prototyping-with-sinatra/


+05: JAVASCRIPT.

JavaScript array 'extras' in Detail
By Dmitry A. Soshnikov.
"In this article we'll look at the functionality made available by the
new methods of array objects standardized in ECMA-262 5th edition (aka
ES5). Most of the methods dicussed below are higher-order (we'll
clarify this term shortly below), and related to functional
programming. In addition, most of them have been added to different
JavaScript implementations since version 1.6 (SpiderMonkey), although
these were only standardised in ES5..."
http://dev.opera.com/articles/view/javascript-array-extras-in-detail/

Comparison of ARIA Roles Exposed Via MSAA and UI Automation in IE9
By Steve Faulkner.
"The Microsoft MSAA API cannot provide mapping for all ARIA roles as
it does not have defined roles and properties for all those defined by
The ARIA specification, the Microsoft UI Automation API can. UI
automation provides exposure of all WAI-ARIA roles and properties via
the ControlType and AriaRole properties."
http://www.paciellogroup.com/blog/2011/02/comparison-of-aria-roles-exposed-=
via-msaa-and-ui-automation-in-ie9/


+06: PHP.

Why You're a Bad PHP Programmer
By Jason Lengstorf.
"We all have our bad habits. In this article, we'll go over a list of
bad practices that are worth examining, reevaluating, and correcting
immediately."
http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/php/why-youre-a-bad-php-programmer/


+07: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES & PATTERNS.

The False Dichotomy of Native vs. Web Apps
By Kristofer Layon.
"It seems like I have been coming across a lot of blog posts and
tweets lately that either explicitly or indirectly critique the notion
of designing native apps for mobile devices. In particular, these
comments come from the HTML5 and web design camps..."
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/layo0002/work/2011/02/the-false-dichotomy-of-native=
.html

Sacrificing the Open Web with H.264
By Mike Davies.
"The openness of the Web is under a direct attack. Apple and Microsoft
have found an antidote to competing against free open-source software.
Their solution is ingenious - force free software to charge their
customers, and then drive them out of business by undercutting on
price (funding that loss-leading with revenue generated from the sales
of their Operating Systems)."
http://isolani.co.uk/blog/standards/SacrificingTheOpenWebWithH264

HTML 5 Compliance: the Next Step
By Bruce Lawson and Stig Halvorsen.
"...The HTML5 specification defines a set of parsing rules for all
markup, whether valid or invalid. Once all browsers have HTML5
parsers, the same markup will produce the same DOM across all
conforming browsers..."
http://labs.opera.com/news/2011/02/22/

HTML5 Tutorials and Techniques That Will Keep You Busy
By Aquil Akhter.
"Ever since the latest revision of HTML has launched, internet
marketers have switched to HTML5 due to its several new features which
facilitate Web development distinctly. It has opened new doors to
designers and developers and as you may have already noticed, the use
of Flash in Web and internet applications has significantly dropped.
In today's post, we've gathered some very useful tutorials that will
help you achieve a good command of HTML5. Please feel free to share
with us other useful tutorials that have kept you busy!"
http://www.noupe.com/tutorial/html5-tutorials-and-techniques-that-will-keep=
-you-busy.html

HTML5 for Web Developers
By Oli Studholme.
"While they're essential reading material for our job, the W3C
specifications are not exactly George R. R. Martin-level reading
material. To make matters worse, the often dry text (written for
implementors not authors) and =85 colourful illustrations come wrapped
in a design straight out of 1999...I think these specs all have their
place..."
http://html5doctor.com/html5-for-web-developers/

+08: TYPOGRAPHY.

Which Are More Legible: Serif or Sans Serif Typefaces?
By Alex Poole.
"Back in 1998 when Times New Roman was still widely used on the web,
my then boss made sure we always designed our web sites with Arial, as
she hated the look of serif fonts on the web. Was it the case that
sans serif fonts were more legible, or was it just a matter of taste?
In an effort to get at the truth, I reviewed over 50 empirical studies
in typography and found a definitive answer."
http://alexpoole.info/which-are-more-legible-serif-or-sans-serif-typefaces


+09: USABILITY.

Simplicity - It's Complicated
By Michael Harris.
"...The most important thing to remember is that simplicity (and
complexity) do not sell themselves. What sells is functionality and
convenience- what you can do and how you can do it. How you choose to
present these things is up to you, and may be determined by your user
characteristics. If you choose simplicity, make sure the key selling
points are still recognised by customers. If you choose complexity,
expect a lot of calls to customer service! N.B. Simplicity does not
strictly mean minimalism; fewer controls etc. Although it is
correlated, there are other factors such as functions per
control/button, number of states, number of things needed to be
explained or remembered, the logic and consistency of the layout etc."
http://www.nomensa.com/blog/2011/simplicity-its-complicated/

Capitalize Headlines and Titles Consistently
By Rachel McAlpine.
"The trend worldwide is to use fewer initial capital letters in
headlines and titles. The two prevalent styles are both correct..."
http://contented.com/contented/2011/writing-tip-capitalize-headlines-and-ti=
tles-consistently/

Top Tasks and Council Websites
By Gerry McGovern.
"The new Liverpool city council website is one of the best examples of
a top task focused website I have come across."
http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/nt/2011/nt-2011-02-21-Top-council.htm


[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.

WEB DESIGN UPDATE is available by subscription. For information on how
to subscribe and unsubscribe please visit:
http://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:
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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.]