[webdev] Web Design Update: November 19, 2011

[Laura Carlson]

+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 10, Issue 21, November 19, 2011.

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

++ISSUE 21 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: EVALUATION & TESTING.
04: EVENTS.
05: MISCELLANEOUS.
06: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES & PATTERNS.
07: TOOLS.
08: USABILITY.

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

[Contents ends.]


++ SECTION ONE: New references.

+01: ACCESSIBILITY.

Five Stages of Accessibility
By Derek Featherstone.
"You may have heard of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross's 'Five Stages of Grief'
as taken from her book On Death and Dying. If not, they are denial,
anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. If the names of those
phases aren't a fit for what happens in the accessibility world, I
don't know what is. We all progress in our understanding of
accessibility-both at a personal level and at higher level within our
organizations (at least, we hope so!) Have you seen these stages of
Accessibility in your organization? How do you know which stage you're
at? Here's some famous quotes we've heard over the years that might
help you figure out where you are..."
http://simplyaccessible.com/article/five-stages-of-accessibility/

The Business Rationale for Virtual Accessibility
By Kel Smith.
"First in a series of sample chapters from the book Digital Outcasts..."
http://digital-outcasts.com/2011/11/the-business-rationale-for-virtual-accessibility/

Web Accessibility - The Big Picture
By Wayne Dick.
"Tired of lots of links to websites that only tell you part of the
accessibility story? Do you feel like you can't get your arms around
web accessibility? Well the Educational Outreach Working Group has a
set of slides that might answer your questions, and help you present a
great overview to others..."
http://blog.knowbility.org/2011/11/09/web-accessibility-the-big-picture/


+02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.

Structuring a Responsive Stylesheet
By Ryan Buttrey.
"Structuring a basic responsive stylesheet can be done in one of two ways."
http://seesparkbox.com/foundry/structuring_a_responsive_stylesheet

Vendor Prefixes Are Hurting the Web
By Henri Sivonen.
"...I think vendor prefixes are hurting the Web. They are hurting Web
authors. They are hurting users of browsers. They are hurting
competition in the Web browser space. I think we (people developing
browsers and Web standards) should stop hurting the Web. It would also
make sense for browsers to implement other browsers' prefixed features
to the extent existing content uses prefixed features..."
http://hsivonen.iki.fi/vendor-prefixes/

CSS Vendor Prefixes, an Answer to Henri Sivonen
By Daniel Glazman.
"The ineffable Henri Sivonen has contributed a long, a very long, a
probably too long post about CSS Vendor Prefixes. In short, he thinks
they are harmful and should be dropped. I tend to totally disagree and
will explain why below. In bold, Henri's words. Indented and normal,
my responses..."
http://www.glazman.org/weblog/dotclear/index.php?post/2011/11/16/CSS-vendor-prefixes-an-answer-to-Henri-Sivonen

6 Thinks I Learned About Print Stylesheets From HTML5 Boilerplate
By Joshua Johnson.
"...Today we're going to help you along by first discussing the
conceptual considerations that you need to keep in mind when creating
a print stylesheet. Then we'll dive into some code from the famous
HTML5 Boilerplate to see some modern solutions for addressing the
problems that arise when printing from the web..."
http://designshack.net/articles/css/6-thinks-i-learned-about-print-stylesheets-from-html5-boilerplate/

How to Create Multiple Borders in CSS3
By Craig Buckler.
"The CSS2.1 border property has served us well but it's a little
basic. What if you require two or more borders in different colors?
The CSS3 border-image property is an option but it still requires
Photoshopping shenanigans and the syntax is quite complex. However, if
you simply need a series of solid-color borders, there is an easier
alternative: the box-shadow property..."
http://www.sitepoint.com/css3-multiple-borders/


+03: EVALUATION & TESTING.

The Right Tool for the User Research Method
By Jeff Sauro.
"There are many great methods for gathering insights from users. And
there are definitely many software programs and services to help.
Instead of making a long list of them I've presented the few I use the
most when conducting user research. "
http://www.measuringusability.com/blog/right-tool.php

Click Versus Clock - Measuring Website Efficiency
By Jeff Sauro.
"...If there really is a good reason to reduce clicks then by all
means count and reduce. If however the intention is to improve
productivity by making users more efficient with the software then
time on task is probably the better metric to manage. "
http://www.measuringusability.com/blog/click-clock.php


+04: EVENTS.

SXSW EDU
March 6-8, 2012.
Austin Texas, U.S.A.
http://sxswedu.com/


+05: MISCELLANEOUS.

The Mobile App is Going The Way of the CD-ROM - To the Dustbin of History
By Jolie O'Dell.
"...It looks like mobile apps may be headed the same direction as
multimedia CD-ROMs did a decade ago. Sadly for mobile apps, they don't
even have a useful second life as drink coasters..."
http://venturebeat.com/2011/11/09/mobile-web/

The Whole Web is Confused by Mobile
By Rob Borley.
"App, web app, native app, mobile site, mobile app, adaptive design,
reactive design, responsive design. What!?! There seems to be a lot of
confusion out there. What do all of these seemingly interchangeable
terms mean for me?.."
http://boagworld.com/business-strategy/the-whole-web-is-confused-by-mobile/

Mark Boulton on Designing Websites Using 'Content Out'
By Craig Grannell.
"The creative director of Mark Boulton Design and co-founder of Five
Simple Steps argues web designers shift their thinking regarding fixed
canvases."
http://www.netmagazine.com/interviews/in-depth/mark-boulton-designing-websites-using-content-out

The ALA 2011 Web Design Survey
By the A List Apart Staff.
"The profession that dares not speak its name needs you. Digital
design is the wonder of the world. But the world hasn't bothered to
stop and wonder about web workers-the designers, developers, project
managers, information architects slash UX folk, content strategists,
writers, editors, marketers, educators, and other professionals who
make the web what it is. That's where you come in. Take the
survey!..."
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/the-ala-2011-web-design-survey/


+06: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES & PATTERNS.

The Value of Meaning
By Kyle Weems.
"...There is meaning in striving for meaning."
http://www.cssquirrel.com/blog/2011/11/11/the-value-of-meaning/

Pursuing Semantic Value
By Jeremy Keith.
"...The specification is still being put together and our collective
voice matters. If we want to have well-considered semantic elements in
the language, we need to take the time to consider the effects of
every new element that could potentially be used to structure our
content. So I will continue to stop and think when it comes to
choosing elements and class names just as much as I would sweat the
details of visual design or the punctation in my copy or the coding
style of my JavaScript."
http://coding.smashingmagazine.com/2011/11/12/pursuing-semantic-value/

HTML5 Semantics and Accessibility
By Steve Faulkner.
"Semantics are not just about accessibility, accessibility is not just
about assistive technology. But semantic information (name, role,
states and properties) carried by HTML elements and attributes is
integral to making content on the web accessible, especially for those
who rely upon assistive technology to access and interact with web
content. Historically and currently accessibility support for HTML
features in browsers lags behind other facets of feature
implementation, and unfortunately accessibility support is not taken
into account when browsers announce support for a feature.."
http://www.paciellogroup.com/blog/2011/11/html5-semantics-and-accessibility/

Semantics in Practice and Mapping Semantic Value to its Consumers
By Paul Irish.
"...Let's build incredible stuff on this impressive platform and avoid
getting mired in semantic inconsequentialities. There's also room for
more author engagement and screen-reader involvement in the standards
process regarding these issues; but that's a large topic I'll have to
save for another day."
http://paulirish.com/2011/semantics/

My Thing About the Thing That Thing Wrote About Thing
By John Foliot.
"...Divya is quite confused about web accessibility. I examine
everything she says in a detailed, semi-sarcastic, no-holds barred
manner. Conclusion: Semantics matter - a lot..."
http://john.foliot.ca/my-thing-about-the-thing-that-thing-wrote-about-thing/

In Defense of Semantic Value
By Niels Matthijs.
"...Semantics matter. If not today, then hopefully tomorrow. And if
not tomorrow, you know who to blame."
http://www.onderhond.com/blog/work/in-defense-of-semantic-value


+07: TOOLS.

Check a PDF Document
By eGovMon project.
"The eAccessibility Checker is part of the eGovMon project. It offers
three different services."
http://accessibility.egovmon.no/en/pdfcheck/


+08: USABILITY.

The Mobile Web Splash Screen Antipattern
By Martin Sutherland.
"...But above all, don't rely on a native app to be the only way a
user with a small-screen device can interact with your business.
You'll literally be turning away customers.'
http://www.sunpig.com/martin/archives/2011/11/13/the-mobile-web-splash-screen-antipattern.html

Responsive Design: Beyond the Blog
By Leigh Howells.
"...Not all sites are going to be simple to make responsive. The best
solutions probably won't be those that force visitors to your site to
download lots of unnecessary content which is then hidden to them.
Where possible we should only deliver navigation and content that is
appropriate to the device of the user whilst keeping in mind the time
and cost that this could add to our projects."
http://boagworld.com/dev/complex_responsive_design/

Why Blending Usability and SEO Really Matters
By Kim Krause Berg.
"Whenever the phrase, 'usability and SEO', enter a conversation,
there's a very good chance it goes in one ear and out the other.
Corporate management interprets it as 'We need more money', and middle
management fixes their poker face until they're free to run to Google
to look up the term..."
http://searchengineland.com/why-blending-usability-seo-really-matters-100764


[Section one ends.]


++ SECTION TWO:

+09: 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.


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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.]