[webdev] Web Design Update: March 29, 2012

Thu Mar 29 06:35:32 CDT 2012

+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 10, Issue 40, March 29, 2012.

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

++ISSUE 40 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: TYPOGRAPHY.
07: USABILITY.

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

[Contents ends.]

++ SECTION ONE: New references.

+01: ACCESSIBILITY.

Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology 1.0
By W3C.
"This document specifies an internationally harmonized methodology for
evaluating the accessibility conformance of websites to the Web
Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. It defines an approach
for conformance evaluation in different contexts, including
self-assessment and third-party evaluation. It is applicable to any
website, including web applications and websites for mobile devices,
and is independent of any particular evaluation tools, web browsers,
and assistive technologies..."
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG-EM/

Using HTML5 and Javascript to Deliver Text-Based Audio Descriptions
By IBM.
"For more than 20 years, audio descriptions (also known as video
descriptions) have been delivered using human narration.
Traditionally, a describer will first write a script that describes
key visual elements, such as costumes, scenery, scene changes,
on-screen text, etc., that would otherwise not be available to viewers
unable to see the screen..."
http://ncamftp.wgbh.org/ibm/dvs/

Building a Webpage with Accessibility and Interoperability in Mind, Part 1
By Alistair Duggin.
"In this first article I want to chat about about accessibility and
interoperability and share a list of browser tests that can be used to
identify potential problems. I'm planning a further articles to
explain the list in more depth - and how to use it as an approach to
building an accessible web page or component, as well as using it to
test a page webpage that someone else has built..."
http://alistairduggin.co.uk/blog/accessibile-interoperable-webpage-1/

Case Study - Unlock Valuable Content Trapped in PDFs
By Jonathan Roper.
"We were very happy to have the opportunity to talk to Mark Bryant,
Systems and Technical Manager for the Victorian Government's
Department of Primary Industries about a major web development project
in which the Department made the decision - no more PDFs...'Our users
were telling us they wanted to do things in a different way, and when
we converted a few PDFs to web pages we found the web pages
outperformed PDF by as much as 160 to one.'..."
http://briarbird.com/archives/564/

PDF Accessibility Testing with JAWS, NVDA and Window-Eyes
By Priti Rohra.
"Accessibility testing of PDF files involves screen reader testing on
Microsoft Windows platform to a great extent. Over the years JAWS and
Window-Eyes were the two screen readers used for testing PDF documents
on Windows platform. However, NVDA has taken giant strides and is
being today used extensively for testing web pages and PDF documents
for accessibility..."
http://accessibilitychatter.com/?p=18

Definition Lists Versus Tables
By Jonathan Snook.
"...I decided to test which is better: a <dl> or <table>. In these
tests, I'm using the only two screenreaders that I have available to
me: VoiceOver (with Chrome 17 on Mac and Safari 5.1, both on Lion) and
NVDA (Firefox 11 on Windows 7 via VMWare Fusion)..."
http://snook.ca/archives/html_and_css/definition-lists-v-tables

Accessibility Certification: The Devil is in the Details
By Cyndi Rowland.
"...WebAIM will continue to discuss these, and other, issues that
pertain to professional certification in web accessibility, as they
are important to the field. We invite you to make comments below. It
is our hope that over the coming years, each issue will be resolved
and we can all begin the work to help establish certification of
professional skills in web accessibility."
http://webaim.org/blog/accessibility-certification/

+02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.

How Should You Format Your CSS?
By Steven Bradley.
"Does it matter how you format and organize your css? Are there
compelling reasons to writing single line css as opposed to multi-line
css? Or in the end is it all a matter of personal choice?..."
http://www.vanseodesign.com/css/css-formatting/

Bandwidth Media Queries
By Chris Coyier.
"They don't exist. But wouldn't that be nice?..."
http://css-tricks.com/bandwidth-media-queries/

Responsive Questions
By Jeremy Keith.
"...Responsive design isn't about mobile. Neither is it about the
desktop. It's about the web..."
http://adactio.com/journal/5351/

5 Really Useful Responsive Web Design Patterns
By Joshua Johnson.
"Responsive web design requires a very different way of thinking about
layout that is both challenging and exciting. The art of layout was
already complex enough for the centuries that it was defined by fixed
elements, now things are becoming exponentially more complicated as
layouts become increasingly adaptive..."
http://designshack.net/articles/css/5-really-useful-responsive-web-design-patterns/

+03: EVALUATION & TESTING.

A/B Testing, Usability Engineering, Radical Innovation: What Pays Best?
By Jakob Nielsen.
"Three approaches to better design: each has its uses, but the costs,
benefits, and risks differ dramatically."
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/innovation.html

Better Experimental Design for Better User Testing
By Robert Kerr.
"User testing is a key part of validating design decisions, but what
if the design of the test itself is invalid? As a researcher, being
aware of the pitfalls that affect experimental design ensures your
test will lead to elegant end user experiences..."
http://www.uxbooth.com/blog/better-experimental-design-for-better-user-testing/

+04: EVENTS.

Designer/Developer Workflow Conference
May 16-18, 2012.
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.A.
http://d2wc.com/

International PHP Conference
June 3-6, 2012.
Berlin, Germany
http://phpconference.com/

HOW Design Live
June 21-25, 2012.
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
http://www.howdesignlive.com/ehome/index.php?eventid=28153

UX Australia 2012
August 28-31, 2012.
Brisbane, Australia
http://www.uxaustralia.com.au/

+05: MISCELLANEOUS.

Adaptive Image Element
By Mat Marquis.
"This is an unofficial draft spec, not formally endorsed by the W3C.
It is suitable only for reviewing the details of the proposed
element..."
https://gist.github.com/2159117

Use Only What You Need
By Roger Johansson.
"...Too many people include too much by default in their web projects
these days. Boilerplates, polyfills, shivs, crazy conditional
comments, rare or uneccesary meta elements, and so on..."
http://www.456bereastreet.com/archive/201203/use_only_what_you_need/

Mobile Is Not a Channel - It's an Attitude
By Laurel Erickson.
"Mobile is not a channel because I don't believe that consumers are
making a distinction between their mobile and their fixed Internet
experiences - from a consumer perspective, it's the same Internet
accessed through different devices. (...) Let's stop talking about
mobile as a separate channel and start designing digital experiences
that incorporate mobile the way it obviously needs to be done."
http://www.enlighten.com/2012/03/digital-insights-mobile-is-not-a-channel-%E2%80%93-it%E2%80%99s-an-attitude/

Interview with Brad Frost
By intuitionhq.
"Does your site look great on mobile devices? Is it usable on mobile?
Increasingly mobile devices are replacing our computers for daily
tasks, and because of this web design and development is evolving
further..."
http://www.intuitionhq.com/blog/2012/03/interview-with-brad-frost/

+06: TYPOGRAPHY.

Web Type Will Save Us (Or, Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Retina Display?)
By Jeffery Zeldman.
"With Retna Dispay technology on the verge of ubiquity and some of
today's best web design minds rightfully fretting about it (see PPK,
Stephanie Rieger, Brad Frost, and Stuntbox if you've missed this
latest Topic Of Concern), it seems to this old web slinger that web
type is poised to replace photography as the dominant element of web
design aesthetic appeal in the next few years..."
http://www.zeldman.com/2012/03/23/web-type-will-save-us/

+07: USABILITY.

An Exploration of Relations Between Visual Appeal, Trustworthiness,
and Perceived Usability of Homepages
By Jeff Horvath.
"You don't get a second chance at a first impression. Lindgaard, et.
al and many other researchers have shown over the course of the last
few decades that our first impressions are critical in developing more
considered opinions and for determining subsequent actions. Their most
recent study on the topic had two primary objectives. First, they
explored whether there were any relationships between “visual appeal”
and less accessible qualities such as trustworthiness and usability.
Second, they further investigated which visual attributes contributed
to how we determine visual appeal, trustworthiness, and usability..."
http://www.humanfactors.com/downloads/mar12.asp

[Section one ends.]

++ SECTION TWO:

+08: 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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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.]