[webdev] Web Design Update: December 12, 2013

[Laura Carlson]

+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 12, Issue 25, December 12, 2013.

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

++ISSUE 25 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: HTML5.
06: INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE.
07: JAVASCRIPT.
08: MISCELLANEOUS.
09: NAVIGATION.
10: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES & PATTERNS.
11: TYPOGRAPHY.
12: USABILITY.

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

[Contents ends.]


++ SECTION ONE: New references.

+01: ACCESSIBILITY.

Web Accessibility and Accreditation - A Blueprint for Regional Agencies
By Belle Wheelan.
"Project GOALS, a FIPSE funded grant program, has developed guidelines
and templates for accreditors and institutions to use to ensure that
all documents, especially those in electronic format, are available to
individuals with visual and auditory disabilities. Having the
responsibility to comply with federal laws in these matters is one
thing, but knowing how to respond adequately to these requirements is
another. The materials from Project GOALS have gone a long way in
taking the guess work out of how to comply. The materials are easy to
understand and implement and I highly recommend that you consider
their use within your own organization..."
http://ncdae.org/goals/accreditation/accreditation_blueprint.php

Why Bother with Accessibility?
By Laura Kalbag.
"Web accessibility (known in other fields as inclusive design or
universal design) is the degree to which a website is available to as
many people as possible. Accessibility is most often used to describe
how people with disabilities can access the web..."
http://24ways.org/2013/why-bother-with-accessibility/

Aria-required=true: WCAG 2 Compliance versus Best Practice
By Sailesh Panchang.
"Because the attribute 'aria-required' is supported by commonly used
browser-assistive technology combinations, many consider its use as
the easiest and most optimal method for indicating that input is
required for a field. Yet, recommending its use may not be so
straightforward from a strict WCAG 2 compliance viewpoint..."
http://www.deque.com/aria-requiredtrue-wcag-2-compliance-practice

Content Accessibility
By TV Raman and Charles McCathieNevile.
"It has long been important to help users find the 'right content'.
With the incredible diversity of the people who use the Web, and the
devices they are using it from, it is more important than ever to find
the content that works best for a given user's current situation..."
http://blog.schema.org/2013/12/content-accessibility.html

Using the Cloud to Improve Access for the Disabled
By Mary Axelson.
"A new initiative aims to give students with disabilities unfettered
access to the internet by using the cloud to automatically customize
any device for their needs."
http://campustechnology.com/articles/2013/12/05/using-the-cloud-to-improve-access-for-the-disabled.aspx

Use Case for High-DPI Zoom
By Alastair Campbell.
"In PPK's much needed research into how browsers handle media queries,
he suggests that there isn't a use case for increasing the DPI when
zooming in. I think I have one..."
http://alastairc.ac/2013/12/use-case-for-high-dpi-zoom/

Five Fundamentals of Accessible Responsive Web Design
By Anna Belle.
"What are the key techniques for building a responsive website that's
also accessible? I've been scouting the Web the last few days hoping
to find clear answers to this question, but there's precious little
out there. You can find scads of great information about both
accessible and responsive web design, but what about the intersection
of the two?..."
http://www.happywebdiva.com/2013/12/03/accessible-responsive-web-design/

Good Accessibility is Good Web Page Design
By Chris Duckett.
"Accessibility isn't something that should be added onto a web page,
it should be baked in..."
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/australian-technology/good-accessibility-is-good-web-page-design/


+02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.

Moonlighting with CSS Text-Shadow
By Chris Mills.
"...In this article I'll cover the venerable text-shadow property,
taking you from basics, through interesting applications, and up to
advanced considerations..."
http://www.sitepoint.com/moonlighting-css-text-shadow/


+03: EVALUATION & TESTING.

How to Run a Usability Test with Users Who Are on Your Site Now
By Marieke McCloskey.
"Learn how to use tools like ethnio and GoToMeeting to recruit
participants while they're on your site and immediately run moderated
usability studies..."
http://www.nngroup.com/articles/live-intercept-remote-test/


+04: EVENTS.

Webstock 2014
 Starting Feburary 10, 2014.
Wellington, New Zealand
http://www.webstock.org.nz/14/

In Control
February 17-19, 2014.
Orlando, Florida, U.S.A.
http://2014.incontrolconference.com/

Fluent
March 11-13, 2014.
San Francisco California, U.S.A.
http://fluentconf.com/fluent2014/

Breaking Development - Texas
March 31-April 2, 2014.
Dallas, Texas, U.S.A.
http://bdconf.com/2014/dallas

MinneWebCon
April 14-15, 2014.
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A.
http://www.minnewebcon.umn.edu/


+05: HTML5.

Why Does HTML Footer Take role="contentinfo"?
By Bruce Lawson.
"...role attributes are from the Accessible Rich Internet Applications
(WAI-ARIA) spec, and not part of HTML(5), although they're allowed in
pages. They're developed by different groups, and for different
reasons. ARIA is a bridging technlogy for any markup language - HTML4,
SVG or HTML5 to 'plugin' accessibility information that isn't part of
the host language..."
http://www.brucelawson.co.uk/2013/why-does-html-take-rolecontentinfo/


+06: INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE.

The Lazy Information Architect's Guide to Organising Content
By David Travis.
"Here's the scenario. It is coming up to Christmas and you're in a
design meeting. The topic for discussion is redesigning the navigation
structure of Santa's intranet..."
http://uxmas.com/2013/the-lazy-information-architects-guide-to-organising-content


+07: JAVASCRIPT.

Overview of ARIA, JavaScript, and Interactive Web Accessibility [VIDEO]
By Joseph Scheuhammer via Deque.
"In October, Deque and jQuery presented the two-day JavaScript
Accessibility Summit. Joseph Scheuhammer's presentation on ARIA,
JavaScript, and Interactive Web Accessibility is presented below.
Joseph Scheuhammer, PhD., is the Senior Developer at the Inclusive
Design Research Centre (OCAD University). "
http://www.deque.com/overview-aria-javascript-interactive-web-accessibility-video

JavaScript - Taking Off the Training Wheels
By Tom Ashworth.
"JavaScript is the third pillar of front-end web development. Of those
pillars, it is both the most powerful and the most complex, so it's
understandable that when 24 ways asked, 'What one thing do you wish
you had more time to learn about?', a number of you answered
'JavaScript!'..."
http://24ways.org/2013/javascript-taking-off-the-training-wheels/

Why I'm Turning JavaScript off by Default
By Tom Morris.
"..JavaScript is becoming the new conduit for awfulness. I like the
web too much to have to endure any more of it when not strictly
necessary."
http://tommorris.org/posts/8677

Happy 18th Birthday JavaScript
By resin.
"It was 18 years ago today that JavaScript was announced in a joint
press release by Netscape and Sun. That week, Michael Jackson's "Earth
Song" was in the charts, and in 17 days Ruby would launch its first
version too..."
http://resin.io/blog/happy-18th-birthday-javascript/


+08: MISCELLANEOUS.

This is a Website
By Jeffery Zeldman.
"...Yes, recycling other people's recycling of other people's
recycling of cat gifs is fun and easy on Tumblr. Yes, rubbing out a
good bon mot on Twitter can satisfy one's ego and rekindle a wistful
remembrance of meaning. Yes, these things are still fine to do. But
they are not all we can do on this web. This is our web. Let us not
surrender it so easily to new corporate masters. Keep blogging in the
free world."
http://www.zeldman.com/2013/12/11/this-is-a-website/

Modern Web Standards in Browsers - Bruce Lawson Interview [Video]
By Charles Nevile.
"Modern Web Standards in Browsers: an interview conducted by Charles
Nevile from Yandex, during YaC 2013's special project, inFront, the
Future of the Web..."
http://video.yandex.ru/users/ya-events/view/2131/?cauthor=ya-events&cid=128#


+09: NAVIGATION.

Links - Don't 'Click Here'
By Dennis Lembree.
"So it's the end of 2013, and sadly, the phrase 'click here' continues
to be used in text links all around the web. This is poor usability,
accessibility, and sure makes the author look silly!"
http://www.webaxe.org/links-dont-click-here/

The Importance of the First Choice in Website Navigation
By Jeff Sauro.
"How important is the first choice users make when navigating a
website? Turns out it's even more important than we thought..."
http://www.measuringusability.com/blog/first-choice.php

How Important Is To Have Always Visible Navigation?
By Steven Bradley.
"Site navigation is typically among the first things you think about
when designing a website. Once you know what content the site will
contain you start thinking how to organize that content and you also
think how to provide access to it through the site's navigation..."
http://www.vanseodesign.com/web-design/always-visible-navigation/


+10: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES & PATTERNS.

CSS, HTML, and the Problem of Spec Fragmentation
By Jens Meiert.
"We have not one but two fundamental problems with CSS. One is
unrestricted growth and complexity leading to poor understanding and
poor code. Another one is spec fragmentation, also an issue with HTML,
which results in inefficiencies. We should look for a better
balance..."
http://meiert.com/en/blog/20131205/spec-fragmentation/


+11: TYPOGRAPHY.

How to Use Cross Browser Web Fonts, Part 1
By Chris Mills.
"...This week I'm exploring web fonts, looking at the best way to use
custom fonts on your site across browsers. I'm going to start with
some basic explanations so we all know what we're talking about, then
I'll move on to some more advanced aspects in the following
article..."
http://www.sitepoint.com/how-to-use-cross-browser-web-fonts-part-1/


+12: USABILITY.

I'm In, How Do I Get Out?
By Amir Ansari.
"Logging out of a web or mobile app is easy, right? You just click the
Logout link. Wrong..."
http://uxmas.com/2013/best-practice-in-logout-function

On the Web, Context Kills, Speed Saves
By Gerry McGovern.
"A key difference between web writing and writing for print is that on
the Web you need to avoid context and instead focus on instructional,
how-to, task-based content..."
http://gerrymcgovern.com/new-thinking/web-context-kills-speed-saves

A History of Usability
By Jeff Sauro.
"Jeff's infographic is a beautifully designed snapshot of the last 100
years of usability. A poster-sized print is available for purchase..."
http://uxmas.com/2013/history-of-usability


[Section one ends.]


++ SECTION TWO:

+13: 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.]