[webdev] Web Design Update: January 3, 2014

Laura Carlson lcarlson at d.umn.edu
Fri Jan 3 07:24:11 CST 2014 

+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 12, Issue 28, January 3, 2014.

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

++ISSUE 28 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: EVENTS.
04: JAVASCRIPT.
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.

Google Docs Accessibility and Export/Import Options
By SSB BART Group.
"...The majority of screen reader users who are blind cannot, at
present, accurately or reliably create or edit collaborative documents
while preserving correct formatting and content flow using the Google
Docs web editor interface...Though more accessible file types can be
imported into Google Docs, the Google Drive interface is nearly
impossible for screen reader users who are blind to navigate reliably,
making many Google Doc features impossible to utilize effectively.
This post primarily focuses on screen reader accessibility, but other
assistive technologies such as screen magnification and voice
navigation software should also be taken into account. For example,
the toolbar buttons within the Google Docs interface consist of div
tags that use ARIA to provide 'button' feedback for screen reader
users. Since voice navigation software such as Dragon NatuallySpeaking
does not include any support for ARIA, common commands such as 'list
buttons' will not work, making it vitally important for standard
keyboard navigation commands to be supported properly within Google
Docs."
https://www.ssbbartgroup.com/blog/2013/12/31/google-docs-accessibility-and-exportimport-options/

Why Blind Internet Users are Angry with Google, CAPTCHA
By Adam Ragusea.
"...'accessible' is the magic word. 'Any company that's putting out
either sites or mobile apps without considering accessibility for
people with disabilities is really at risk,' says Lainey Feingold, a
San Francisco attorney who negotiated agreements with companies like
Bank of America and CVS to get CAPTCHAs off their sites. The risk
isn't just that you might lose customers, she says. You might get
sued."
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/tech/why-blind-internet-users-are-angry-google-captcha

Web Accessibility Basics
By WebPlatform.org.
"Accessibility is making the Web work for people with a diverse range
of abilities. Accessibility is essential for developers and
organizations that want to create high quality websites and web tools,
and not exclude people from using their products and services.
Accessibility is vital to enable people with disabilities to
participate equally on the Web. It is a legal requirement in some
cases, and a best practice in all cases..."
http://docs.webplatform.org/wiki/concepts/accessibility

Artist and Researcher Suggests All Technology is Assistive Technology
By Daniel Hubbell.
"What is assistive technology? This month, The Atlantic explores the
question in a fascinating conversation with Sara Hendren, who writes
and lectures extensively about technology and accessibility. Hendren
believes 'all technology is assistive' and that design should follow
this premise. She explains..."
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/accessibility/archive/2013/12/26/artist-and-researcher-suggests-all-technology-is-assistive-technology.aspx


+02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.

Style Over Substance - The Content CSS Property and Accessibility
By Lamar Jordan.
"...Using the CSS content property seems to cause more headaches for
developers who care about accessibility. But I have also presented
some alternatives here for developers who may be inheriting code or
need to work within existing boundaries. Hopefully this article can
help developers the most at the beginning of a project/redesign, so
accessibility is part of the creation process, instead of the
remediation process."
https://www.ssbbartgroup.com/blog/2013/11/06/csscontentproperty/

Make Sure Your Columns Don't Collapse Horizontally
By Chris Coyier.
"You might be familiar with elements collapsing vertically. If an
element only contains other elements that are floated, the parent
element will collapse to zero height. We often employ the clear fix
for that. But if an element doesn't contain anything, it can collapse
horizontally as well, which can be quite awkward for layout..."
http://css-tricks.com/make-sure-columns-dont-collapse-horizontally/


+03: EVENTS.

Web Accessibility Training
May 6-7, 2014.
Logan, Utah, U.S.A.
http://webaim.org/training/

Front-Trends
May 7-9, 2014.
Warsaw, Poland
http://2014.front-trends.com/

John Slatin AccessU
May 12-14, 2014.
Austin, Texas, U.S.A.
http://www.knowbility.org/v/john-slatin-accessu/

High Ed Web Regional Michigan
May 22-23, 2014.
Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.A.
http://mi.highedweb.org/


+04: JAVASCRIPT.

What is the DOM?
By Chris Coyier.
"A reader recently wrote in asking me what the DOM was. They said
they've heard it mentioned and alluded to, but aren't sure they really
understand it..."
http://css-tricks.com/dom/


+05: MISCELLANEOUS.

The Mobile Moment
By Luke Wroblewski.
"Things change for companies when the majority of their usage and
traffic shifts from desktop to mobile devices. New processes,
priorities, and product thinking are required to adapt. Don't wait too
long to change as your company's mobile moment can come sooner than
you think..."
http://www.lukew.com/ff/entry.asp?1841

In Dependence
By Jeremy Keith.
I'm going to continue to publish here on my own website, journal,
blog, or whatever you want to call it. It's still possible that I
might lose everything but I'd rather take the responsibility for that,
rather than placing my trust in 'the cloud' someone else's server. I'm
owning my own words. The problem is I publish more than words. I
publish pictures too, even the occasional video. I have the originals
on my hard drive, but I'm very, very uncomfortable with the online
home for my photos being in the hands of Yahoo, the same company that
felt no compunction about  destroying the cultural wealth of
GeoCities. Flickr has been a magnificent shining example of the web
done right, but it is in an inevitable downward spiral..."
http://adactio.com/journal/6620/

Aaron Gustafson - Designing Across Devices with Progressive Enhancement
By Sean Carmichael.
"Responsive web design seems to come up in every other discussion or
article about UX these days. And rightfully so as it's an elegant way
to make sure your design adapts to the multitude of devices on the
market. But with the Internet of Things looming, it's becoming more
than just the visuals of your site that are of major concern. How your
content displays on a car dashboard, 'can a watch handle this page
weight?', or 'is this refrigerator JavaScript enabled?' are not
unrealistic issues moving forward. Aaron Gustafson believes that
progressive enhancement can go a long way to addressing these
questions. In his virtual seminar, Designing Across Devices with
Progressive Enhancement, Aaron discusses strategies for layering the
experience. By thinking of the interface as a continuum, it can not
only adapt to devices, but can become more robust with browser
capabilities..."
http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2013/12/30/aaron-gustafson-designing-across-devices-with-progressive-enhancement/

10 Web Predictions for 2014
By Craig Buckler.
"Happy New Year! 2014 is a fresh start for the web and developers
everywhere. My 2013 predictions were reasonably accurate so let's see
if I can communicate with the spirits..."
http://www.sitepoint.com/10-web-predictions-2014/


+06: TYPOGRAPHY.

A Pocket Guide to Master Every Day's Typographic Adventures
By Benedikt Lehnert.
"Typography is the craft of arranging type with the goal to make
language visible. We arrange type multiple times throughout the day;
whether we are writing essays, summarizing meeting minutes or creating
slides for a presentation. Unfortunately, we usually end up thinking
more about what we write than how we write it. and, most importantly,
how others will read it..."
http://www.typogui.de/


+07: USABILITY.

Biggest Mistakes in Web Design 1995-2015
By  Vincent Flanders.
"I've gathered what I think are the biggest web design mistakes
committed during the period 1995 to 2015. Yes, it is a little
facetious to say these mistakes will be made in the year 2015, but
it's human nature to repeat your mistakes over and over..."
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/biggest-mistakes-in-web-design-1995-2015.html


[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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+ 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.]

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