[webdev] Web Design Update: January 9, 2014

Laura Carlson lcarlson at d.umn.edu
Thu Jan 9 09:10:41 CST 2014 

+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 12, Issue 29, January 9, 2014.

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

++ISSUE 29 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: BOOKS.
03: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.
04: EVENTS.
05: HTML5.
06: JAVASCRIPT.
07: MISCELLANEOUS.
08: NAVIGATION.
09: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES & PATTERNS.
10: TYPOGRAPHY.
11: USABILITY.

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

[Contents ends.]


++ SECTION ONE: New references.

+01: ACCESSIBILITY.

2014 Web Accessibility Predictions
By Denis Boudreau.
"With everyone and their mother pretending to have crystal balls as
the new year begins, I thought it could be interesting to play along
for a moment and make up my own list of predictions for 2014, but this
time, with a focus on web accessibility..."
http://www.denisboudreau.org/blog/2014/01/2014-web-accessibility-predictions/

Incredible Accessible Modal Window, Version 2
By Greg  Kraus.
"...One of the things Rich and I learned in this adventure is if you
include a role='document' inside of the role="dialog", then NVDA
allows you to use the virtual cursor. This now gives all screen reader
users the ability to fully navigate all of the contents...."
http://accessibility.oit.ncsu.edu/blog/2014/01/02/incredible-accessible-modal-window-version-2/

Using Aria-Invalid for Error Indication
By Sailesh Panchang.
"Setting aria-invalid to 'true' is a quick and easy method for
indicating that a field has failed validation. Yet, its usefulness
from an accessibility standpoint is limited to a situation where..."
http://www.deque.com/aria-invalid-error-indication

Picking up Mini-Projects
By Matthew Tylee Atkinson.
"...I've finally added basic support for tabbed browsing to the ARIA
landmarks keyboard navigation Firefox extension..."
http://matatk.agrip.org.uk/articles/picking-up-mini-projects/

Gartner Says Cos Should Deploy Technologies To Address IT Accessibility
By Biztech2 Staff.
"Companies that address accessibility needs in their IT product
development are better positioned to leverage those same assistive
technologies to mass market solutions..."
http://biztech2.in.com/news/enterprise-solutions/gartner-says-cos-should-deploy-technologies-to-address-it-accessibility/168772/0

8 Trillion Reasons to Make Your Technology Accessible
By Phil Johnson.
"A new report from Gartner reveals a large and growing market for
accessible technologies, which some companies like IBM are already
serving"
http://www.itworld.com/mobile-wireless/398692/8-trillion-reasons-make-your-technology-accessible

Online Accessibility for Disabled Becomes a Must
By Alex Varley.
"Some web managers are sleeping very soundly in Canberra right now.
They are the ones that have the National Transition Strategy
requirements (NTS) well under control, and they are overhauling their
web properties and online services..."
http://www.governmentnews.com.au/2014/01/06/article/Online-accessibility-for-disabled-becomes-a-must/SUJGLNRSLQ

Why Do We Fear the Blind?
By Rosemary Mahoney.
"...We take our eyesight so much for granted, cling to it so slavishly
and are so overwhelmed by its superficial data, that even the most
brilliant sighted person can take a stupidly long time to recognize
the obvious: There is usually a perfectly healthy, active and normal
human mind behind that pair of unseeing eyes..."
www.nytimes.com/2014/01/05/opinion/sunday/why-do-we-fear-the-blind.html

Response to Viewpoint About Deaf Community
By Meryl Evans.
"Yes, some people misjudge us deaf folks. It's often because they have
little experience with us and need a little education; even
well-educated people like Vice President Al Gore. After I talked to
him, he said thanks in sign language. I thanked him and revealed that
I didn't know sign language. It wasn't to embarrass him - it was to
teach him and those listening to our conversation that not all deaf
people are the same. Helen Keller said it well: 'The highest result of
education is tolerance.'..."
http://shelaza.com/the-d-life/response-to-viewpoint-about-deaf-community/


+02: BOOKS.

Felke-Morris. Basics of Web Design: HTML5 & CSS3, 2nd Edition,
Addison-Wesley, 2013.

Felke-Morris, Web Development & Design Foundations with HTML5, 7th
Edition, Addison-Wesley, 2014.

Krug, Steve. Don't Make Me Think Revisited. A Common Sense Approach to
Web Usability (2nd Edition, New Riders Press, 2014.


+03: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.

Introducing the calc Function
By Sara Vieira.
"...the introduction of the calc function to CSS3 provides a way of
running Math calculations natively which increases performance and
even enables mixed units..."
http://www.developerdrive.com/2014/01/introducing-the-calc-function/


+04: EVENTS.

UXMobile Immersion
April 7-9, 2014.
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
http://uxim14.uie.com/

Confab
May 7-9, 2014.
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A.
http://confabevents.com/events/minneapolis-2014

High Ed Web Regional South Carolina
June 23-24, 2014.
Florence, South Carolina, U.S.A.
http://se.highedweb.org/

UXPA London
July 21-24, 2014.
London, England, United Kingdom
http://www.uxpa2014.org/

Beyond the Desktop - Nashville
July 28-30, 2014.
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A.
https://bdconf.com/events/2014/Nashville/


+05: HTML5.

Using the Web Speech API to Control a HTML5 Video
By Ian Devlin.
"The JavaScript Web Speech API has been around since October 2012 but
has not really been implemented in any browser other than in Chrome,
and even then only partially. I decided to take a quick look at this
API and put together a demo on how it could be used to control a HTML5
video..."
http://www.iandevlin.com/blog/2014/01/javascript/using-the-web-speech-api-to-control-a-html5-video

The Picture Element
Editors: Tab Atkins, Marcos Caceres, Mat Marquis, Yoav Weiss.
"The picture element is intended to give authors a way to control
which image resource a user agent presents to a user, based on media
query and/or support for a particular image format."
http://picture.responsiveimages.org/


+06: JAVASCRIPT.

Evaluating JavaScript code via eval() and new Function()
By Axel Rauschmayer.
"This blog post examines how one can dynamically evaluate code in JavaScript..."
http://www.2ality.com/2014/01/eval.html

ECMAScript 6 - Merging Objects Via Object.assign()
By Axel Rauschmayer.
"Copying all properties of one object to another one is a common
operation in JavaScript. This blog post explains ECMAScript 6's
implementation of it, which is called Object.assign()."
http://www.2ality.com/2014/01/object-assign.html


+07: MISCELLANEOUS.

We're About to Lose Net Neutrality - And the Internet as We Know It
By Marvin Ammori.
"Net neutrality is a dead man walking. The execution date isn't set,
but it could be days, or months (at best). And since net neutrality is
the principle forbidding huge telecommunications companies from
treating users, websites, or apps differently - say, by letting some
work better than others over their pipes - the dead man walking isn't
some abstract or far-removed principle just for wonks: It affects the
internet as we all know it..."
http://www.wired.com/opinion/2013/11/so-the-internets-about-to-lose-its-net-neutrality

Thoughts For The Future Of Responsive Images
By Steven Bradley.
"...We should only use images that enhance the communication in a
design and we should avoid using images that contribute little. Where
possible we should use code and when we need an image we should prefer
vectors. This will lead to less bitmapped images, which are the ones
that really cause the issues we face...."
http://www.vanseodesign.com/web-design/responsive-images-thoughts/


+08: NAVIGATION.

Organize Content Using Hierarchically Nested Headings
By Denis Boudreau.
"Make sure headings are nested hierarchically in order to facilitate
navigation.."
http://dboudreau.tumblr.com/post/72420214630/organize-content-using-hierarchically-nested-headings

3 Guidelines for Search Engine 'No Results' Pages
By Kathryn Whitenton.
"When users try a search and get no results, there's a high risk of
site abandonment. But paying attention to design details can turn this
potential disaster into an opportunity for content discovery."
http://www.nngroup.com/articles/search-no-results-serp/


+09: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES & PATTERNS.

Web Standards Killed the HTML Star
By Jeff Croft.
"When Zeldman wrote our bible, we were there, pounding the table in
board rooms for using CSS instead of tables for layout, for image
replacement techniques that retained the accessibility of the content,
for semantic code, and all the rest..."
http://jeffcroft.com/blog/2014/jan/03/web-standards-killed-the-html-star/

The HTML Star Is Ignored (and Shouldn't Be)
By Adrian Roselli.
"...Jeff's post is addressing standards from the perspective of what
skills get you hired. Sadly, it's hiring practices that continue to
perpetuate the lack of standards and a need for truly talented
HTML/CSS coders. There are plenty of reasons why we still need skilled
HTML/CSS coders...the web standards movement has achieved its goals.
In that regard, I think Jeff Croft's piece already starts from a false
assumption..."
http://blog.adrianroselli.com/2014/01/the-html-star-is-ignored-and-shouldnt-be.html

It's 2014. Is Web Design Dead?
By Jeffery Zeldman.
"...while many of us prefer to concentrate on design, content, and
experience, it continues to be necessary to remind our work comrades
(or inform younguns) about web standards, accessibility, and
progressive enhancement..."
http://www.zeldman.com/2014/01/06/its-2014-is-web-design-dead/


+10: TYPOGRAPHY.

Why We Still Need Web-Safe Fonts
By Alexander Dawson.
"...The time and effort required to use a simple CSS font stack that
includes Web-safe fonts is very small, so there's little reason not to
continue doing it."
http://sixrevisions.com/web-standards/why-we-still-need-web-safe-fonts/


11: USABILITY.

Old Browsers, Does it Matter?
By Karl Dubost.
"...anyone should be able to use the browser of his/her choice be on
an old computer. There are many circumstances where someone will not
be able to use the most recent version of a browser..."
http://www.otsukare.info/2014/01/06/old-browsers


[Section one ends.]


++ SECTION TWO:

+12: 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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