[webdev] Web Design Update: April 10, 2014

[Laura Carlson]

+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 12, Issue 42, April 10, 2014.

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

++ISSUE 42 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: COLOR.
04: DREAMWEAVER.
05: DRUPAL.
06: EVALUATION & TESTING.
07: EVENTS.
08: HTML5.
09: JAVASCRIPT.
10: MISCELLANEOUS.
11: NAVIGATION.
12: TOOLS.
13: USABILITY.

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

[Contents ends.]


++ SECTION ONE: New references.

+01: ACCESSIBILITY.

I Will Tell You Later
By Svetlana Kouznetsova.
"...Please share all aural information via quality captioning and
transcription with us NOW, not LATER. We deserve full and equal rights
to communication access at the same time like everyone else."
http://audio-accessibility.com/news/2014/04/i-will-tell-you-later/

Two New Options for Creating Accessible Video Content
By Luis Perez.
"When combined with the latest accessibility features built into iOS
and OS X, accessible content creates a powerful platform for
empowering people with all levels of ability by giving us equitable
access to information, services and learning. In this post, I will
discuss two new (at least to me) options for creating accessible
content: the addition of captioning support in Vimeo, and the
YouDescribe service for creating audio described YouTube videos..."
http://luisperezonline.com/2014/04/03/two-new-options-for-creating-accessible-video-content/

Web Accessibility and Cognitive Disabilities
By Tim Lohman.
"Access iQ spoke with Stefan Johansson, an accessibility expert at
Funka, on the major issues associated with web accessibility and
cognitive disabilities."
http://www.accessiq.org/news/news/2014/04/web-accessibility-and-cognitive-disabilities

Keyboard-Only Navigation for Improved Accessibility
By Marieke McCloskey.
"...People who are unable to use a mouse or see the screen need to
access all website content and functionality through their keyboard
alone. To make your website keyboard accessible it is important to
allow users to: 1) follow along with where the keyboard focus is, 2)
navigate to all interactive elements, and 3) bypass the navigation if
there are many links."
http://www.nngroup.com/articles/keyboard-accessibility/

(Touch) Test Results
By Patrick H. Lauke.
"Some of the more interesting data points from running my various
touch/pointer tests on a variety of devices/browsers. All tests
carried out manually, trying to get the cleanest possible results
(e.g. getting a "clean" tap without any finger movement)..."
http://patrickhlauke.github.io/touch/tests/results/

Accessible Website Forms and WCAG
By Tim Lohman.
"Access iQ spoke to Andreas Cederbom, an Accessibility Expert at
Funka, about WCAG and common issues encountered when creating
accessible website forms..."
http://www.accessiq.org/news/news/2014/04/accessible-website-forms-and-wcag

Is the Alt Attribute Dead?
By Jonathan Avila.
"In general, when the alt attribute can be used developers should
continue to use the alt attribute..."
https://www.ssbbartgroup.com/blog/2014/04/08/is-the-alt-attribute-dead/


+02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.

Stripes in CSS
By Chris Coyier.
"Stripes are pretty easy to do in CSS these days. CSS gradients via
the background-image property really got our back. I thought I'd
document some variations in one easy to reference place..."
http://css-tricks.com/stripes-css/


+03: COLOR.

Usability Tip: Don't Rely on Color to Convey Your Message
By Tammy Guy.
"In general-but particularly in the design world-color is a powerful
tool. It conveys moods and emotions, adds presence to designs, and
builds brand identities. All too often, however, users who suffer from
any color deficiencies struggle to navigate their way through our
color-drenched world..."
http://uxmag.com/articles/usability-tip-dont-rely-on-color-to-convey-your-message

Easy Color Contrast Testing
By Jenn Lukas.
"...When it's this quick and simple to check contrast, there's no
reason not to add this accessibility test into our workflow."
http://alistapart.com/blog/post/easy-color-contrast-testing


+04: DREAMWEAVER.

Tips on Using the Dreamweaver CC Layout Grid
By Virginia DeBolt.	
"I've learned a few things about how the Dreamweaver CC layout grid
system works after making about 30 different layouts with it and
struggling to figure out its bugs..."
http://www.webteacher.ws/2014/04/07/tips-using-dreamweaver-cc-layout-grid/


+05: DRUPAL.

Inline Form Errors for Accessibility and UX
By bowersox.
"This proposal stems from the Form Error Design Wiki where we gathered
feedback from accessibility stakeholders (such as Everett Zufelt) as
well as UX stakeholders (yoroy, bojhan)..."
https://drupal.org/node/1493324


+06: EVALUATION & TESTING.

Open Accessibility Testing Needs YOU
By Karl Groves.
"...No willing participant will be turned away. Even if you're not a
skilled developer, please feel free to swing by and tell us about
something you want to see tested."
http://www.karlgroves.com/2014/04/05/open-accessibility-testing-needs-you/

The Moderator's Survival Guide: Handling Common, Tricky, and Sticky
Situations in User Research
By Donna Tedesco and Fiona.
"This is a sample chapter from Donna Tedesco and Fiona Tranquada's new
book, The Moderator's Survival Guide: Handling Common, Tricky, and
Sticky Situations in User Research..."
http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2014/04/the-moderators-survival-guide-handling-common-tricky-and-sticky-situations-in-user-research.php


+07: EVENTS.

Usability Week Atlanta
April 28-May 2, 2014.
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.
http://www.nngroup.com/training/atlanta/

Usability Week Chicago
May 12-16, 2014.
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
http://www.nngroup.com/training/chicago/

Usability Week London
London, England, United Kingdom
June 1-6, 2014.
http://www.nngroup.com/training/london/

Usability Week San Francisco
June 21-27, 2014.
San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
http://www.nngroup.com/training/san-francisco/


+08: HTML5.

Accessible Web Components, Part 1
By Addy Osmani and Alice Boxhall.
"Custom Elements present a fantastic opportunity for us to improve
accessibility on the web. To be accessible, elements need to work
across multiple devices with varying screen-sizes and different kinds
of input. Moreover, your elements should be usable by the broadest
group of users, including those with disabilities. When designing for
accessibility, there are four key areas of disability to consider:
visual, hearing, mobility and cognition..."
http://www.polymer-project.org/articles/accessible-web-components.html

Usability and Accessibility Opportunities in a Web Component World
By Steve Faulkner.
"A discussion on the WHATWG list about the limitations/issues with the
current design of the summary and details elements, brought forth the
following comment..."
http://blog.paciellogroup.com/2014/04/usability-accessibility-opportunities-web-compenent-world/


+09: JAVASCRIPT.

Improvements to the Handling of the Aria-Pressed Attribute
By Marco Zehe.
"On Monday this week, Heydon Pickering brought to my attention that
Firefox has a problem with the way it handles the aria-pressed
attribute in some circumstances. aria-pressed is used on buttons (or
elements that have a WAI-ARIA role of 'button') to turn it into a
toggle button which can be either pressed or not. Think of the Bold,
Italic, etc. toolbar buttons in your favorite word processor as an
example..."
http://www.marcozehe.de/2014/04/04/improvements-to-the-handling-of-the-aria-pressed-attribute/

Brendan Eich Steps Down as Mozilla CEO
By Mozilla.
"Mozilla prides itself on being held to a different standard and, this
past week, we didn't live up to it. We know why people are hurt and
angry, and they are right: it's because we haven't stayed true to
ourselves..."
https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2014/04/03/brendan-eich-steps-down-as-mozilla-ceo/


+10: MISCELLANEOUS.

Sarah Horton and Larry Goldberg - Discussing CVAA
By Sean Carmichael.
"If you work in media broadcasting or telecommunications you have
probably heard of the U.S. legislation called CVAA, shorthand for the
21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act. This law,
signed by President Obama in October 2010, seeks to ensure that
accessibility requirements keep pace with advances in communication
technologies..."
http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2014/04/04/sarah-horton-and-larry-goldberg-discussing-cvaa/

EdgeConf Accessibility Conference Panel Video
By Chris Heilmann, Moderator.
"The web is changing fast. Are accessibility standards keeping pace?
What should developers of single page apps do to help users of
assistive technologies? How do we anticipate assistive technologies
developing in future? To what extent do new web technologies such as
canvas and the web audio API either help or hinder those with
accessibility needs? How much can we afford to invest in
accessibility?
http://youtu.be/npHcvAV2lew

Lawson's Creek - A Few Words With the HTML5 Doctor (Interview)
By Jeffery Zeldman.
"Bruce Lawson is a web standards evangelist on Opera's Developer
Relations team and a former member of The Web Standards Project's
Accessibility Task Force. We recently caught up with Bruce to discuss
web accessibility, HTML5, his publishing past, and other topics."
http://aneventapart.com/news/post/lawsons-creek-a-few-words-with-the-html5-doctor


+11: NAVIGATION.

4 Design Patterns That Violate Back-Button Expectations
By Christian Holst.
"In summary: Use history.pushState() to make sure your site invokes
'back' button behavior that aligns with the user's expectations.
Specifically, ensure that any visual change the user will perceive as
a new page is added to their browsing history, regardless of whether
it's technically a new page or not..."
http://baymard.com/blog/back-button-expectations

Do Your Links Makes Sense on Their Own?
By Luke McGrath.
"This article explains what you need to do to meet Guideline 2.4.9 -
Link purpose (link only) from the  Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines 2.0..."
http://www.wuhcag.com/link-purpose-link-only/

Let Your Users Know Where They Are
By Luke McGrath.
"Some of your users may have problems understanding the structure of
your website. They can get lost, especially during actions like
checkouts that take place over a few pages. You can help your users by
making it clear where they are on your website. This might be as
simple as adding breadcrumbs to your website..."
http://www.wuhcag.com/location/

Google SEO and Web Accessibility
By Tim Lohman.
"Access iQ spoke with Michael Wahlgren, CEO and founder of search
engine marketing and web development company Pineberry, on the
relationship between accessible websites and Google search engine
optimisation (SEO)."
http://www.accessiq.org/news/news/2014/04/google-seo-and-web-accessibility-0


+12: TOOLS.

Universal Media Player (UMP)
By Terrill Thompson.
"UMP is a fully accessible cross-browser media player. It uses the
HTML5 <audio> or <video> element for browsers that support them, and
(optionally) the JW Player as a fallback for those that don't."
http://terrillthompson.com/ump/


+13: USABILITY.

Why the Flat Design Trend is Hurting Usability
By Tara Hornor.
"...The only real problem with flat designs is that they often go too
far. Minimalism for the sake of offering a more simplistic,
user-friendly design is a very noble goal. But too minimalist creates
usability issues, such as the ones we are seeing with the flat design
trend...Two large complaints aboug flat designs are that they are not
intuitive and are simply way too confusing...The problem is when flat
becomes too flat and doesn't contain visual clues users need to help
them effortlessly move through an interface. "
http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/design/why-the-flat-design-trend-is-hurting-usability/

How Ease-of-Use is Reshaping the IT Industry
By Gerry McGovern.
"The interface is increasingly becoming the product when it comes to
IT. Ease-of-use, long a peripheral issue, has now become central..."
http://gerrymcgovern.com/new-thinking/how-ease-use-reshaping-it-industry

6 Tools for Testing Website Speed
By Gisele Muller.
"Website speed is something crucial to any page, specially if you
consider that users don't like slow sites and don't want to wait more
than a couple seconds for a page to load..."
http://designm.ag/web-designs/6-free-tools-for-testing-website-speed/


[Section one ends.]


++ SECTION TWO:

+14: 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.]