[webdev] Web Design Update: October 30, 2014

Thu Oct 30 06:24:02 CDT 2014

+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 13, Issue 18, October 30, 2014.

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

++ISSUE 18 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: DRUPAL.
04: EVENTS.
05: HTML5.
06: INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE.
07: MISCELLANEOUS.
08: NAVIGATION.
09: USABILITY.

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

[Contents ends.]

++ SECTION ONE: New references.

+01: ACCESSIBILITY.

Websites Gone Bad - Where Aesthetics and Accessibility Collide
By Scott Hollier.
"It's a scene repeated daily for people with disabilities. You're busy
working away when an alert pops up in your calendar reminding you that
one of your relatives is having a birthday party next week and you
need to buy a present. A little panicked that the event has sprung up
so quickly, you scramble to the web to search for that gift you know
will be perfect. After using a shopping comparison website you find
the item you need at an amazing low price, and follow the link. What
gets presented on your screen next is a blob of swirling colour,
graphics, incomprehensible descriptions, no captions on the video and
silence from the screen reader."
http://www.accessiq.org/news/w3c-column/2014/10/websites-gone-bad-where-aesthetics-and-accessibility-collide

Good Coding Habits for Accessibility
By Joel Dolson.
"You're right. Web Accessibility is hard in the same way that
everything else in development is hard: designing and building any
perfect product is always tough - even impossible. But getting 90% of
the way there is easy..."
https://www.joedolson.com/2014/10/good-coding-habits-accessibility/

Testing for Accessibility on OS X
By Apple.
"...Application developers should read this chapter to find out how to
exercise the accessibility of their applications..."
https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Accessibility/Conceptual/AccessibilityMacOSX/OSXAXTesting/OSXAXTestingApps.html

Accessibility Testing Tools - Updated
By Steve Faulkner.
"Here at The Paciello Group (TPG) we have a technical accessibility
testing process which does not involve the use of automated tools. The
technical audit results we provide to our clients are based solely on
manual testing of a web site, web application, mobile or desktop
application..."
http://www.paciellogroup.com/blog/2014/10/accessibility-testing-tools-updated/

Re: Formal Objection to Advancing the HTML Image Description Document
Along the REC Track
By Tim Berners-Lee, Ralph Swick, Judy Brewer, and Philippe Le Hegaret.
"DECISION: On the basis of careful consideration of all points raised,
the Director does not find sufficient basis to uphold this formal
objection and it is hereby overruled. The Joint HTML Accessibility
Task Force, and the two Working Groups under which the Task Force
operates, may therefore continue to progress this [longdesc]
specification per W3C Process. We encourage all parties to apply their
creative energies and design capabilities constructively towards
improved solutions for accessible image descriptions in the future."
http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-html-admin/2014Oct/0099.html

+02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.

Cursors
By Chris Nager.
"A self-describing list of cursors available through CSS."
http://chrisnager.github.io/cursors/

+03: COLOR.

History of Web Color Names
By Christopher Schmitt.
"Where do web color names come from? Alex Sexton breaks down how web
colors got their names..."
http://christopherschmitt.com/2014/10/23/history-web-color-names/

+04: EVENTS.

Web Accessibility Training
December 10, 2014.
Online
http://www.eastersealstech.com/2014/10/24/webaccessibilitywebinar/

+05: HTML5.

HTML5 is a W3C Recommendation
By Ian Jacobs.
"The HTML Working Group today published HTML5 as W3C Recommendation.
This specification defines the fifth major revision of the Hypertext
Markup Language (HTML), the format used to build Web pages and
applications, and the cornerstone of the Open Web Platform..."
http://www.w3.org/blog/news/archives/4167

The Ride to 5
By Steve Faulkner.
"In recent weeks I contacted around 40 people, a cross section of
those who have banged away at, or banged on about, HTML5. I asked them
for their perspectives on HTML5 becoming a W3C Recommendation. Below
are the words of the 28 people who responded, pretty much in the order
they hit my inbox..."
http://html5doctor.com/the-ride-to-5/

HTML5 Is Now a W3C Recommendation
By Adrian Roselli.
" was already pretty excited when I read on the W3C Accessibility Task
Force mailing list that the formal objection against longdesc was
overruled. But then this - HTML5 is a wrap."
http://blog.adrianroselli.com/2014/10/html5-is-now-w3c-recommendation.html

On HTML5 vs Living Standard, W3C vs WHATWG
By Bruce Lawson.
"As I'm occasionally asked questions about how I see the two different
organisations working together (or not), here are the full questions
that Steve asked me, and my responses (as approved unchanged by my
bosses at Opera). I'm grateful to Steve for giving me his permission
to reproduce them..."
http://www.brucelawson.co.uk/2014/on-html5-vs-living-standard-w3c-vs-whatwg/

HTML5 a W3C Recommendation - Accessibility FTW!
By Mike Paciello.
"HTML5 is a great leap forward for an accessible web. In HTML5,
accessibility is a core design principle. For the first time the
semantics of HTML have been mapped, and implementation requirements
defined in terms of the way HTML semantics are conveyed to people
using assistive technologies..."
http://www.paciellogroup.com/blog/2014/10/html5-a-w3c-recommendation-accessibility-ftw/

+06: INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE.

How to use Tree Testing to Test the Information Architecture of Your
Website or App
By Jacob.
"One of the biggest challenges faced while building a website or an
app is organization of content. If your content is not findable or
accessible, no matter how pretty or full of bells and whistles your
website or app is, your users are going to run away, and conversion
rates are going to come down. Testing the organization of content (or
information architecture as we call it), thus, becomes very necessary
at the early stages of product development lifecycle..."
http://www.loop11.com/how-to-use-tree-testing-to-test-the-information-architecture-of-your-website-or-app/

+07: JAVASCRIPT.

ECMAScript 6 Returns JavaScript to Original Intent
By Paul Krill.
"The committee behind ECMAScript wants a quicker release schedule to
keep up with the pace of Web innovation..."
http://www.infoworld.com/article/2837425/javascript/ecmascript-6-returns-javascript-to-original-intent.html

+08: NAVIGATION.

Floating Action Buttons Pattern Considerations
By Brad Frost.
"I think this pattern has several disadvantages. Successful navigation
finds the balance between unobtrusiveness and accessibility. To Luke's
point, the floating action button pattern is certainly accessible, but
I'd say the pattern is quite obtrusive. It stands out in an interface
like a piece of dirt sticks out in the corner of your eye. This fixed
element shouting for your attention may be effective, but may do so to
the detriment of the rest of the interface."
http://bradfrost.com/blog/post/floating-action-buttons-pattern-considerations/

+09: USABILITY.

Progress Indicators Make a Slow System Less Insufferable
By Katie Sherwin.
"Wait animations, such as percent-done bars and spinners, inform users
of the current working state and make the process more tolerable to
the user by reducing uncertainty. Users experience higher satisfaction
with a site and are willing to wait longer when the site uses a
dynamic progress indicator..."
http://www.nngroup.com/articles/progress-indicators/

Usability Checklist
By Userium.
"Catch common usability problems before user testing..."
https://userium.com/index.html

[Section one ends.]

++ SECTION TWO:

+10: 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

Drupal Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/drupal.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

HTML Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/html.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.]