[webdev] Web Design Update: January 22, 2015

Thu Jan 22 06:22:52 CST 2015

+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 13, Issue 30, January 22, 2015.

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

++ISSUE 30 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: MISCELLANEOUS.
08: NAVIGATION.
09: USABILITY.
10: XML.

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

[Contents ends.]

++ SECTION ONE: New references.

+01: ACCESSIBILITY.

Accessibility Should Not Be...
By Matt Lawson (Tweet).
"Accessibility should not be a job description or project milestone.
It is a responsibility for everyone involved in shaping the web."
https://twitter.com/lawlesscreation/status/557538377126674432

Solving Web Accessibility - Leaving No One Behind (Video)
By David Berman.
"Topics covered include: Discussion of emerging accessibility
standards, W3C WCAG 2.0 guidelines, and legal requirements for web
accessibility; Specific technologies and design techniques to satisfy
accessibility concerns; Why accessibility is important, and how
accessibility can mean usability for everyone; Tips and strategies
that don't require programming knowledge that you can implement
immediately..."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C13NwQ5e9Rs

Cognitive Accessibility User Research
By Lisa Seeman and Michael Cooper, Editors.
"Cognitive Accessibility User Research describes the challenges of
using web technologies for people with learning disabilities or
cognitive disabilities..."
http://www.w3.org/TR/2015/WD-coga-user-research-20150115/

Designing for Dyslexia (Part 2)
By Andrew Zusman.
"Universal design strives to improve usability for both users with and
without disabilities. In this, part 2 of Designing for Dyslexia,
Andrew Zusman identifies how the principles of universal design can be
applied to our work on the web..."
http://www.uxbooth.com/articles/designing-for-dyslexia-part-2/

Accessible Modal Windows
By Russ Weakley.
"A detailed slideshow on making modal windows accessible..."
http://www.slideshare.net/maxdesign/accessible-modal-windows

Draft Mobile WCAG Techniques
By W3C Mobile Accessibility Task Force.
"This is a page where the mobile accessibility task force is staging
potential drafts for techniques and proposing new techniques for WCAG
that relate to mobile websites and apps..."
https://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/mobile-a11y-tf/wiki/Draft_WCAG_Techniques

WordPress Theme Pattern Library for Accessibility
By David A. Kennedy.
"We want to make creating accessibility-ready themes as easy possible.
To do that, we're working on building a library of accessible patterns
for themes. That way, theme authors can learn about and implement
accessibility in their themes with ease..."
https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/2015/01/15/wordpress-theme-pattern-library-for-accessibility/

Making the GUI Talk (1991) by Rich Schwerdtfeger
By Steve Faulkner.
"Seminal how-to article on development of Graphical User Interface
(GUI) Screen Readers for Windows OS/2 and the X Windows System."
http://www.paciellogroup.com/blog/2015/01/making-the-gui-talk-1991-by-rich-schwerdtfeger/

+02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.

The 2014 CSS Report
By Alex McPherson.
"Examining how CSS is being used in the wild..."
http://reports.quickleft.com/css

+03: EVALUATION & TESTING.

Usability Test Questions - Does Wording Matter?
By Loop11.
"...It's worth taking the time to think through various ways of
wording your research questions to appreciate how the wording itself
may affect participants' thought process, and consequently how they
respond. Truly, research design is both an art and a science - and
that's what makes it so fascinating."
http://www.loop11.com/does-it-matter-how-you-ask-usability-test-questions/

+04: EVENTS.

WebVisions Chicago
September 23-25, 2015.
Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.
http://www.webvisionsevent.com/chicago/

HighEdWeb
October 4-7, 2015.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.A.
http://2015.highedweb.org/

ASSETS 2015
October 26-28, 2015.
Lisbon, Portugal
http://assets15.sigaccess.org/

EDUCAUSE Annual Conference
October 27-30, 2015.
Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.A.
http://www.educause.edu/annual-conference

+05: HTML5.

Footnotes and endnotes in HTML.next
By David MacDonald.
"I've taken an action item with John Foliot to propose a new element
in HTML5 for footnotes. The <note> and related <noteref> elements
would provide an easy way for authors to create functioning footnotes,
such as those in MS Word. Here's a Q&A to start the discussion..."
http://davidmacd.com/blog/html51-footnotes.html

+06: INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE.

Use Paper Wireframes to Build Native Prototypes
By Deborah Edwards-Onoro.
"When you develop a product, you don't want to invest time creating
something that doesn't fit the needs of the user, or that misses key
features. One way to avoid those issues is to use paper wireframes to
test designs, get feedback from the client, iterate quickly, and save
time."
http://www.lireo.com/paper-wireframes-build-native-prototypes/

+07: MISCELLANEOUS.

Why We Can't Do Real Responsive Images with CSS or JavaScript
By Bruce Lawson.
"...why all this complex new markup? Why not just use CSS or
JavaScript?...the only way to beat the preloader is to put all the
potential image sources in the HTML and give the browser all the
information it needs to make the selection there, too. That's what the
w and x descriptors in srcset are for, and the sizes attribute..."
http://www.brucelawson.co.uk/2015/why-we-cant-do-real-responsive-images-with-css-or-javascript/

+08: NAVIGATION.

Scoped Search - Dangerous, but Sometimes Useful
By  Katie Sherwin.
"Restricting search to a specific area of a website can provide better
results, faster. But users overlook, misunderstand, and forget about
the search scope."
http://www.nngroup.com/articles/scoped-search/

+09: USABILITY.

Do Prettier, More Professional-looking Web Sites Increase Conversions?
By David Mannheim.
"...There are lots of examples of...unintended effects of redesigns,
where conversions have decreased despite a site's visual impact and
the changes' getting a positive qualitative response from
visitors...While aesthetic design and usability are inextricably
interlinked, usability is most important to good design..."
http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2015/01/do-prettier-more-professional-looking-web-sites-increase-conversions.php

+10: XML.

SVG Basics-Fills And Strokes
By Steven Bradley.
"...Today I want to talk in more detail about fills and strokes and
the properties associated with each..."
http://www.vanseodesign.com/web-design/svg-fill-stroke/

[Section one ends.]

++ SECTION TWO:

+11: 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.]