[webdev] Web Design Update: May 28, 2015

Thu May 28 06:17:19 CDT 2015

+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 13, Issue 49, May 28, 2015.

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

++ISSUE 49 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: JAVASCRIPT.
06: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES & PATTERNS.
07: USABILITY.
08: XML.

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

[Contents ends.]

++ SECTION ONE: New references.

+01: ACCESSIBILITY.

IT Accessibility Checklist
By Terrill Thompson.
"...The following checklist is based on the WCAG 2.0 standards, and is
provided to assist the UW community including web designers,
developers, content creators, and purchasing agents, in creating and
procuring accessible IT. It can also be used as a reference for
vendors and contractors providing products and services to the UW.
Many of the items in this checklist apply to web pages and web-based
applications as well as electronic documents in Microsoft Word, Adobe
PDF, and other formats. It is also a useful metric for products and
services that are not specifically web-based..."
http://www.washington.edu/accessibility/checklist/

Second Written Comment to the Access Board about the 508 Refresh
By Wayne Dick.
"Three new rules for 508 that can be added to WCAG 2.0 techniques to
support low vision without changing normative language..."
http://www.nosetothepage.org/508/Techniques.html

US Justice Department Demands Accessible Educational Technology
By John Kleeman.
"...Accessible software is good for everyone, not just those who are
temporarily or permanently need accommodations for their disabilities.
Many of the technologies required to make software accessible also
enhance delivery on mobile devices and improve blended delivery in
general. With the US Department of Justice now engaging in lawsuits
against institutions that do not take accessibility seriously,
accessibility support will become more important to everyone."
http://blog.questionmark.com/us-justice-department-demands-accessible-educational-technology

Another DOJ Action Over Allegedly Inaccessible Websites and Other Technologies
By Seyfarth Shaw.
"For today's Global Accessibility Awareness Day, we have yet another
Department Justice enforcement action to report relating to the
allegedly inaccessible websites and other technologies..."
http://www.adatitleiii.com/2015/05/another-doj-action-over-allegedly-inaccessible-websites-and-other-technologies/

Patterns in Higher Education Accessibility Complaints
By Greg Kraus.
"In recent years there have been several notable legal actions
concerning IT accessibility within higher education. When I say 'legal
action,' that can range from an action from the Office of Civil Rights
or the Department of Justice, or it can be from an actual lawsuit..."
http://accessibility.oit.ncsu.edu/blog/2015/05/21/patterns-in-higher-education-accessibility-complaints/

Understanding the Proposed Section 508 Refresh - Areas Requiring Clarification
By Jonathan Avila.
"In this final post in the series I'll share some areas in the
proposed update which I believe will require further clarification
from The Board..."
http://www.ssbbartgroup.com/blog/understanding-proposed-section-508-refresh-areas-requiring-clarification/

Accessibility By Design
By Laura Kalbag.
"On Thursday morning I gave a talk online for Inclusive Design 24, a
free 24-hour event celebrating Global Accessibility Awareness Day..."
http://laurakalbag.com/accessibility-by-design/

Make Technology Work for Everyone: Introducing Digital Accessibility (Video)
By Fix the Web, Digital Accessibility Centre, and Dig Inclusion.
"This short animated film provides 1) A short introduction to digital
accessibility, 2) Some reasons why digital inclusion is important, 3)
15 tips to help you start making your digital technology more
accessible, usable, and inclusive."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=11&v=8Ik_LHmZx8Y

+02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.

Video - Scalable Backgrounds in CSS
By Russ Weakley.
"In this short video, I'll show you how to create a background
container that scales seamlessly to fit any browser size."
http://www.sitepoint.com/video-scalable-backgrounds-css/

What You Should Know About Collapsing Margins
By Geoff Graham.
"OK, so some spacing walks into a bar, trips and falls on the floor.
The bartender asks if he should be cut off and the spacing replies,
"No, I'm just a collapsed margin..."
https://css-tricks.com/what-you-should-know-about-collapsing-margins/

+03: EVALUATION & TESTING.

Q&A - Testing for Accessibility Before Development Begins
By Tim Lohman.
"Firstly, how important is it that web accessibility is considered at
the wireframes stage of website development?..."
http://www.accessiq.org/news/news/2015/05/qa-testing-for-accessibility-before-development-begins

+04: EVENTS.

HTML5 Training
Starts June 1, 2015.
Online.
https://www.edx.org/course/learn-html5-w3c-w3cx-html5-1x

+05: JAVASCRIPT.

The Final Steps to Mastering JavaScript's 'this' Keyword
By Ivaylo Gerchev.
"In a previous article we learned the fundamentals of using
JavaScript's this keyword properly. We saw that the crucial factor in
determining what this refers to, is to find out the current execution
context. However, this task can be a bit tricky in situations where
the context gets changed in a way we don't expect. In this article I
will highlight when this might happen and what we can do to remedy
it..."
http://www.sitepoint.com/mastering-javascripts-this-keyword/

+06: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES & PATTERNS.

Complementing Standards by Demonstrating Commitment and Progress
By Sarah Horton, David Sloan, and Henny Swan.
"...in many cases, standards compliance is a narrow way to define
accessibility, particularly with large, distributed systems and
environments. In this position paper we propose a way to consider
standards within a larger context of accessibility activity, with a
particular focus on making progress and removing barriers to a quality
user experience in existing digital environments..."
http://www.paciellogroup.com/blog/2015/05/complementing-standards-by-demonstrating-commitment-and-progress/

+07: USABILITY.

The Challenge for Writers of Web Content
By Gerry McGovern.
"The challenge for writers of web content is that we think that people
want to read our content. They don't."
http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/new-thinking/challenge-writers-web-content

Overuse of Overlays - How to Avoid Misusing Lightboxes
By Kathryn Whitenton.
"Poorly implemented overlays and lightboxes are not only frustrating
for users, but can also be disastrous for conversion and task
completion. Use the five W's - Who, What, When, Where, and Why - to
determine whether an overlay is truly the most appropriate design
solution, and how you should implement it..."
http://www.nngroup.com/articles/overuse-of-overlays/

Designing For Explicit Choice
By Colleen Roller.
"...defaults are powerful because they provide a way for users to
passively decide, thereby easing the difficulty and effort associated
with decision-making. But we also know that, for a variety of reasons,
providing a default option is not always appropriate. Sometimes, it's
better for users to make an explicit choice - especially when they are
more likely to follow through with a decision and be more committed to
taking action on it...."
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2015/05/25/designing-for-explicit-choice/

7 Mobile UX Mistakes You're Probably Making Right Now
By Lynn Wang.
"Making changes on mobile UX can be a tricky process, especially if
you come from a web background. In mobile, developers have more
constraints, including screen real estate, attention times, and UI
control limitations. Improving the mobile experience is always a
learning process full of trial and error, so this list will get you on
the right track by helping you steer clear of common pitfalls."
http://www.sitepoint.com/7-mobile-ux-mistakes/

Infinite Scrolling is Probably not a Good Idea for your Website
By Ana Crespo.
"... infinite scrolling may work in particular types of pages where
content is organised with a flat hierarchy and users are consuming
information rather than trying to find something, but it is likely not
the best solution for most websites..."
http://www.nomensa.com/blog/2015/infinite-scrolling-probably-not-good-idea-your-website

+08: XML.

How To Apply SVG Linear Gradients To A Fill Or Stroke
By Steven Bradley.
"SVG provides for both linear and radial gradients. I'll cover linear
gradients today and take a look at radial gradients next week..."
http://www.vanseodesign.com/web-design/svg-linear-gradients/

[Section one ends.]

++ SECTION TWO:

+09: 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.]