[webdev] Web Design Update: June 9, 2015

Wed Jun 10 06:37:11 CDT 2015

+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 13, Issue 51, June 9, 2015.

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

++ISSUE 51 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: COLOR.
05: EVALUATION & TESTING.
06: EVENTS.
07: HTML5.
08: JAVASCRIPT.
09: MISCELLANEOUS.
10: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES & PATTERNS.
11: TYPOGRAPHY.
12: USABILITY.

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

[Contents ends.]

++ SECTION ONE: New references.

+01: ACCESSIBILITY.

10 Tips for Creating Accessible Content for Your Website
By Deborah Edwards-Onoro.
"At last month's 3PlayMedia webinar on Global Accessibility Awareness
Day, Janet Sylvia, Web Accessibility Group Leader at the University of
Georgia, gave an introduction to web accessibility and offered 10 tips
for creating accessible web content. Here are my notes from her
presentation..."
http://www.lireo.com/10-tips-creating-accessible-website-content/

Why Website Accessibility Should Become Your Priority
By Amy Hayes.
"...When auditing site accessibility, brands and retailers should pay
closest attention to Level A and Level AA conformance, as WCAG
considers these to be the minimum level of support a site should
maintain..."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amy-hayes/why-website-accessibility_b_7486964.html

Unifying WCAG and PDF/UA for PDF Footers
By David Mac Donald.
"In a constant effort to seek unified advice to content authors, I've
been comparing PDF/UA Section 7.8 on headers and footers, and WCAG
techniques PDF14 (headers/footers) and PDF17 (page numbers) to provide
a unified advice to authors."
http://davidmacd.com/blog/pdf-headers-footers.html

A Case for Accessible, Usable and Universal Design for Learning
By Romy Ruukel.
"Issues of learning technologies and accessibility are more of a hot
topic in our field than usual these days. EdX recently reached a
settlement with the Justice Department to make its website, course
creation platform and mobile applications accessible under ADA..."
https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/higher-ed-beta/case-accessible-usable-and-universal-design-learning

Bank of America Credit Card Rewards Website Agreement
By Law Office of Lainey Feingold.
"...Bank of America will use Reasonable Efforts to ensure that the
planned launch of the New Bank of America Credit Card Rewards
Redemptions Solutions substantially satisfy Level A and AA Success
Criteria set forth in WCAG 2.0 no later than June 30, 2015..."
http://lflegal.com/2015/06/bofa-travel-agreement/

Californian Government Websites Found to be Inaccessible
By Tim Lohman.
"The California State Auditor has reported that many government
websites in the state continue to be not fully accessible to persons
with disabilities, despite state and federal legal requirements and
the growing use of government services online..."
http://www.accessiq.org/news/news/2015/06/californian-government-websites-found-to-be-inaccessible

California State Auditor Report Number: 2014-131 (June 2, 2015)
By auditor.ca.gov.
"California State government websites-departments must improve Website
accessibility so that persons with disabilities have comparable access
to state services online..."
http://www.auditor.ca.gov/reports/2014-131/index.html

The Millennial Generation Could be Changing How Designers Think about
Digital Accessibility
By Ryan Diehl.
"...This is a generation that fully understands the need to be me and
to personalize your device in a digital world.  It's also important to
note they have also been referred to as the 'Generation of We.'   This
generation has proven time and time again they are more tolerant and
more inclusive than generations before them.  In their minds,
compliance with the law is an afterthought.  They want to design to
ensure everyone has the access and the ability to 'be you.'"
http://www.ssbbartgroup.com/blog/the-millennial-generation-could-be-changing-how-designers-think-about-digital-accessibility/

+02: Books.

Blanck, Peter. eQuality: The Struggle for Web Accessibility by Persons
with Cognitive Disabilities, Cambridge Disability Law and Policy
Series, 2015.

+03: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.

15 CSS Questions to Test Your Knowledge
By Alexander Dawson.
"How well do you know CSS? Test your knowledge by trying to answer the
CSS questions in this post..."
http://sixrevisions.com/css/css-questions/

4 Ways to Use Modern CSS with Old Browsers
By Rachel Andrew.
"Rachel Andrew on how graceful fallbacks enable you to use modern CSS
today - even if many of your visitors are using old browsers. "
http://www.creativebloq.com/web-design/4-ways-use-modern-css-old-browsers-61515115

+04: COLOR.

Visual Design and Colour Accessibility
By Theo Jones.
"Visual design plays a large role in communicating the business'
proposition and personality. When this works well, the design is
appealing and appropriate in tone for the audience. Equally important
though is making sure that what you've designed works for the broadest
possible audience. For the subject of this post we'll consider people
with colour-blindness..."
http://www.webcredible.com/blog-reports/blog/colour-accessibility-and-visual-design

+04: DRUPAL.

Let's Chat About Web Accessibility
By Amber Matz.
"Join Amber Matz as she chats with web accessibility aficionados Mike
Gifford, Chris Albrecht, and Helena Zubkow about what web developers
and Drupalistas can do to build more accessible web sites..."
https://www.lullabot.com/blog/podcasts/drupalizeme-podcast/65-lets-chat-about-web-accessibility

+05: EVALUATION & TESTING.

Eye Tracking: Where it's Been and Where it's Going
By Phillip Moore.
"Where do we look and what do we look at the most on the web? There's
a lot of science behind both those questions. One method that has
given us a lot of answers is eye tracking..."
http://www.usertesting.com/blog/2015/06/04/eye-tracking/

+06: EVENTS.

Responsive Style Guides Google Hangout
June 16, 2015.
Online
http://alistapart.com/event/responsive-style-guides

Twin Cities Drupal Camp
June 23-28, 2015.
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A.
http://2015.tcdrupal.org/

CascadiaCSS
July 8, 2015.
Blaine, Washington, U.S.A.
http://2015.cascadiajs.com/css/

Forward 3 Web Technology Summit
July 27-31, 2015.
San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
http://forwardjs.com/

+07: HTML5.

Semantic Mark-up
By Rakesh Paladugula.
"Web pages are built using mark-up languages. HTML 4.0, xhtml 1.0,
HTML 5 etc are few such mark-up languages. Mark-up languages help in
displaying content on the browser, just to display the content on the
browser. To align the content properly, style the content and to make
other visual effects cascading style-sheets (CSS) are used..."
http://www.maxability.co.in/2015/06/semantic-mark-up/

+08: JAVASCRIPT.

JavaScript Code Smells
By Elijah Manor.
"...Fixing broken code is important, but have you ever gotten into the
situation where your code works, but it doesn't feel quite right...
maybe even smells?.."
http://elijahmanor.com/javascript-smells/

7 Essential JavaScript Functions
By  David Walsh.
"I remember the early days of JavaScript where you needed a simple
function for just about everything because the browser vendors
implemented features differently, and not just edge features, basic
features, like addEventListener and attachEvent.  Times have changed
but there are still a few functions each developer should have in
their arsenal, for performance for functional ease purposes..."
http://davidwalsh.name/essential-javascript-functions

Progressive Enhancement - the Web's Strength
By Steve Lee.	
"...My current thoughts are that PE is a key part of what makes the
web work best and encompasses both mobile-first responsive design and
accessibility. Design for small screens and enhance for larger ones.
Design for basic inclusive access and enhance for optimal personalised
experience..."
http://opendirective.net/blog/2015/06/progressive-enhancement/

+09: MISCELLANEOUS.

No Good Can Come of Bad Code
By Jeffery Zeldman.
"...It's particularly troubling when the code schools turning out
tomorrow's coders by the tens of thousands neglect to teach their
students the vital importance of separating structure from appearance
and behavior; the overwhelming urgency of marking up content
semantically so that it is accessible to any person, of any ability,
using any device; the genius (and long-term viability) of designing
with progressive enhancement instead of targeting specific devices as
manufacturers spawn ever more of them; and other fundamental tenets of
an open web designed and built with standards...Your company's
survival is tied to the ability of the products it makes to work in
situations you haven't imagined, and on devices that don't yet exist.
This has always been the challenge of web design."
http://alistapart.com/column/no-good-can-come-of-bad-code

+10: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES & PATTERNS.

Web! What is it good for?
By Jeremy Keith.
"...I just can't get excited about the prospect of building something
for any particular operating system, be it desktop or mobile. I think
about the potential lifespan of what would be built and end up asking
myself 'why bother?' If something isn't on the web-and of the web-I
find it hard to get excited about it..."
https://adactio.com/journal/9016

+11: TYPOGRAPHY.

Low-Contrast Text Is Not the Answer
By Katie Sherwin.
"Low-contrast text may be trendy, but it is also illegible,
undiscoverable, and inaccessible. Instead, consider more usable
alternatives."
http://www.nngroup.com/articles/low-contrast/

+12: USABILITY.

CAPTCHAs - How Bad are They Really for User Experience?
By Sabrina Mach.
"Our research showed that CAPTCHAs have a significant negative impact
on customer experience. They make a task hard, and for some people
impossible to complete. The result is people abandoning their goal,
and going elsewhere..."
http://www.webnographer.com/blog/2015/04/captchas-how-bad-are-they-really-for-user-experience/

Why Users Miss Form Buttons Placed in the Action Bar
By UX Movement.
"Where you place your mobile form buttons can affect task completion
and efficiency. If they're not in a place where users expect to find
them, they could abandon their task and your form..."
http://uxmovement.com/mobile/why-users-miss-form-buttons-placed-in-the-action-bar/

Take Advantage of Your 15 Seconds
By Georgia Gallavin.
"The art of persuasion is complex in any arena of life, and even more
so within such a narrow time frame that creators of digital products
have today. So use those 15 seconds wisely to create a fan of your
brand for life, instead of a just a skeptical passerby."
http://www.usertesting.com/blog/2015/06/03/credibility/

Budgeting for UX? UX ROI Considerations
By Cynthia Zimber.
"Whether you are developing a new product or redesigning an existing
one, planning and budgeting for UX activities to ensure a good user
experience is essential..."
http://teced.com/2015/06/02/budgeting-ux-ux-roi-considerations/

5 User-Centered Design Principles From Top Tech Companies
By Spencer Lanoue.
"I've curated and collected design principles practiced by some of the
most powerful, influential tech companies. Take them, copy them, adapt
them. But whatever you do, use them in your business."
http://www.usertesting.com/blog/2015/06/04/5-user-centered-design-principles-from-top-tech-companies/

Digital Doors and Windows
By Gerry McGovern.
"The more digital an organization becomes the more distant it becomes
physically from its customers..."
http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/new-thinking/digital-doors-and-windows

[Section one ends.]

++ SECTION TWO:

+13: 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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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.]