+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE. - Volume 4, Issue 26, December 15, 2005. An email newsletter to distribute news and information about web design and development. ++ISSUE 26 CONTENTS. SECTION ONE: New references. What's new at the Web Design Reference site? http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/webdesign/ New links in these categories: 01: ACCESSIBILITY. 02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS. 03: EVALUATION & TESTING. 04: EVENTS. 05: INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE. 06: JAVASCRIPT. 07: MISCELLANEOUS. 08: NAVIGATION. 09: PHP. 10: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES & PATTERNS. 11: TOOLS. 12: USABILITY. 13: XML. SECTION TWO: 14: What Can You Find at the Web Design Reference Site? [Contents ends.] ++ SECTION ONE: New references. +01: ACCESSIBILITY. RNIB Media Briefing on Accessible PDFs By Mike Davies. "These are my notes and recollections to the RNIB media briefing into accessible PDFs. The Royal National Institute for the Blind hosted a media briefing on the evening of the 20th October 2005. The topic was the accessibility of PDFs. This event was organized in conjunction with Adobe, and specifically because Adobe's US-based Accessibility Manager, Greg Pisocky was in the UK for a conference." http://www.isolani.co.uk/blog/access/RnibAccessiblePdfMediaBriefing Accessible PDF Documents For the Blind By Peter Abrahams. "There was a time when .pdf files were not accessible because screen readers, such as JAWS, could not interpret them. It is still true that the majority of .pdf files on the web cannot be read easily or correctly. Originally this was a problem with the tools that were used to create, and then read, the documents. Adobe recognized this as a moral, business and legal problem and has made significant steps to improve the situation, and the latest versions of Acrobat can create and process files that are accessible..." http://tinyurl.com/c4zwf Here We Go Again With Untagged PDFs By Joe Clark. "My esteemed colleague Greg Pisocky of Adobe is paraphrased as saying 'If a PDF isn't tagged there's no chance of it being accessible.' False as written..." http://blog.fawny.org/2005/10/28/tag/ Are They Really Accessible PDFs? By Julian Rickards. "This article was originally posted on August 26, 2005 but, as you can see below, I have updated the content..." http://pen-and-ink.ca/?p=40 +02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS. Preparing For IE7 - Part Three - Multiple IE Browsers on One Computer By John Gallant, Holly Bergevin. "As the introduction of IE7 looms on the horizon, bringing yet another IE/Win version to the current list of browsers that web pages must be checked in, it would be great to have the ability to easily test on all these browsers. We've discovered that we can target different IE/Win browsers using Conditional Comments (CC), but up until recently testing in multiple versions of IE required several computers, or some special software instead. This is no longer the case. It's now possible to have IE3, IE4, IE5, IE5.5, and IE6 all working at the same time on one Windows computer! In this tutorial we'll describe how to install and label several versions IE/Win on a single computer. We'll also make a registry adjustment that will allow CCs to work properly on these newly installed browsers. Onward!..." http://www.communitymx.com/content/article.cfm?cid=0BA37 CSS for Bar Graphs By Apples To Oranges. "Recently we've had to tackle some interesting visualizations which we coded in XHTML and CSS. The method we used, while fairly simple, was a big help to the engineer and created a very flexible and inexpensive solution. We thought we would share our solution and code in case anyone else ran against similar situations..." http://apples-to-oranges.com/blog/article.aspx?id=55 Centered Tabs with CSS By Ethan Marcotte. "Ethan Marcotte has produced a CSS tab navigation scheme that is centered horizontally on the page and does not use the popular float:left; technique. It requires an extra in link code, but that's a pretty minor addition of superfluous markup to accomplish this navigation layout." http://24ways.org/advent/centered-tabs-with-css +03: EVALUATION & TESTING. User-Centered Design (UCD) - 6 Methods By Tim Fidgeon. "User-centered design (UCD) is a project approach that puts the intended users of a site at the centre of its design and development. It does this by talking directly to the user at key points in the project to make sure the site will deliver upon their requirements." http://tinyurl.com/8vlpx Introduction to Eyetracking: Seeing Through Your Users' Eyes By Matteo Penzo. "This article is the first in a series of articles on eyetracking that will appear in UXmatters. Over the coming months, I'll use eyetracking to evaluate a lot of world-renowned user interfaces-including Web sites like Amazon.com¨, Googleª News, and eBay; Rich Internet Applications (RIAs); and desktop applications-and analyze quantitative eyetracking data to provide best practices for designing user interface elements like navigation systems, menus, and forms, and for effective ad placement." http://www.uxmatters.com/MT/archives/000040.php Iterative Usability Testing as Continuous Feedback: A Control Systems Perspective By Alex Genov. "This paper argues that in the field of usability, debates about number of users, the use of statistics, etc. in the abstract are pointless and even counter-productive. We propose that the answers depend on the research questions and business objectives of each project and thus cannot be discussed in absolute terms. Sometimes usability testing is done with an implicit or explicit hypothesis in mind. At other times the purpose of testing is to guide iterative design. These two approaches call for different study designs and treatment of data. We apply control systems theory to the topic of usability to highlight and frame the value of iterative usability testing in the design lifecycle. Within this new metaphor, iterative testing is a form of feedback which is most effective and resource-efficient if done as often as practically possible with project resources and timelines in mind." http://www.upassoc.org/upa_publications/jus/2005_november/iterative.html Usability Testing of Mobile Applications: a Comparison Between Laboratory and Field Testing By Anne Kaikkonen, Aki Kekalanen, Mikael Cankar, Titti Kallio, Anu and Kankainen. "Usability testing a mobile application in the laboratory seems to be sufficient when studying user interface and navigation issues. The usability of a consumer application was tested in two environments: in a laboratory and in a field with a total of 40 test users. The same problems were found in both environments, differences occurred in the frequency of findings between the contexts. Results indicate that conducting a time-consuming field test may not be worthwhile when searching user interface flaws to improve user interaction. In spite of this, it is possible that field testing is worthwhile when combining usability tests with a field pilot or contextual study where user behavior is investigated in a natural context." http://www.upassoc.org/upa_publications/jus/2005_november/mobile.html Personas, Goals, and Emotional Design By Robert Reimann. "In the first three chapters of Emotional Design, Norman presents his three-level theory of cognitive processing and discusses its potential importance to design. However, Emotional Design does not suggest a method for systematically integrating Norman's insightful model of cognition and affect into the practice of user experience design. It is my hope, in the remainder of this article, to, [1.] Suggest some deeper implications of Norman's ideas for the design of user experience. [2.] Provide a method by which UX professionals can incorporate his ideas into a way of developing a richer understanding of users. [3.] Show how UX professionals might begin applying his ideas to the design of products..." http://www.uxmatters.com/MT/archives/000019.php 5-Second Tests DonÕt Tell Us Everything By Christine Perfetti. "While the 5-second test technique is an essential part of UIE's usability toolbox, it still has limits in what it can tell us..." http://tinyurl.com/dtzqn +04: EVENTS. UIE (User Interface Engineering) Road Show Minneapolis May 1, 2006. Minneapolis, Minnesota U.S.A. http://www.uie.com/events/roadshow/minneapolis/ +05: INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE. The Promised Land of Prototyping By Henrik Olsen. "While some may claim that prototyping isn't one of the wonders of the world, it's definitely a wonder of web and software development. It can help us design better products and overcome many of the hurdles that tend to surface during a development process." http://www.guuui.com/issues/04_05.php +06: JAVASCRIPT. Step by Step to AJAX By Jayaram Krishnaswamy. "This tutorial is not about Ajax Telamon from the Iliad who fought Hercules, but the latest and greatest (at least in the opinion of some) thing in web development. Ever since Google charmed the web at large with those AJAX-created Google Maps apps, the number of amount of adherence to AJAX has been growing exponentially. In this tutorial, we look mainly at the Microsoft way of scripting for AJAX. Like my previous tutorials, it's step by step all the way after a brief introduction. Web Application..." http://www.devarticles.com/c/a/XML/Step-by-Step-to-AJAX/ Why Ajax Sucks (Most of the Time) Constructed by Chris McEvoy with apologies to Jakob Nielsen. "This is a spoof article...Judging from the email I receive, the most controversial statement I have made in my Alertbox columns so far was to make "the use of Ajax" one of the mistakes in my list of top ten mistakes in Web design. For new or inexperienced Web designers, I stand by my original recommendation. Ajax: Just Say No. With respect to the use of ajax by highly skilled Web designers, I have changed my opinion somewhat: people who really know what they are doing can sometimes use ajax to good effect, though even experienced designers are advised to use ajax as sparingly as possible." Note the URL - that's not Nielsen's site, nor Nielsen's December Alertbox http://www.usabilityviews.com/ajaxsucks.html Don't be eval() By Simon Willison. Simon Willison gets down and dirty with JavaScript and explains why caution should be exercised in use of the eval() function. It may be the season of good will and all, but we can't have our caution getting all flabby now, can we? http://24ways.org/advent/dont-be-eval +07: MISCELLANEOUS. Never Say No - Managing Change in a Project By Martin Burns. "So, your project is up and running. You've defined Project Requirements and had them signed off in blood by the sponsor. All you need to do now is watch your New Model Army get on and deliver. Right? Ahhh no. Life is never that simple, and you can reasonably safely bet hard currency that the requirements will change during delivery. Managing those changes is a potential cause of massive disruption to your project and your relationship with the client if you don't do it well. " http://evolt.org/change-requests Real Life Project Management -- A Mix of Art and Science By hesketh.com. "Just ten short years ago, project management was thought of by many as an 'accidental profession' - a role within organizations created through happenstance and ad hoc training..." http://www.hesketh.com/publications/real_life_project_management.html +08: NAVIGATION. Using Breadcrumbs as a Navigational Aid By Free Usability Advice. "Question: Breadcrumb trails seem to be common navigation aids. But in which ways and how often are they really used? Is it enough to rely only on the breadcrumb trail to tell the user where she is in the site hierarchy (for example when she arrives via a deep link), or do you still need to do that with headings, etc.?" http://tinyurl.com/b36je In Search Engines, Web Standards and Semantics Rule By Straight Up Search. "...We're not in 1995 anymore. Muddled, confusing, obfuscated, or jumbled markup are no longer acceptable means of hashing out a web page. Designers accustomed to building entire sites in WYSIWYG editors like Dreamweaver are going to be living on the street once their web publishing methods are weighed against online performance. ItÕs time to get in tune with reality: either get up to speed with web standards, or watch your online presence go the way of the buffalo." http://www.straightupsearch.com/archives/2005/12/in_search_engin.html AJAX for SEO Considered Harmful By Straight Up Search. "...So, how can you use AJAX to offer your customers a more engrossing interactive experience, and not lose your vital search engine positions? Well, just like moderation can fit chocolate cake into your diet, so too can it allow your site to use AJAX. The key here is to relegate your AJAX tools to a more of a support role..." http://www.straightupsearch.com/archives/2005/12/ajax_for_seo_co_1.html +09: PHP. What's new in PHP 5 and PHP 6 By Ian Gilfillan. "Most PHP installations out there are still running PHP 4.x. PHP 5.0 has been out a while, and PHP 5.1.1 has just been released. For those of you who haven't yet upgraded, this month I look at some of the changes you can expect to find in the newer versions of PHP, as well as a preview of what you can look forward to in PHP 6..." http://www.phpbuilder.com/columns/ian_gilfillan20051206.php3 +10: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES & PATTERNS. Ten Reasons to Learn and Use Web Standards By Roger Johansson. "If you're a web developer or designer new to the concept of web standards and are undecided on whether you should spend the time to learn all about them or not, here are some of the most important reasons for doing so." http://tinyurl.com/9pear Become a Better Standardista By Stuart Langridge. "Learning to develop web-sites using web standards is a bit like learning the guitar, it's fairly easy to get started but to master it takes years of hard work and learning. With the right approach you can become more efficient." http://tinyurl.com/a9ajt New Firefox Browser Bulks Up on 508 Compliance By Joab Jackson. "The Mozilla Foundation has posted a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) for the newest version of its Firefox Web browser, the first Section 508 compliance checklist ever posted for a browser, according to Aaron Leventhal, web accessibility architect for IBM Corp." http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/37705-1.html +11: TOOLS. Yes No Now! By Ian Lloyd. "What is this? It's a tool for quickly generating accessible, XHTML-compliant yes/no radio button choices from a list, that's what. Another time-saver I put together 'cos I got fed up with hand coding all this nonsense. Try it out, hombre." http://accessify.com/tools-and-wizards/developer-tools/yes-no-now/ +12: USABILITY. RIAs: The Technology Is Exciting, but They Really Do Help Users By David Heller. "Recently, there has been a lot of talk about Rich Internet Applications (RIAs), how they work, and how to choose the appropriate RIA technology. Unfortunately, so far, we've had few discussions about the value of RIAs to users and how RIA technologies let us create better, more usable Web applications." http://www.uxmatters.com/MT/archives/000041.php Why People Matter By Whitney Quesenbery. "This column, Universal Usability, will explore the social benefits of human-centered design and ways in which we can create better conversations that include more people." http://www.uxmatters.com/MT/archives/000017.php So the Necessary May Speak By Luke Wroblewski. "...Interactive products, by their very nature, tend to be complicated. They allow us to create and control large amounts of information and enable many unique interactions. As a result, there's a natural tendency for interface designs to over-communicate, or establish multiple forms of dialogue and vocabularies within a single application or interaction. Complicated concepts require more explanation, right? Not always..." http://www.uxmatters.com/MT/archives/000015.php +13: XML. Lean XHTML and Precise CSS By Mike Rundle. "In this entry I'll talk about my theories behind XHTML and CSS code, practices I feel are better than others, and my thoughts on image replacement." http://tinyurl.com/dxuq8 The Future of HTML (1/2): WHATWG By Edd Dumbill. "In this two-part series, Edd Dumbill examines the various ways forward for HTML that Web authors, browser developers, and standards bodies propose. This series covers the incremental approach embodied by the WHATWG specifications and the radical cleanup of XHTML proposed by the W3C. Additionally, the author gives an overview of the W3C's new Rich Client Activity. Here in Part 1, Edd focuses primarily on two specifications being developed by WHATWG: Web Applications 1.0 (HTML5) and Web Forms 2.0." http://tinyurl.com/bguaa [Section one ends.] ++ SECTION TWO: +14: What Can You Find at the Web Design Reference Site? Accessibility Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/accessibility Association Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/associations Book Listings. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/books Cascading Style Sheets Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/css Color Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/color Dreamweaver Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/dreamweaver Evaluation & Testing Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/testing Event Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/events Flash Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/flash Information Architecture Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/architecture JavaScript Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/javascript Miscellaneous Web Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/misc Navigation Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/navigation PHP Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/php Sites & Blogs Listing. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/sites Standards, Guidelines & Pattern Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/standards Tool Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/tools Typography Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/type Usability Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/usability XML Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/xml [Section two ends.] ++END NOTES. + SUBSCRIPTION INFO. WEB DESIGN UPDATE is available by subscription. For information on how to subscribe and unsubscribe please visit: http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/webdevlist The Web Design Reference Site also has a RSS 2.0 feed for site updates. + TEXT EMAIL NEWSLETTER (TEN). As a navigation aid for screen readers we do our best to conform to the accessible Text Email Newsletter (TEN) guidelines. Please let me know if there is anything else we can do to make navigation easier. For TEN guideline information please visit: http://www.headstar.com/ten + 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@d.umn.edu [Issue ends.]