+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE. - Volume 10, Issue 40, March 29, 2012. An email newsletter to distribute news and information about web design and development. ++ISSUE 40 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: MISCELLANEOUS. 06: TYPOGRAPHY. 07: USABILITY. SECTION TWO: 08: What Can You Find at the Web Design Reference Site? [Contents ends.] ++ SECTION ONE: New references. +01: ACCESSIBILITY. Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology 1.0 By W3C. "This document specifies an internationally harmonized methodology for evaluating the accessibility conformance of websites to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. It defines an approach for conformance evaluation in different contexts, including self-assessment and third-party evaluation. It is applicable to any website, including web applications and websites for mobile devices, and is independent of any particular evaluation tools, web browsers, and assistive technologies..." http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG-EM/ Using HTML5 and Javascript to Deliver Text-Based Audio Descriptions By IBM. "For more than 20 years, audio descriptions (also known as video descriptions) have been delivered using human narration. Traditionally, a describer will first write a script that describes key visual elements, such as costumes, scenery, scene changes, on-screen text, etc., that would otherwise not be available to viewers unable to see the screen..." http://ncamftp.wgbh.org/ibm/dvs/ Building a Webpage with Accessibility and Interoperability in Mind, Part 1 By Alistair Duggin. "In this first article I want to chat about about accessibility and interoperability and share a list of browser tests that can be used to identify potential problems. I'm planning a further articles to explain the list in more depth - and how to use it as an approach to building an accessible web page or component, as well as using it to test a page webpage that someone else has built..." http://alistairduggin.co.uk/blog/accessibile-interoperable-webpage-1/ Case Study - Unlock Valuable Content Trapped in PDFs By Jonathan Roper. "We were very happy to have the opportunity to talk to Mark Bryant, Systems and Technical Manager for the Victorian Government's Department of Primary Industries about a major web development project in which the Department made the decision - no more PDFs...'Our users were telling us they wanted to do things in a different way, and when we converted a few PDFs to web pages we found the web pages outperformed PDF by as much as 160 to one.'..." http://briarbird.com/archives/564/ PDF Accessibility Testing with JAWS, NVDA and Window-Eyes By Priti Rohra. "Accessibility testing of PDF files involves screen reader testing on Microsoft Windows platform to a great extent. Over the years JAWS and Window-Eyes were the two screen readers used for testing PDF documents on Windows platform. However, NVDA has taken giant strides and is being today used extensively for testing web pages and PDF documents for accessibility..." http://accessibilitychatter.com/?p=18 Definition Lists Versus Tables By Jonathan Snook. "...I decided to test which is better: a

or . In these tests, I'm using the only two screenreaders that I have available to me: VoiceOver (with Chrome 17 on Mac and Safari 5.1, both on Lion) and NVDA (Firefox 11 on Windows 7 via VMWare Fusion)..." http://snook.ca/archives/html_and_css/definition-lists-v-tables Accessibility Certification: The Devil is in the Details By Cyndi Rowland. "...WebAIM will continue to discuss these, and other, issues that pertain to professional certification in web accessibility, as they are important to the field. We invite you to make comments below. It is our hope that over the coming years, each issue will be resolved and we can all begin the work to help establish certification of professional skills in web accessibility." http://webaim.org/blog/accessibility-certification/ +02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS. How Should You Format Your CSS? By Steven Bradley. "Does it matter how you format and organize your css? Are there compelling reasons to writing single line css as opposed to multi-line css? Or in the end is it all a matter of personal choice?..." http://www.vanseodesign.com/css/css-formatting/ Bandwidth Media Queries By Chris Coyier. "They don't exist. But wouldn't that be nice?..." http://css-tricks.com/bandwidth-media-queries/ Responsive Questions By Jeremy Keith. "...Responsive design isn't about mobile. Neither is it about the desktop. It's about the web..." http://adactio.com/journal/5351/ 5 Really Useful Responsive Web Design Patterns By Joshua Johnson. "Responsive web design requires a very different way of thinking about layout that is both challenging and exciting. The art of layout was already complex enough for the centuries that it was defined by fixed elements, now things are becoming exponentially more complicated as layouts become increasingly adaptive..." http://designshack.net/articles/css/5-really-useful-responsive-web-design-patterns/ +03: EVALUATION & TESTING. A/B Testing, Usability Engineering, Radical Innovation: What Pays Best? By Jakob Nielsen. "Three approaches to better design: each has its uses, but the costs, benefits, and risks differ dramatically." http://www.useit.com/alertbox/innovation.html Better Experimental Design for Better User Testing By Robert Kerr. "User testing is a key part of validating design decisions, but what if the design of the test itself is invalid? As a researcher, being aware of the pitfalls that affect experimental design ensures your test will lead to elegant end user experiences..." http://www.uxbooth.com/blog/better-experimental-design-for-better-user-testing/ +04: EVENTS. Designer/Developer Workflow Conference May 16-18, 2012. Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.A. http://d2wc.com/ International PHP Conference June 3-6, 2012. Berlin, Germany http://phpconference.com/ HOW Design Live June 21-25, 2012. Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. http://www.howdesignlive.com/ehome/index.php?eventid=28153 UX Australia 2012 August 28-31, 2012. Brisbane, Australia http://www.uxaustralia.com.au/ +05: MISCELLANEOUS. Adaptive Image Element By Mat Marquis. "This is an unofficial draft spec, not formally endorsed by the W3C. It is suitable only for reviewing the details of the proposed element..." https://gist.github.com/2159117 Use Only What You Need By Roger Johansson. "...Too many people include too much by default in their web projects these days. Boilerplates, polyfills, shivs, crazy conditional comments, rare or uneccesary meta elements, and so on..." http://www.456bereastreet.com/archive/201203/use_only_what_you_need/ Mobile Is Not a Channel - It's an Attitude By Laurel Erickson. "Mobile is not a channel because I don't believe that consumers are making a distinction between their mobile and their fixed Internet experiences - from a consumer perspective, it's the same Internet accessed through different devices. (...) Let's stop talking about mobile as a separate channel and start designing digital experiences that incorporate mobile the way it obviously needs to be done." http://www.enlighten.com/2012/03/digital-insights-mobile-is-not-a-channel-%E2%80%93-it%E2%80%99s-an-attitude/ Interview with Brad Frost By intuitionhq. "Does your site look great on mobile devices? Is it usable on mobile? Increasingly mobile devices are replacing our computers for daily tasks, and because of this web design and development is evolving further..." http://www.intuitionhq.com/blog/2012/03/interview-with-brad-frost/ +06: TYPOGRAPHY. Web Type Will Save Us (Or, Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Retina Display?) By Jeffery Zeldman. "With Retna Dispay technology on the verge of ubiquity and some of today's best web design minds rightfully fretting about it (see PPK, Stephanie Rieger, Brad Frost, and Stuntbox if you've missed this latest Topic Of Concern), it seems to this old web slinger that web type is poised to replace photography as the dominant element of web design aesthetic appeal in the next few years..." http://www.zeldman.com/2012/03/23/web-type-will-save-us/ +07: USABILITY. An Exploration of Relations Between Visual Appeal, Trustworthiness, and Perceived Usability of Homepages By Jeff Horvath. "You don't get a second chance at a first impression. Lindgaard, et. al and many other researchers have shown over the course of the last few decades that our first impressions are critical in developing more considered opinions and for determining subsequent actions. Their most recent study on the topic had two primary objectives. First, they explored whether there were any relationships between Òvisual appealÓ and less accessible qualities such as trustworthiness and usability. Second, they further investigated which visual attributes contributed to how we determine visual appeal, trustworthiness, and usability..." http://www.humanfactors.com/downloads/mar12.asp [Section one ends.] ++ SECTION TWO: +08: 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 Dreamweaver Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/dreamweaver.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 Flash Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/flash.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. + SUBSCRIPTION INFO. WEB DESIGN UPDATE is available by subscription. For information on how to subscribe and unsubscribe please visit: http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/webdev_listserv.html 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.]