+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 10, Issue 22, November 21, 2012.

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

++ISSUE 22 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: INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE.
05: JAVASCRIPT.
06: NAVIGATION.
07: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES & PATTERNS.
08: USABILITY.

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

[Contents ends.]


++ SECTION ONE: New references.

+01: ACCESSIBILITY.

Yes, Actually It May Be You One Day
By Karl Groves.
"...The data doesn't lie. If you're lucky enough to live to an advanced age, your chances of having some kind of disability rises significantly - to 50% and beyond. So when you're considering whether or not accessibility is important, keep in mind that it could actually be you you're ensuring accessibility for. If it isn't you, it will definitely be someone you know, and possibly someone you love...."
http://www.karlgroves.com/2012/11/16/yes-actually-it-may-be-you-one-day/

Accessible Custom Checkboxes and Radio Buttons
By Roger Johansson.
"Every now and then I'm handed a design comp that has customised checkboxes and radio buttons. This used to make me think 'Oh no, not again' because I simply didn't know of a reliable way to customise these particular form controls..."
http://www.456bereastreet.com/archive/201211/accessible_custom_checkboxes_and_radio_buttons/

Accessible Client-side Form Validation with HTML5
By Paul J. Adam.
"...In this three part blog series we'll learn to make accessible forms with HTML5, WAI-ARIA, and jQuery Validation. Our strategy will be to first try validation with HTML5 in the latest browsers that support these form attributes, then we will use WAI-ARIA which works with the latest screen readers, and finally for the folks who just can't upgrade we'll add the jQuery Validation plugin so even IE6 users can accessibly submit forms..."
http://www.deque.com/accessible-client-side-form-validation-html5

Accessible Client-side Form Validation with HTML5 & WAI-ARIA
By Paul J. Adam.
"In part two of the three-part series on accessible form validation and usability enhancements we're going to use WAI-ARIA (Web Accessibility Initiative - Accessible Rich Internet Applications) to communicate information to screen reader users only..."
http://www.deque.com/accessible-client-side-form-validation-html5-wai-aria

Accessible Client-side Form Validation with HTML5, WAI-ARIA, & the jQuery Validation Plugin
By Paul J. Adam.
"In the last part of our series on accessible form validation and usability enhancements we're adding the jQuery Validation plugin to make sure our form is universally accessible on all devices that support JavaScript including the dreaded IE6."
http://www.deque.com/accessible-client-side-form-validation-html5-wai-aria-jquery-validation-plugin

Accessibility with WordPress - Accessing Higher Ground 2012
By Deborah Edwards-Onoro.
"At his Accessibility with WordPress presentation at Accessing Higher Ground 2012 Joe Dolson discussed the benefits and limitations of WordPress accessibility. He highlighted issues with themes, plugins, administration, discussed the upcoming 3.5 release and his recently released plugin that corrects theme accessibility issues. Here are my notes..."
http://deboraheo.posterous.com/accessibility-with-wordpress-accessing-higher


+02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.

Should You Use Inline-Blocks As A Substitute For Floats?
By Steven Bradley.
"When it comes to developing a site layout with css, floats do most of the heavy lifting. We use them for the big blocks like our main content and sidebar and we use them for the smaller blocks inside these big ones. Are floats always the answer?..."
http://www.vanseodesign.com/css/inline-blocks/

CSS Architecture
By Appfolio Engineering.
"Today's web applications are larger than ever, and a poorly thought-out CSS architecture can cripple development. It's time to evaluate CSS the same way we evaluate every other part of the application. It cannot be an afterthought or written off as merely the 'designer's' problem."
http://engineering.appfolio.com/2012/11/16/css-architecture/


+03: EVALUATION & TESTING.

Conducting Effective Design Critiques
By Janet M. Six.
"In this edition of Ask UXmatters, our experts discuss how to conduct an effective design critique..."
http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2012/11/conducting-effective-design-critiques.php


+04: INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE.

Agile, OmniGraffle, and Native Mobile Wireframing
By Simon Keatley.
"... you'll see that I've found some ways to create wireframes more efficiently, with some UX process and philosophy sprinkled in..."
http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2012/11/agile-omnigraffle-and-native-mobile-wireframing.php


+05: JAVASCRIPT.

Building A Relationship Between CSS & JavaScript
By Tim Wright.
"jQuery, Prototype, Node.js, Backbone.js, Mustache and thousands of JavaScript microlibraries all combine into a single undeniable fact: JavaScript is popular. It's so popular, in fact, that we often find ourselves using it in places where another solution might be better in the long run..."
http://coding.smashingmagazine.com/2012/11/19/building-relationship-between-css-javascript/


+06: NAVIGATION.

Changes in Web-User Behaviour
By Roger Hudson.
"...This apparent decline in the ability to understand, or willingness to learn, the navigation systems common to many sites may not be confined to novice web users or people with lower-level reading skills like those involved in the 2012 project. Instead, an emerging 'Facebook effect' may help explain why some regular web users today are less likely to participate in the exploratory, web-surfing behaviour of the past...A combination of this growing reliance on Google, and the suggested 'Facebook effect' may mean that it is time to reconsider some basic usability and accessibility principals, and the potential impact it could have for web users with cognitive impairments and/or limited internet experience. Furthermore, I believe it may have more general implications for WCAG 2, in particular, 'Guideline 2.4 Navigable: Provide ways to help users navigate, find content, and determine where they are...'"
http://usability.com.au/2012/11/changes-in-web-user-behaviour/

Responsive Menu Concepts
By Tim Pietrusky.
"When it comes to responsive design we are faced with various techniques on how to best handle altering our navigation menus for small screens. The resources seem endless. That's why I'm going to show you four main concepts and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of all of them."
http://css-tricks.com/responsive-menu-concepts/


+07: PHP.

Usage of MySQL in PHP
By Gayanath Jayarathne.
"Almost all web applications associate with a database. MySQL has been the popular choice for many database-driven PHP applications. Articles listed here will teach you how to communicate with MySQL via PHP..."
http://www.phpknowhow.com/mysql/


+08: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES & PATTERNS.

The Menu Element
By Ian Devlin.
"ne of the less talked about elements that is included in the HTML5 specification is the menu element. This is probably due to the fact that most browsers either don't support it at all, or only fleetingly. Here I will take a quick look at this element and how it can be used..."
http://www.iandevlin.com/blog/2012/11/html5/the-menu-element

Jaws Scripts for the HTML5 Main Element
By Leonie Watson.
"The main element extension specifies a way to markup the primary content area of a web page in HTML5. There are several good reasons for introducing the main element, including a more reliable way for screen readers to pinpoint the start of the primary content area on the page..."
http://tink.co.uk/2012/11/jaws-scripts-for-the-html5-main-element/


+09: USABILITY.

Windows 8 - Disappointing Usability for Both Novice and Power Users
By Jakob Nielsen.
"Hidden features, reduced discoverability, cognitive overhead from dual environments, and reduced power from a single-window UI and low information density. Too bad."
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/windows-8.html

Why Lean Thinking is the Answer to Complexity
By Gerry McGovern.
"When things get very complex you need to get very lean and flexible. You can't predict the future but you can adapt to it."
http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/new-thinking/why-lean-thinking-answer-complexity

[Section one ends.]


++ SECTION TWO:

+10: 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.


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+ 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:
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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@d.umn.edu 


[Issue ends.]