+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE. - Volume 12, Issue 28, January 3, 2014. An email newsletter to distribute news and information about web design and development. ++ISSUE 28 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: EVENTS. 04: JAVASCRIPT. 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. Google Docs Accessibility and Export/Import Options By SSB BART Group. "...The majority of screen reader users who are blind cannot, at present, accurately or reliably create or edit collaborative documents while preserving correct formatting and content flow using the Google Docs web editor interface...Though more accessible file types can be imported into Google Docs, the Google Drive interface is nearly impossible for screen reader users who are blind to navigate reliably, making many Google Doc features impossible to utilize effectively. This post primarily focuses on screen reader accessibility, but other assistive technologies such as screen magnification and voice navigation software should also be taken into account. For example, the toolbar buttons within the Google Docs interface consist of div tags that use ARIA to provide 'button' feedback for screen reader users. Since voice navigation software such as Dragon NatuallySpeaking does not include any support for ARIA, common commands such as 'list buttons' will not work, making it vitally important for standard keyboard navigation commands to be supported properly within Google Docs." https://www.ssbbartgroup.com/blog/2013/12/31/google-docs-accessibility-and-exportimport-options/ Why Blind Internet Users are Angry with Google, CAPTCHA By Adam Ragusea. "...'accessible' is the magic word. 'Any company that's putting out either sites or mobile apps without considering accessibility for people with disabilities is really at risk,' says Lainey Feingold, a San Francisco attorney who negotiated agreements with companies like Bank of America and CVS to get CAPTCHAs off their sites. The risk isn't just that you might lose customers, she says. You might get sued." http://www.marketplace.org/topics/tech/why-blind-internet-users-are-angry-google-captcha Web Accessibility Basics By WebPlatform.org. "Accessibility is making the Web work for people with a diverse range of abilities. Accessibility is essential for developers and organizations that want to create high quality websites and web tools, and not exclude people from using their products and services. Accessibility is vital to enable people with disabilities to participate equally on the Web. It is a legal requirement in some cases, and a best practice in all cases..." http://docs.webplatform.org/wiki/concepts/accessibility Artist and Researcher Suggests All Technology is Assistive Technology By Daniel Hubbell. "What is assistive technology? This month, The Atlantic explores the question in a fascinating conversation with Sara Hendren, who writes and lectures extensively about technology and accessibility. Hendren believes 'all technology is assistive' and that design should follow this premise. She explains..." http://blogs.msdn.com/b/accessibility/archive/2013/12/26/artist-and-researcher-suggests-all-technology-is-assistive-technology.aspx +02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS. Style Over Substance - The Content CSS Property and Accessibility By Lamar Jordan. "...Using the CSS content property seems to cause more headaches for developers who care about accessibility. But I have also presented some alternatives here for developers who may be inheriting code or need to work within existing boundaries. Hopefully this article can help developers the most at the beginning of a project/redesign, so accessibility is part of the creation process, instead of the remediation process." https://www.ssbbartgroup.com/blog/2013/11/06/csscontentproperty/ Make Sure Your Columns Don't Collapse Horizontally By Chris Coyier. "You might be familiar with elements collapsing vertically. If an element only contains other elements that are floated, the parent element will collapse to zero height. We often employ the clear fix for that. But if an element doesn't contain anything, it can collapse horizontally as well, which can be quite awkward for layout..." http://css-tricks.com/make-sure-columns-dont-collapse-horizontally/ +03: EVENTS. Web Accessibility Training May 6-7, 2014. Logan, Utah, U.S.A. http://webaim.org/training/ Front-Trends May 7-9, 2014. Warsaw, Poland http://2014.front-trends.com/ John Slatin AccessU May 12-14, 2014. Austin, Texas, U.S.A. http://www.knowbility.org/v/john-slatin-accessu/ High Ed Web Regional Michigan May 22-23, 2014. Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.A. http://mi.highedweb.org/ +04: JAVASCRIPT. What is the DOM? By Chris Coyier. "A reader recently wrote in asking me what the DOM was. They said they've heard it mentioned and alluded to, but aren't sure they really understand it..." http://css-tricks.com/dom/ +05: MISCELLANEOUS. The Mobile Moment By Luke Wroblewski. "Things change for companies when the majority of their usage and traffic shifts from desktop to mobile devices. New processes, priorities, and product thinking are required to adapt. Don't wait too long to change as your company's mobile moment can come sooner than you think..." http://www.lukew.com/ff/entry.asp?1841 In Dependence By Jeremy Keith. I'm going to continue to publish here on my own website, journal, blog, or whatever you want to call it. It's still possible that I might lose everything but I'd rather take the responsibility for that, rather than placing my trust in 'the cloud' someone else's server. I'm owning my own words. The problem is I publish more than words. I publish pictures too, even the occasional video. I have the originals on my hard drive, but I'm very, very uncomfortable with the online home for my photos being in the hands of Yahoo, the same company that felt no compunction about destroying the cultural wealth of GeoCities. Flickr has been a magnificent shining example of the web done right, but it is in an inevitable downward spiral..." http://adactio.com/journal/6620/ Aaron Gustafson - Designing Across Devices with Progressive Enhancement By Sean Carmichael. "Responsive web design seems to come up in every other discussion or article about UX these days. And rightfully so as it's an elegant way to make sure your design adapts to the multitude of devices on the market. But with the Internet of Things looming, it's becoming more than just the visuals of your site that are of major concern. How your content displays on a car dashboard, 'can a watch handle this page weight?', or 'is this refrigerator JavaScript enabled?' are not unrealistic issues moving forward. Aaron Gustafson believes that progressive enhancement can go a long way to addressing these questions. In his virtual seminar, Designing Across Devices with Progressive Enhancement, Aaron discusses strategies for layering the experience. By thinking of the interface as a continuum, it can not only adapt to devices, but can become more robust with browser capabilities..." http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2013/12/30/aaron-gustafson-designing-across-devices-with-progressive-enhancement/ 10 Web Predictions for 2014 By Craig Buckler. "Happy New Year! 2014 is a fresh start for the web and developers everywhere. My 2013 predictions were reasonably accurate so let's see if I can communicate with the spirits..." http://www.sitepoint.com/10-web-predictions-2014/ +06: TYPOGRAPHY. A Pocket Guide to Master Every Day's Typographic Adventures By Benedikt Lehnert. "Typography is the craft of arranging type with the goal to make language visible. We arrange type multiple times throughout the day; whether we are writing essays, summarizing meeting minutes or creating slides for a presentation. Unfortunately, we usually end up thinking more about what we write than how we write it. and, most importantly, how others will read it..." http://www.typogui.de/ +07: USABILITY. Biggest Mistakes in Web Design 1995-2015 By Vincent Flanders. "I've gathered what I think are the biggest web design mistakes committed during the period 1995 to 2015. Yes, it is a little facetious to say these mistakes will be made in the year 2015, but it's human nature to repeat your mistakes over and over..." http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/biggest-mistakes-in-web-design-1995-2015.html [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.]