+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE. - Volume 14, Issue 23, December 3, 2015. An email newsletter to distribute news and information about web design and development. ++ISSUE 23 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: FLASH. 06: INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE. 07: JAVASCRIPT. 08: NAVIGATION. 09: USABILITY. SECTION TWO: 10: What Can You Find at the Web Design Reference Site? [Contents ends.] ++ SECTION ONE: New references. +01: ACCESSIBILITY. HTML5 + CSS3 + JS → Visual Interactive Accessible Learning Resources By Douglas Mills. "I do instructional technology for the Department of Chemistry we use an amazingly versatile course management system (Lon-Capa) (The) instructor wanted students to identify chiral carbons in complex molecules..." http://butane.chem.illinois.edu/dmills/accessibility/ When It's Possible, Use Existing Non-ARIA Elements for Names and Labels By Deque University. "...try to use these non-ARIA elements as the true purpose behind ARIA is to fill in holes where methods do not exist..." https://dequeuniversity.com/tips/use-existing-nonaria HIKE - Our Quick, Simple Accessibility Primer By Ramya Sethuraman. "Today, we want to share our new accessibility primer, which we've named HIKE..." https://code.facebook.com/posts/1152362248125846/hike-our-quick-simple-accessibility-primer/ Federal Disability Regulations Face Historic Delays By Lainey Feingold. "...People with disabilities and advocacy organizations are also filing (and winning) lawsuits and negotiating settlements about web and mobile accessibility. Advocates are not waiting for regulations before insisting that the protections of the ADA extend to the digital landscape." http://www.beyondchron.org/inexcusable-delay-in-federal-disability-regulations/ Accessibility Risks and Evidence By Laura Carlson et al. "Learn which common accessibility failures put institutions of higher education at risk for litigation." http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/news/2015/12/access_risks.html Access to Web Content: EU Governments Plans 'A Disgrace' says EBU President By European Blind Union. "...European Blind Union (EBU) President Wolfgang Angermann reacted 'This is a disgrace. Our governments are blatantly ignoring our basic human right to access information, content and services. We use smart phones, just like everyone else. Suggesting that apps should be excluded from the scope of this directive is failing not only this generation, but also the next generations of blind and partially sighted citizens. It is unacceptable'..." http://www.euroblind.org/news/nr/2744 Accessibility, Usability and SEO go Hand in Hand By Wojtek. "The similar main issue I can think of is navigation. Search engine bots have to be treated like disabled users. There are no other user agents more disabled than them..." https://cksource.com/blog/Accessibility-usability-and-SEO-go-hand-in-hand-a-talk-with-David-Carralon +02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS. Think Outside of the Box By Nicolas Hoffmann. "...here is an enigmatic title! However, it is one of our greatest challenges as CSS developers: abstracting us from our environment and even from our own senses that can… set up some vicious traps..." http://openweb.eu.org/articles/think-outside-of-the-box DRY Approaches - Don't Repeat Yourself By Nicolas Hoffmann. "DRY - don't repeat yourself - is one of the basic principles of programming. The two main concepts allowing you to avoid repetitions in programming are variables and functions. Question is: how can we think DRY with a language which does not have variables or functions?..." http://openweb.eu.org/articles/dry-approaches-don-t-repeat-yourself Getting Started With CSS calc() By Ana Tudor. "I first discovered the calc() function more than four years ago, thanks to CSS3 Click Chart, and I was absolutely delighted to see that basic mathematical computations - addition, subtraction, multiplication and division - had found their way into CSS..." http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2015/12/getting-started-css-calc-techniques/ CSS Cursor By techstream. "This small web app helps you to choose cursor type from the showcase for use in your application..." http://css-cursor.techstream.org/ +03: EVALUATION & TESTING. 11 Worst A/B Testing Mistakes According to Experts By Piotr Koczorowski. "...We contacted several UX and Conversion Rate Optimization Experts such as Jeff Sauro, Keith Hagen, Scott Belsky, Andy Budd, Brian Massey, Peep Laja and Paul Olyslager and asked them one question: what are the worst a/b testing mistakes according to them..." http://blog.usabilitytools.com/11-worst-ab-testing-mistakes/ A Guide To Simple And Painless Mobile User Testing By Colman Walsh. "The incredible growth of mobile and the proliferation of mobile devices has made the UX designer's job more challenging and interesting. It also means that user-testing mobile apps and websites is an essential component of the UX toolkit..." http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2015/12/simple-and-painless-mobile-user-testing/ 5 Advanced Stats Techniques and When to Use Them By Jeff Sauro. "...Each of these techniques requires specialized software (e.g., SPSS, Minitab, R) and training on how to set up and interpret the results. But even if you aren't ready to execute these techniques yourself, you can still learn what they are, when to use them, and some gotchas to look out for..." http://www.measuringu.com/blog/advanced-stats.php What is Remote Usability Testing? By Spencer Lanoue. "The main goal of usability testing is to answer the question 'Can people use this design?'..." https://www.usertesting.com/blog/2015/11/30/what-is-remote-usability-testing/ +04: EVENTS. Forward 4 Web Technology Summit February 8-13, 2016. San Francisco, California, U.S.A. http://forwardjs.com/summit Webstock 2016 February 9-12, 2016. Wellington, New Zealand http://www.webstock.org.nz/16/ An Event Apart Nashville March 14-16, 2016. Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A. http://aneventapart.com/event/nashville-2016 An Event Apart Seattle April 4-6, 2016. Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. http://aneventapart.com/event/seattle-2016 MinneWebCon April 25-26, 2016. Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A. http://minnewebcon.org/ University of Illinois Web Conference April 27-28, 2015. Champaign, Illinois, U.S.A. http://webcon.illinois.edu/ +05: FLASH. Flash is Dead. Long Live Animate By Virginia DeBolt. "Flash has had a few hard years..." http://www.webteacher.ws/2015/12/02/flash-dead-long-live-animate/ Flash, HTML5 and Open Web Standards By Adobe. "...today we are announcing Animate CC, previously Flash Professional CC, which will be Adobe's premier web animation tool for developing HTML5 content while continuing to support the creation of Flash content..." https://blogs.adobe.com/conversations/2015/11/flash-html5-and-open-web-standards.html +06: INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE. The Age of Information Architecture By Peter Morville. "...After two decades, I realize this art of reframing lies at the heart of information architecture. Before we get the design right, we must get the right design, and that requires the practice of perspective. Of course, our practice is more ancient than the polar bear book, and nobody knows its age. Information architecture is older than language. I think therefore IA. And, like language, information architecture is colorful, infinitely complex, and ever-changing. It's kept me busy for twenty years; with a little luck, it'll keep me going four score and seven more." http://www.uxbooth.com/articles/the-age-of-information-architecture/ +07: JAVASCRIPT. aria-readonly (property) By Rakesh Paladugula. "aria-readonly (property) is used when certain fields on the page are not editable. User can just find information on the readonly field but cannot edit." http://www.maxability.co.in/2015/11/aria-readonly-property/ +08: NAVIGATION. Menu Design - Checklist of 15 UX Guidelines to Help Users By Kathryn Whitenton. "In both applications and websites, users rely on menus to find content and use features. Use this checklist to make sure your menus do their job." http://www.nngroup.com/articles/menu-design/ +09: USABILITY. The State of Mobile Checkout and Form Usability By Jamie Appleseed. "This article focuses on the mobile e-commerce 'Checkout Process' and 'Data Input'..." http://baymard.com/blog/mobile-ecommerce-checkout-forms Flat 2.0 and How It Solves Flat Design's Usability Problems By Anna Monu. "...Flat 2.0 gives answers to the perceived problems of flat design. It's a smart compromise between functionality, aesthetics, and usability. Of course, we don't need to use the Material UI kits everywhere, but understanding the philosophy behind it can give us a solid background about how to develop our own style in accordance with the latest findings in user experience design." http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/flat-20/ For an Edge Condition, Seeing the Problem is a Problem By Jared M. Spool. "...We're taught in User Research 101 that you should not listen to our users. That what our users say isn’t as important as what they do. That’s why we focus on observing their behavior. Yet, when dealing with edge conditions, our observations won’t work. This is why techniques like Collective Story Harvest are so important..." https://www.uie.com/articles/seeing_the_problem/ [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 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. + 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.]