+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE. - Volume 15, Issue 10, September 1, 2016. An email newsletter to distribute news and information about web design and development. ++ISSUE 10 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: INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE. 06: JAVASCRIPT. 07: MISCELLANEOUS. 08: USABILITY. SECTION TWO: 09: What Can You Find at the Web Design Reference Site? [Contents ends.] ++ SECTION ONE: New references. +01: ACCESSIBILITY. What Does Accessibility Supported Mean? By Léonie Watson. "With the recent news that Microsoft Edge now has 100% accessibility support for HTML5, this post looks at what 'accessibility supported' means, and where it fits into the bigger accessibility picture..." https://www.paciellogroup.com/blog/2016/08/what-does-accessibility-supported-mean/ Computer Vision API: What Does It See? By Joseph C Dolson. "Microsoft has a service called the Computer Vision API. It's a simple system: feed it an image, and it analyzes the image and returns text feedback..." https://www.joedolson.com/2016/08/computer-vision-api-see/ Web Accessibility Regulations are Overdue By Jonathan Lazar. (Hat tip to Jennifer Sutton) "...People with disabilities cannot meaningfully participate in twenty-first-century society without access to technology, any more than any one else can. That's why accessibility is such an urgent matter of public policy." http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/2016/08/29/web-accessibility-regulations-overdue-column/87043768/ The Inaccessible Web: How We Got Into This Mess By Mischa Andrews. (Hat tip to Jennifer Sutton) "Theoretically, anyone can access the web. In reality, disabled people are excluded..." https://medium.com/@MischaAndrews/the-inaccessible-web-how-we-got-into-this-mess-7cd3460b8e32 Get Your VPAT/ GPAT in a Hurry By Karl Groves. "...If someone tells you they can turn around a VPAT or GPAT in that amount of time, RUN. They are going to risk not only the contract but possibly a load more..." http://www.karlgroves.com/2016/08/22/get-your-vpat-gpat-in-a-hurry/ Accessible Language Pickers: a11y meets i18n/l10n By Terrill Thompson. "...As a developer, the biggest takeaway for me from these experiments is that unsupported and unrecognized languages are not rendered well by screen readers, which reinforces the need to supplement the noise with a translation in English (or the primary language of the site, if not English)...." http://terrillthompson.com/blog/759 How to Create a Culture of Accessibility By Cory Lebson. "I was recently asked by a UX colleague how he might be able to incorporate accessibility into his company's organizational culture..." https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-create-culture-accessibility-cory-lebson Section 508 Refresh - Next Steps for Federal Agencies and Their Vendors By Jonathan Avila. "Here are some of the gaps that we have identified: The current Section 508 has a twice per second flashing limit while WCAG specifies three times per second and also allows for small areas to contain flashing content. Section 508 also allows for flashing in the range from 56-59 times per seconds while WCAG does not allow for this. WCAG does not require that documents are readable without style sheets, only that content is in a meaningful sequence. Section 508 indicates that documents be readable without an associated style sheet. The current Section 508 requires that embedded and linked non-HTML media provide a link to an accessible plug-in. The current Section 508 requires that alternative pages are not used unless absolutely necessary, while WCAG allows for alternative pages to be used. WCAG has no bar for determining when they are not allowed...." http://www.ssbbartgroup.com/blog/section-508-refresh-next-steps-federal-agencies-vendors/ +02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS. CSS Positioning Explained By Building An Ice Cream Sundae By Kevin Kononenko. "If you've made an ice cream sundae before, then you can understand CSS positioning..." https://medium.freecodecamp.com/css-positioning-explained-by-building-an-ice-cream-sundae-831cb884bfa9#.ohm06ko6i The Web is not Print and Other Stories By Rachel Andrew. "...No, the web is not print. However it shouldn't be defined by being not print. Nor should we allow assumptions about what is and isn't possible stop us experimenting. Unless we find the edges, unless we ask why we can't do things, unless we come up with ways to try and make it work, the native tools won't get better..." https://www.rachelandrew.co.uk/archives/2016/08/31/the-web-is-not-print-and-other-stories/ +03: EVALUATION & TESTING. Real-Time Remote Usability Testing with Screen Reader Users, Part 1: Practical Overview By Caitlin Geier. "If your organization is at all interested in user-centered or user experience design, then you likely invest in usability testing your application with key members of your user base..." http://www.deque.com/blog/real-time-remote-usability-testing-screen-reader-users-part-1-practical-overview/ An Introduction to Remote Usability Testing by Harry Brignull. "What is 'Remote Usability Testing'? When would you use it, and what are the potential pitfalls?..." http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/articles/how-to-conduct-remote-usability-testing--cms-26977 Can You Change A Standardized Questionnaire? By Jeff Sauro. "Questionnaires are an effective way for gauging sentiments toward constructs like usability, loyalty, and the quality of the website user experience. A standardized questionnaire is one that has gone through psychometric validation." http://www.measuringu.com/blog/change-standardized.php Actual, Factual (Affordable) Usability Testing By Jess Hutton. "...usability testing can take so many forms, including many that are cheap and quick..." http://www.uxbooth.com/articles/actual-factual-affordable-user-testing/ +04: EVENTS. Making Learning Accessible Conference December 2, 2016. East Lansing, Michigan, U.S.A. http://www.accessiblelearning.org/ +05: INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE. How to Make Tour Wireframes More Accessible in Five Easy Steps By Alison Walden. "...Follow these five easy steps to make your wireframes more accessible..." http://accessib.li/2016/08/28/how-to-make-your-wireframes-more-accessible-in-five-easy-steps/ +06: JAVASCRIPT. Accessibility Object Model Editors: Alice Boxhall, Bogdan Brinza, James Craig, Dominic Mazzoni, Cynthia Shelley, and Alexander Surkov. "This effort aims to create a JavaScript API to allow developers to explore and modify the accessibility tree for an HTML page..." https://github.com/a11y-api/a11y-api/blob/master/explainer.md#introduction Glenda Sims - Web and Mobile Accessibility + ARIA By Christopher Schmitt. "In this episode, Christopher Schmitt is joined once again by Glenda Sims. Glenda is the Accessibility Practice Manager at Deque Systems helping to define accessibility and lead over 50 experts on staff..." http://goodstuff.fm/nbsp/92 +07: MISCELLANEOUS. The Future Web Wants You By Brian Kardell. "In the mid-1990's, I didn't really know much about standards, but it seemed that they obviously existed..." https://briankardell.wordpress.com/2016/08/24/the-future-web-wants-you/ Safari's Visual User Agent Switcher (Tweet) By Derek Featherstone. "Option + Cmd + R enters Responsive Design Mode in Safari, shows visual user agent switcher..." https://twitter.com/feather/status/768895665338331136 The GIF Is Dead. Long Live the GIF. By Eric Limer. "Inside the internet's long, doomed quest to replace its most iconic​ and flawed filetype..." http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a21457/the-gif-is-dead-long-live-the-gif/ +09: USABILITY. UXPA International Opening Keynote: Kelly Goto (Video) By Kelly Goto. "After nearly 3-decades, veteran design ethnographer Kelly Goto has a sweeping story to tell-a passionate personal journey of engaging with real people and getting to WHY. Come along for the ride and learn how a fishbowl and a missed flight to London allowed her to refocus and envision a new research direction that is poised to shift the UX industry beyond usability forever." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAzYpDG1ozE Top 10 Tips for UX Success From Agile Practitioners By Hoa Loranger. "125 practitioners share their experience and success stories for improving user experience in Agile projects." https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ux-success-agile/ Social Media Natives: Growing Up with Social Networking By Kate Meyer. "Social media use has altered how Millennials think about friendships and relationships. This impact stands as valuable reminder of the consequences of UX-design decisions." https://www.nngroup.com/articles/social-media-natives/ Why You Need to Write In Plain Language By Mia Botha. "Plain language is writing that everyone can understand. You are only able to write this way if you understand exactly what it is that you want to say. Don't think you are 'dumbing it down'. You are communicating in a clear, simple manner..." http://writerswrite.co.za/why-you-need-to-write-in-plain-language Button Design Best Practices By Nick Babich. "...In this post, I'll cover the basics you need to know in order to create effective controls that improve user experience..." https://blogs.adobe.com/creativecloud/xd-essentials-button-design-best-practices/ [Section one ends.] ++ SECTION TWO: +09: 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.]