+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE. - Volume 16, Issue 16, October 12, 2017. An email newsletter to distribute news and information about web design and development. ++ISSUE 16 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: JAVASCRIPT. 06: MISCELLANEOUS. 07: TOOLS. 08: USABILITY. 09: XML. SECTION TWO: 10: What Can You Find at the Web Design Reference Site? [Contents ends.] ++ SECTION ONE: New references. +01: ACCESSIBILITY. A Practical Guide to Improving Web Accessibility By Cynthia Ng. "This article is intended to provide guidance on making library websites and other digital content accessible within the constraints of most organizations' technological environments…" https://quod.lib.umich.edu/w/weave/12535642.0001.701?view=text;rgn=main Q&A: Video Accessibility at the University of Washington By Elisa Edelberg. "Terill Thompson, Sheryl Burgstahler, and Doug Hayman from the University of Washington's office of Accessible Technology Services describe their multi-faceted approach to video accessibility…" http://www.3playmedia.com/2017/10/06/qa-video-accessibility-at-the-university-of-washington/ VPAT 2.0 for Section 508, WCAG 2.0 and En301 549 By Rakesh Paladugula. "Voluntary Product Accessibility Template 2.0 (VPAT 2.0) is updated by Information Technology Industry Council ITICExternal Website…" http://www.maxability.co.in/2017/10/vpat20/ Building Your Core Accessibility Team in 5 Steps By Dennis Lembree. "Building a core accessibility team is often a major difference in the success or failure of many accessibility initiatives…" https://www.deque.com/blog/steps-build-core-accessibility-team/ Inclusive Design 24 Returns November 16 By Deborah Edwards-Onoro. "…Focused on all things accessibility, Inclusive Design 24 (ID24) is a free 24-hour online community event, hosted by The Paciello Group…" https://www.lireo.com/inclusive-design-24-returns-november-16/ College Websites Must Accommodate Disabled Students, Lawsuits Say By Vivian Wang. "The lawsuits came one after the other, against Fordham University, Manhattan College, Long Island University and other area colleges and universities. In all, eight suits have been filed in federal court in Manhattan over the past two weeks, most recently against Hofstra University on Long Island on Oct. 4…" https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/11/nyregion/college-websites-disabled.html What the Blick Art Materials Case Means for Corporate Website Accessibility By Patrick Loftus. "On August 1, a judge in the Eastern District of New York allowed a class action website accessibility lawsuit against Blick Art Materials, LLC to move forward marking a big win for disability rights advocates…" http://www.3playmedia.com/2017/10/05/what-the-blick-art-materials-case-means-for-corporate-website-accessibility/ +02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS. A Tale of Four Properties By Chris Coyier. "This is a talk I've given at a couple of conferences recently. It's about four different properties in CSS: 1) shape-outside, 2.)offset-path, 3.)clip-path, 4.) d…" https://css-tricks.com/video-screencasts/157-tale-four-properties/ A Fearless Guide to Using CSS Grid Today By Brenda Storer. "I know you've been burned before with tales of exciting new CSS specifications that won't be ready to use in production for years. I'm here to tell you, those days are in our past and the brightest example of our future is with CSS Grid! You can absolutely use it now, and in this article, I'll show you how without much fuss or the need for any external dependencies…" https://www.heartinternet.uk/blog/fearless-guide-using-css-grid-today/ CSS: The Definitive Guide, 4th Edition Goes to Print By Eric A. Meyer. "Yesterday afternoon, CSS: The Definitive Guide, 4th Edition went to the printers…" http://meyerweb.com/eric/thoughts/2017/10/11/csstdg4e-goes-to-print/ +03: EVALUATION & TESTING. How to Get Started With Usability Testing By Paul Boag. "Are you running regular usability testing? If you are not, know that you are far from alone. Many people see it as a luxury that they cannot afford. But it doesn't need to be that way. In fact, it can help speed delivery and reduce costs…" https://boagworld.com/usability/usability-testing/ Measuring Usability: From the SUS to the UMUX-Lite By Jeff Sauro. "…While some redundancy is good to improve reliability, shorter questionnaires are preferred when time in a usability study is limited or when a measure of usability is needed as part of a larger survey (which may already be too long)…" https://measuringu.com/umux-lite/ Usability Testing for Survey Research By Emily Geisen and Jennifer Romano Bergstrom. "This is a sample chapter from Emily Geisen and Jennifer Romano Bergstrom's new book Usability Testing for Survey Research…" https://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2017/10/usability-testing-for-survey-research.php +04: EVENTS. NationJS November 30-December 1, 2017. Washington D.C., U.S.A. http://nationjs.com/ Las Vegas UX Conference December 2-8, 2017. Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A. https://www.nngroup.com/training/las-vegas/ +05: JAVASCRIPT. JavaScript Functions That Define and Rewrite Themselves By Darren Jones. "The following is a short extract from our new book, JavaScript: Novice to Ninja, 2nd Edition, written by Darren Jones…" https://www.sitepoint.com/javascript-functions-that-define-and-rewrite-themselves/ +06: MISCELLANEOUS. 13 Things You Should Give Up If You Want To Be a Successful UX Designer By Guy Ligertwood. "Cut out the things that are holding you back…" https://uxplanet.org/12-things-you-should-give-up-if-you-want-to-be-a-successful-ux-designer-f5bc8581a848 Fundamentals of Responsive Images By Marc Drummond. "…The payoff for this effort is that your images look nice and crisp at all viewport sizes, while still downloading efficiently. No more super slow mobile sites that take forever to load images! That makes a huge difference for those visiting your site. Downloading image files tends to be a big chunk of the work that browsers do when visiting a new site. Speed that up and everybody wins." https://www.lullabot.com/articles/fundamentals-of-responsive-images +07: TOOLS. userpoll.io By Peter Krantz. "Find out what users think about your system. The system usability survey gives you rapid feedback on the overall usability of your application. No signup required…" http://www.userpoll.io/ +08: USABILITY. Plain Language Is for Everyone, Even Experts By Hoa Loranger. "Professionals want clear, concise information devoid of unnecessary jargon or complex terms. Plain language benefits both consumers and organizations." https://www.nngroup.com/articles/plain-language-experts/ Why the Email Confirmation Field Must Die By UX Movement. "If you want to increase correct email submissions, you need to redesign your email field…" http://uxmovement.com/forms/why-the-email-confirmation-field-must-die/ UX Without Users Isn't UX (Video) By Hoa Loranger. Many organizations claim to be user-centric. Yet they fail to include users in the development process. Without customer input, organizations risk creating bad interfaces. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3Yk8JQFgvM Mobile UX Isn't Just About Breakpoints By Thomas Fogarasy. "…Responsive design, therefore, should not be used for its own sake, or because it's the modern way of creating interfaces. Before jumping into it's toolset, and starting to rearrange boxes, clear goals should be set based on how, where, and why people will eventually interact with the product you design." https://uxdesign.cc/mobile-ux-isnt-just-about-breakpoints-931317ffb4 UX Lessons I Wish I Learned in School By Hoa Loranger. "Novice UX practitioners often start with the wrong mindset. Know the common mistakes and how to avoid them." https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ux-lessons/ 18 Practical Websites Homepage Design Tips and Excellent Examples By Trista. "Wikipedia defines a homepage as the initial or main web page of a website or a browser…" https://www.mockplus.com/blog/post/homepage-design-tips/ [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.]