+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE. - Volume 17, Issue 36, February 28, 2019. An email newsletter to distribute news and information about web design and development. ++ISSUE 36 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: COLOR. 04: EVALUATION & TESTING. 05: EVENTS. 06: HTML. 07: MISCELLANEOUS. 08: NAVIGATION. 09: TOOLS. 10: USABILITY. SECTION TWO: 11: What Can You Find at the Web Design Reference Site? [Contents ends.] ++ SECTION ONE: New references. +01: ACCESSIBILITY. Accessibility Developer Guide By Access for All. "If you want to learn about accessible website development, you are at the right place…" https://www.accessibility-developer-guide.com/ Common Pitfalls and Misunderstandings in Accessibility Auditing By Jon Gooday. "…In this article, I want to share my insights into the things many auditors initially misunderstand that impact the quality of their audits…" https://www.hassellinclusion.com/blog/common-misunderstandings-in-accessibility-auditing Update on CAPTCHA Accessibility! W3C Needs Your Input By Rakesh Paladugula. "Do you want to take part and provide inputs to the most critical digital accessibility problem, inaccessibility of CAPTCHA? Here is an opportunity for you…" https://www.maxability.co.in/2019/02/update-on-captcha-accessibility-w3c-need-your-inputs/ Inclusive Content Strategy: How to Ensure Your Content is Accessible to Everyone By Deborah Edwards-Onoro. "At the February 2019 Accessibility Talks online meetup, AmyJune Hineline, Drupal and WordPress Community Ambassador at Kanopi Studios, spoke about inclusive content strategy, what it means, and how to craft content that is accessible to everyone…" https://www.lireo.com/inclusive-content-strategy/ 7 Ways to Make your Tweets More Accessible By Lindsey Kopacz. "I wrote a tweet thread a while back where I started talking about ways to keep accessibility in mind on the platforms we use such as Twitter…" https://www.a11ywithlindsey.com/blog/7-ways-tweets-more-accessible/ How to Add Alternative Text to LinkedIn Images By Deborah Edwards-Onoro. "…I've been putting off publishing a tutorial about LinkedIn's alternative text. Here it is…" https://www.lireo.com/how-to-add-alternative-text-linkedin-images/ What You Should Know About Automatic Captions on Video Players By Sofia Enamorado. "The use of automatic captions is on the rise, but is the convenience of them detrimental to your organization…" https://www.3playmedia.com/2019/02/27/automatic-captions-video-players/ Avoid Default Field Validation By Adrian Roselli. "HTML5 gives us form field validation for free. The problem is that the default messages browsers provide are not always useful and typically do not work with assistive technology…" http://adrianroselli.com/2019/02/avoid-default-field-validation.html Accessibility on The Session By Jeremy Keith. "I spent some time this weekend working on an accessibility issue over on The Session. Someone using VoiceOver on iOS was having a hard time with some multi-step forms." https://adactio.com/journal/14863 How to Run Higher Education Website Accessibility Projects By Paul Bradley. "…In this article, we outline four basic principles on which to base a website accessibility remediation project and seven project plan elements for making an institution's public website more accessible and meeting the deadline date…" https://iwmw.org/blog/2019/01/28/how-to-run-higher-education-website-accessibility-projects/ A Company's Website Is Not a 'Public Accommodation' Under the ADA, a California Court Finds By Jason P. Brown & Robert T. Quackenboss. "…A decision by one state trial court in California seems to adopt a more strict reading of the definition of 'public accommodation' than previous cases in California and in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes the federal courts in California) on the subject, which further demonstrates the difficulty that many courts, including this one, are having with these ADA website accessibility cases…" https://www.huntonlaborblog.com/2019/02/articles/california-developments/companys-website-not-public-accommodation-ada-california-court-finds/ Hernando County Set to Settle Website accessibility Lawsuit, One in a Wave Filed by Prolific Plaintiffs By Jack Evans. "A legally blind Daytona Beach man has filed similar suits against more than two dozen public entities in Florida…" https://www.tampabay.com/hernando/hernando-county-set-to-settle-website-accessibility-lawsuit-one-in-a-wave-filed-by-prolific-plaintiffs-20190220/ What Does European Accessibility Standard EN 301 549 Mean for US Organizations? By Ryan Bateman. "I had the opportunity to chat with Shadi Abou-Zahra, the Accessibility Strategy and Technology Specialist at W3C, to discuss EN 301 549…" https://www.deque.com/blog/european-accessibility-standard-en-301-549/ +02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS. F87: CSS Generated Content and WCAG Conformance By Adrian Roselli. "The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) does a good job of providing supporting techniques to help reviewers determine if a specific case would violate a given Success Criterion (SC)…" http://adrianroselli.com/2019/02/f87-css-generated-content-and-wcag-conformance.html On Switching from HEX & RGB to HSL By Sara Soueidan. "A couple of weeks ago I tweeted about a feature that I didn't know existed in VS Code: the visual color editor that pops up when you hover over color values in a style sheet." https://www.sarasoueidan.com/blog/hex-rgb-to-hsl/ Look Ma, No Media Queries! Responsive Layouts Using CSS Grid By Juan Martín García. "Not only has CSS Grid reshaped the way we think and build layouts for the web, but it has also contributed to writing more resilient code, replacing 'hacky' techniques we've used before, and in some cases, killing the need to rely on code for specific resolutions and viewports…" https://css-tricks.com/look-ma-no-media-queries-responsive-layouts-using-css-grid/ The CSS Mental Model By Peter-Paul Koch. "I am likely going to write a 'CSS for JavaScripters' book, and therefore I need to figure out how to explain CSS to JavaScripters. This series of article smippets are a sort of try-out - pre-drafts I'd like to get feedback on in order to figure out if I'm on the right track…" https://www.quirksmode.org/blog/archives/2019/02/css_for_javascr_1.html +03: COLOR. 4 Reasons Why You Should Design Without Color First By Anand Satyan. "Creating your screens in grayscale before adding color forces you think clearly and prioritize right when it comes to UX design…" https://medium.com/devsdesign/4-reasons-why-you-should-design-without-color-first-c0e38180f689 High Contrast Explainer By Rossen Atanassov, Alison Maher. "High contrast is a Windows accessibility feature intended to increase the readability of text through color contrast…" https://github.com/MicrosoftEdge/MSEdgeExplainers/blob/master/HighContrast/explainer.md +04: EVALUATION & TESTING. The WebAIM Million: What We Learned Analyzing 1,000,000 Web Site Home Pages By Jared Smith. "…significant and pervasive issues are present across much of the web. While there is much work to be done to improve accessibility, these research findings can help us identify patterns so accessibility efforts can be better focused…" https://webaim.org/blog/webaim-million/ What Is the Purpose of UX Measurement? By Jeff Sauro. "…Measurement and statistical analysis don't guarantee success; instead, they improve the likelihood of success…" https://measuringu.com/ux-measurement-purpose/ How to Respond to Skepticism of Testing Small Groups of Users By Kathryn Whitenton. "That's just one person' and 'Our real users aren't like that' are common objections to findings from qualitative usability testing. Address these concerns proactively to ensure your research is effective." https://www.nngroup.com/articles/responding-skepticism-small-usability-tests/ The Cross-Sequential Approach: A Short-Term Method for Studying Long-Term User Experience By Sari Kujala, Talya Miron-Shatz, and Jussi J. Jokinen. "We propose a novel cross-sequential approach to accelerating the collection of user feedback while providing a broad perspective by analyzing samples of users at various stages of service and product experience…" http://uxpajournal.org/cross-sequential-studying-long-term-user-experience/ Is User Research Losing Its User Focus? By David Hamill. "…A user-centred approach to user research allows an organisation to understand what is important to its users…" https://medium.com/@david.hamill/is-user-research-losing-its-user-focus-6eaa54c39dd3 Why Personas Fail (Video) By Kim Flaherty. "How to overcome common challenges in employing personas in UX design projects, including stakeholders who don't understand the value of approximated data or conversely press for over-generalized personas." https://www.nngroup.com/videos/why-personas-fail/ +05: EVENTS. Accessibility & Inclusive Design Meet Up March 13, 2019. Austin, Texas, U.S.A. https://schedule.sxsw.com/2019/events/PP103076 Exploring WCAG 2.1 March 20, 2019. Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. https://www.meetup.com/a11ysea/events/259124048/ 10 Tips for Creating Accessible Web Content with (Updated) WCAG March 21, 2019. Online. https://www.3playmedia.com/resources/webinars/webinar-registration-03-21-2019/ Up Front March 22, 2019. Manchester, England, United Kingdom https://upfrontconf.com/ Accessible Content Shared Through Social Media March 26, 2019. Online https://www.accessibilityonline.org/cioc-508/session/?id=110710 2019 Digital Accessibility Trends April 2, 2019. New York, New York, U.S.A. https://www.meetup.com/A11yNYC/events/258773013/ Web4All 2019 May 13-15, 2019. San Francisco, California, U.S.A. http://www.w4a.info/2019/ +06: HTML. When Is A Button Not A Button? By Vadim Makeev. "Not everything that's round and stands out is considered to be a button. In this article, Vadim explains how you can create a proper interactive button for your users - one that shouldn't be confused for anything else…" https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2019/02/buttons-interfaces/ +07: MISCELLANEOUS. Q&A with Jonathan Avila, Chief Accessibility Officer By Equalentry. "This installment of our Accessibility Activists column is an interview with Jonathan Avila, Chief Accessibility Officer for SSB Bart Group. Avila is also a participant in the WCAG Working Group, and the mobile accessibility task force at the WAI…" https://equalentry.com/interview-with-jonathan-avila-chief-accessibility-officer/ Derek Featherstone Interview - Accessibility is not a 'Nice to Have' By Jeffrey Zeldman. "Why do companies de-prioritize accessibility?…" http://5by5.tv/bigwebshow/184 +08: NAVIGATION. Quick Tip: Creating Valid and Accessible Links By Emma Patricios. "The anchor element is often cited as the main building block of the World Wide Web. It is used to create a link to other pages, to anchors within the same page, to other resources (such as a PDF) or to an email address. How can we make sure they are accessible to everyone?…" https://a11yproject.com/posts/creating-valid-and-accessible-links/ +09: TOOLS. How to Test the AccName Algorithm Dynamically using AccName Prototype By Bryan Garaventa. "Since this comes up every now and again, usually with questions about what is or not expected in the AccName computation, I wanted to pass along the following live utility that helps to resolve this confusion…" https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-ig/2019JanMar/0080.html WCAG 2.1 Parsing Error Bookmarklet - Updated 25th February 2019 By Steve Faulkner. Thanks to Dennis Lembrée's Pull Request. https://developer.paciellogroup.com/blog/2019/02/wcag-2-0-parsing-error-bookmarklet/ Bookmarklet: Archive Page to Wayback Machine By Jesse Gardner. "…I reference the Wayback Machine a lot, so requesting an archive of the current page by prepending the url with web.archive.org/save/ is wicked useful; but I figured I'd make it just a smidge easier by turning it into a bookmarklet…" http://plasticmind.com/0s-and-1s/bookmarklet-archive-to-wayback-machine/ +10: USABILITY. Usability of Technology for Older Adults: Where Are We and Where Do We Need to Be By Sara J. Czaja. "…In this paper I examine the adoption and uptake of ICTs among older adults, the potential benefits of ICT use, and issues regarding usability of technology…" http://uxpajournal.org/usability-technology-older-adults/ Footers 101: Design Patterns and When to Use Each By Therese Fessenden. "Footers can be found at the bottom of almost every web page, and often take many forms, depending on the type of content on a website. Regardless of the form they take, their presence is critical (and highly underrated)." https://www.nngroup.com/articles/footers/ Solid Vs. Outline Icons: Which Are Faster to Recognize? By Anthony Tseng. "…Solid icons were generally faster to recognize than outline icons, but with a few exceptions. And some icons showed no difference in task time. This has to do with characteristic cues…" https://uxmovement.com/mobile/solid-vs-outline-icons-which-are-faster-to-recognize/ Breaking Down Fitts Law for UX Designers By Sourabh Purwar. "'Fitts' law states that the amount of time required for a person to move a pointer to a target area is a function of the distance to the target divided by the size of the target…" https://uxplanet.org/breaking-down-fitts-law-for-ux-designers-542cabb48f9 Mobile Checkout Experience Tips (Video) By Anna Kaley. "Remember these essential experience elements that are often overlooked or easily forgotten during the mobile checkout design process." https://www.nngroup.com/videos/mobile-checkout-experience-tips/ Exploring the Boundary Conditions of the Effect of Aesthetics on Perceived Usability By John Grishin, Doug Gillan. "A growing body of usability research suggests that the aesthetics of a system affects users' perceptions of the usability of that system. But the causal relationship between aesthetics and usability and the direction of that relation have not been firmly established…within the conditions imposed by this research, it appears that usability and aesthetics were perceived separately." http://uxpajournal.org/boundary-conditions-aesthetics-usability/ FANG is Coming For You By Gerry McGovern. "…Regardless of whether you're a government agency, a non-profit, or whatever, if you've got potentially useful data and information, then FANG is your potential competitor. If you're neglecting your search engine, if you're not investing in your navigation and the general usability of your digital environment, then you're just asking for trouble. The interface is the product. The interface is the service…" http://gerrymcgovern.com/fang-is-coming-for-you/ [Section one ends.] ++ SECTION TWO: +11: 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.]