+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE. - Volume 2, Issue 32, January 30, 2004. An email newsletter to distribute news and information about web design and development. ++ISSUE 32 CONTENTS. SECTION ONE: New references. What's new at the Web Design Reference site? http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/webdesign/ New links in these categories: 01: ACCESSIBILITY. 02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS. 03: EVALUATION & TESTING. 04: JAVASCRIPT. 05: MISCELLANEOUS. 06: PHP. 07: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES & PATTERNS. 08: TOOLS. 09: TYPOGRAPHY. 10: USABILITY. 11: XML. SECTION TWO: 12: What Can You Find at the Web Design Reference Site? [Contents ends.] ++ SECTION ONE: New references. +01: ACCESSIBILITY. Access E-Learning (AEL) By Georgia Tech "Access E-Learning is a ten-module tutorial that is a resource for those seeking to make their distance education accessible for individuals with disabilities. AEL offers information on the most common needs in distance education, and provides instruction in techniques that will enhance the usability of online materials for all students." http://www.accesselearning.net/ Alternative Web Browsing By Peter Bosher and Judy Brewer "The purpose of this collection is to reflect the whole range of approaches used for browsing. If you design Web pages, then this will allow you to try out a particular browsing method with specific sites as a way of checking how usable they are for a given browser, or combination of browser and screen-reader, voice-recognition, or other adaptive systems. If you are a user who may be interested in finding the most effective method for you, then you should also find useful information here." http://www.w3.org/WAI/References/Browsing +02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS. Back to Basics Part 1 Drop the Hacks By Vinnie Garcia "This is the introduction to a new series I'm doing on my blog called 'Back to Basics'. I will be showing you practical, standards-based design in a simple and straightforward manner..." http://blog.vinniegarcia.com/oldstuff/000058.html Back to Basics Part 2 Internet Explorer for Windows, Box Models and More By Vinnie Garcia "In my first installment of the 'Back to Basics' series, I called on you to drop your CSS hacks. However, what kind of person would I be to tell you to stop using what fixes your layouts for all browsers? A bad person, unless I offer up solutions, which I am about to do..." http://blog.vinniegarcia.com/oldstuff/000060.html +03: EVALUATION & TESTING. User Experience Analysis By Jesse James Garrett "An in-depth analysis of the nine major Democratic candidates' Websites. Find out how Dean compares to Kerry, Sharpton, and the rest. Learn best practices for supporting grass-roots campaigns, swaying undecided voters, and keeping your core constituents informed." This report is available for free to Adaptive Path newsletter subscribers. http://www.adaptivepath.com/publications/reports/campaign/ +04: JAVASCRIPT. Using named arguments in JavaScript functions By David Andersson "Normally, a JavaScript function takes an list of arguments, with the order of each argument predetermined. As an example, the parseInt() function takes two arguments, a string representing a number, and the radix of that number. You need to specify those in exactly that order, first a string, then the number, or at the very least, just the first argument. However, ponder a function where you wish to specify only the second argument, or both of them in arbitrary order - the deficiency of the JavaScript arguments model prohibits this. In this tutorial, I'll teach you how to modify JavaScript functions to accept named arguments, with which you can specify in any order, as named arguments don't rely on order, but instead their name when passing into functions..." http://javascriptkit.com/javatutors/namedfunction.shtml Javascript Library By Chris Nott "This is a collection of scripts that I've created and/or modified. All the scripts are released under a Creative Commons License. Do whatever you want with them -- use them as is or modify them to suit your purposes. Both personal and commercial usage is ok by me. Unless otherwise noted, all scripts degrade gracefully in older browsers that don't support the functionality the script provides (ie. no error messages are triggered) and, with the obvious exception of the Browser Detect script, all use object detection instead of browser detection (which ensures a broad range of browsers will run these scripts including future browsers)." http://www.dithered.com/javascript/ +05: MISCELLANEOUS. The Importance of Process in Web Design By Andy Budd "One of the benefits of formalizing your process is you don't have to permanently carry it around in your head. Often if you have an ad hoc process you'll miss steps or will have to do the same thing over and over again for each project. By setting up and following a formal process it can cut down on a good deal of wasted time and really help boost your productivity." http://www.andybudd.com/blog/archives/000142.html An Interview with Dave Shea By Craig Saila Craig interviews Dave Shea of CSS Zen Garden fame. http://digital-web.com/interviews/dave_shea.shtml +06: PHP. Working with text files By Subhash Madhawa "Working with text files is a very simple thing to do in PHP scripts. Database programming is also not a hard job. However, text files are a good starting place for novice programmers." http://codewalkers.com/tutorials/57/1.html +07: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES & PATTERNS. Common XHTML validation errors By blackwidows.org http://tinyurl.com/3x7ht +08: TOOLS. Color Conversion Calculator By Autopedia.com http://autopedia.com/html/ColorCalculator.html +09: TYPOGRAPHY. Using Font Size By css-discuss Wiki This is a good summary of the advantages and disadvantages of various cascading style sheet font sizing methods. http://css-discuss.incutio.com/?page=UsingFontSize +10: USABILITY. Super Bowl Site in No Rush By Andrew B. King "Just in time for the big game we review SuperBowl.com for speed and accessibility..." http://www.optimizationweek.com/reviews/superbowl/ Words come before looks in web design By Gerry McGovern "Advertising agencies tend to design awful websites because they are obsessed with getting attention. When people come to your website, you have already got their attention. They want to do something. They want detail. They want facts. The thing they value most is their time. So don’t waste it." http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/nt/2004/nt_2004_01_19_ad2.htm Never let an ad agency near your website By Gerry McGovern "The average advertising agency fundamentally doesn't get the Web. Saatchi & Saatchi, BBDO Worldwide, J. Walter Thompson and Ogilvy are great advertising agencies. When it comes to managing their own websites, however, they are rank amateurs. They bring their print and TV thinking to the Web with embarrassing results." http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/nt/2004/nt_2004_01_19_ad1.htm +11: XML. XML Basics and Benefits By P.G. Daly "From XML's inception circa 1996 through the initial hype blitz up to the present day, the term XML has been ubiquitous. What does it all mean, and what do you really need to know?" http://www.intranetjournal.com/articles/200312/ij_12_08_03a.html XML Basics, Part II: The Key Concepts By P.G. Daly "In Part I of this series I answered the question, 'What is XML?' Here in Part II of XML Basics, I will define, discuss, and illustrate some of the key concepts crucial to understanding and working with XML documents." http://www.intranetjournal.com/articles/200401/ij_01_13_04a.html [Section one ends.] ++ SECTION TWO: +12: What Can You Find at the Web Design Reference Site? Accessibility Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/accessibility Association Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/associations Book Listings. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/books Cascading Style Sheets Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/css Color Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/color Dreamweaver Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/dreamweaver Evaluation & Testing Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/testing Event Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/events Flash Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/flash Information Architecture Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/architecture JavaScript Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/javascript Miscellaneous Web Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/misc Navigation Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/navigation PHP Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/php Sites & Blogs Listing. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/sites Standards, Guidelines & Pattern Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/standards Tool Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/tools Typography Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/type Usability Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/usability XML Information. http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/xml [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/goto/webdevlist The Web Design Reference Site also has a RSS 2.0 feed for site updates. + TEXT EMAIL NEWSLETTER (TEN) STANDARD. As a navigation aid for screen readers we do our best to conform to the accessible Text Email Newsletter (TEN) Standard. Please let me know if there is anything else we can do to make navigation easier. For TEN Standard information please visit: http://www.headstar.com/ten + SIGNATURE. Laura L. Carlson Information Technology Systems and Services University of Minnesota Duluth Duluth, MN 55812-3009 mailto:lcarlson@d.umn.edu [Issue ends.]