+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 10, Issue 34, February 16, 2012.

An email newsletter to distribute news and information about web design and development. 

++ISSUE 34 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: JAVASCRIPT.
04: MISCELLANEOUS.
05: NAVIGATION.
06: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES & PATTERNS.
07: USABILITY.
08: XML.

SECTION TWO: 
09: What Can You Find at the Web Design Reference Site?

[Contents ends.]


++ SECTION ONE: New references.

+01: ACCESSIBILITY.

Getting Started with Accessibility
By Nick Pettit.
"In this 5 minute video, you'll gain a broad understanding of accessibility and learn about its place in web design and development."
http://thinkvitamin.com/user-science/accessibility/free-video-getting-started-with-accessibility/

Using HTML5 and Javascript to Deliver Text-Based Audio Descriptions
By National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM).
"For more than 20 years, audio descriptions (also known as video descriptions) have been delivered using human narration..."
http://ncamftp.wgbh.org/ibm/dvs/

Consistent Identification - Accessibility for Web Writers, Part 17
By Dey Alexander.
"The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 requires consistent labelling of the functional parts of web pages. If identical functions have different labels on different pages,you may make your site confusing or harder for people to learn to use-particularly people with cognitive impairments. Here are some tips for web writers and content managers..."
http://www.4syllables.com.au/2012/02/accessibility-for-web-writers-part-17/


+02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.

Call For Action - The Open Web Needs You Now
By Daniel Glazman.
"The CSS Working Group, the W3C, the browser vendors and the Open Web need you, and I really mean you ALL. The following article is written by Daniel Glazman, co-chairman of the CSS Working Group; the part until 'This must not happen' represents an official discussion of the CSS Working Group. Members of the Group behind that discussion include Adobe, Apple, Disruptive Innovations, Google, HP, Microsoft, Mozilla, Opera and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The second part of the article is strictly mine..."
http://www.glazman.org/weblog/dotclear/index.php?post/2012/02/09/CALL-FOR-ACTION%3A-THE-OPEN-WEB-NEEDS-YOU-NOW

W3C Co-Chair -  Apple, Google Power Causing Open Web Crisis
By Stephen Shankland.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-57373764-264/w3c-co-chair-apple-google-power-causing-open-web-crisis/ 

Browser Makers Caving to Vendor Prefix Misuse
By Adrian A. Roselli.
http://blog.adrianroselli.com/2012/02/browser-makers-caving-to-vendor-prefix.html

The Trap of Vendor Prefixes - Webkit, Meet IE6
By Niels Matthijs.
http://www.onderhond.com/blog/work/trap-of-vendor-prefixes-webkit-ie6

On the Vendor Prefixes Problem
By Bruce Lawson.
http://www.brucelawson.co.uk/2012/on-the-vendor-prefixes-problem/

Vendor Prefixes - About to go South
By Remy Sharp.
http://remysharp.com/2012/02/09/vendor-prefixes-about-to-go-south/

Call for Action on Vendor Prefixes
By Rachel Andrew.
http://www.webstandards.org/2012/02/09/call-for-action-on-vendor-prefixes/

Now Vendor Prefixes Have Become a Problem, Want to Help Fix It?
By Christian Heilmann.
http://christianheilmann.com/2012/02/09/now-vendor-prefixes-have-become-a-problem-want-to-help-fix-it/

This Must Not Happen 
By Aaron Gustafson.
http://blog.easy-designs.net/archives/2012/02/09/this-must-not-happen/

WebKit Isn't Breaking the Web, You Are
By Scott Gilbertson.
http://www.webmonkey.com/2012/02/webkit-isnt-breaking-the-web-you-are

Unfixed
By Eric A. Meyer.
http://meyerweb.com/eric/thoughts/2012/02/09/unfixed/

The Vendor Prefix Predicament - ALA's Eric Meyer Interviews Tantek Celik
By Eric A. Meyer. 
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/the-vendor-prefix-predicament-alas-eric-meyer-interviews-tantek-celik/

Every Time You Call a Proprietary Feature 'CSS3,' a Kitten Dies
By Lea Verou.
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/every-time-you-call-a-proprietary-feature-css3-a-kitten-dies/


+03: JAVASCRIPT.

A Re-Introduction to JavaScript
By Aaron.Mansheim.
"Why a re-introduction? Because JavaScript has a reasonable claim to being the world's most misunderstood programming language. While often derided as a toy, beneath its deceptive simplicity lie some powerful language features. 2005 saw the launch of a number of high-profile JavaScript applications, showing that deeper knowledge of this technology is an important skill for any web developer..."
https://developer.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript/A_re-introduction_to_JavaScript


+04: MISCELLANEOUS.

20 Things Every Mobile Developer Should Know
By Paulo Fierro.
"Developing for mobile requires specific design considerations. These can vary greatly from what you're used to and it's easy to trip up, so here are a few of the things developer Paulo Fierro would like to have been told long ago..."
http://www.netmagazine.com/features/20-things-every-mobile-developer-should-know

Mobile Sites vs. Apps - The Coming Strategy Shift
By Jakob Nielsen.
"Mobile apps currently have better usability than mobile sites, but forthcoming changes will eventually make a mobile site the superior strategy."
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/mobile-sites-apps.html


+05: NAVIGATION.

Progressive And Responsive Navigation
By Jeremy Hixon.
"Developing for the Web can be a difficult yet rewarding job. Given the number of browsers across the number of platforms, it can sometimes be a bit overwhelming. But if we start coding with a little forethought and apply the principles of progressive enhancement from the beginning and apply some responsive practices at the end, we can easily accommodate for less-capable browsers and reward those with modern browsers in both desktop and mobile environments..."
http://coding.smashingmagazine.com/2012/02/13/progressive-and-responsive-navigation/


06: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES & PATTERNS.

The State of HTML5 Video
By Jeroen Wijering.
"HTML5 has entered the online video market, which is both exciting and challenging for developers in the industry..."
http://uxmag.com/articles/the-state-of-html5-video


+07: USABILITY.

Quick Tips About Text Readability
By John Eric Brandt.
"Keep the following guidelines in mind for displaying text..."
http://jebswebs.net/blog/2012/02/quick-tips-about-text-readability/

Why Are Ugly Websites So Successful?
By Gerry McGovern.
"...In the eyes of many customers, ugly equals authentic and credible. Ugly helps you get the task completed quickly without any fuss or distraction. Ugly is going to give you the details. Ugly is not hiding anything. Ugly does not waste your time on surface images and trivial jargon and hype..."
http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/nt/2012/nt-2012-02-13-Why-ugly.htm

Mobile Users Don't Do That
By Stephanie Rieger.
"The conversation often starts like this...'Mobile users won't want to do that, they're 'on the go' and will be in a hurry or want  a quick distraction.' This is true, except when it's not..."
http://stephanierieger.com/mobile-users-dont-do-that/


+08: XML.

HTML/XML Task Force Report
Norman Walsh, Editor.
"...The Task Force considered several areas of interoperability that arose in these use cases: consuming HTML with XML tools, consuming XML with HTML tools, and embedding islands of one within the other. As described above, there are well understood boundaries within which any solution to each use case can operate. And within those boundaries, there exists today a solution that, while perhaps not wholly satisfactory, sits within those boundaries. No wholly satisfying solution appears possible within the accepted constraints; it would appear that we have already achieved the practical solutions..."
http://www.w3.org/TR/2012/NOTE-html-xml-tf-report-20120209/

XML Error Recovery Community Group
By W3C.
"This group's purpose is the discussion of applying error recovery parsing methods inspired from HTML to XML."
http://www.w3.org/community/xml-er/


[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

Dreamweaver Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/dreamweaver.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

Flash Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/flash.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.]