+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE. - Volume 19, Issue 45, May 5, 2021. An email newsletter to distribute news and information about web design and development. ++ISSUE 45 CONTENTS. SECTION ONE: New references. What's new at the Web Design Reference site? https://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: HTML. 06: JAVASCRIPT. 07: MISCELLANEOUS. 08: NAVIGATION. 09: TOOLS. 10: USABILITY. 11: WEBWASTE & SUSTAINABILITY. SECTION TWO: 12: What Can You Find at the Web Design Reference Site? [Contents ends.] ++ SECTION ONE: New references. +01: ACCESSIBILITY. Making Content Usable for People with Cognitive and Learning Disabilities By Lisa Seeman-Horwitz, Rachael Bradley Montgomery, Steve Lee, and Ruoxi Ran, Editors. "This document is for people who make web content (web pages) and web applications. It gives advice on how to make content usable for people with cognitive and learning disabilities. This includes, but is not limited to: cognitive disabilities, learning disabilities (LD), neurodiversity, intellectual disabilities, and specific learning disabilities…" https://www.w3.org/TR/coga-usable/ WebAIM Million - 2021 Update By Jared Smith. The 2021 WebAIM Million Report is now available. This annual accessibility analysis of the home pages of the top one million web sites provides insight into the current state of and trends for web accessibility…" https://webaim.org/blog/webaim-million-2021/ Auditing Design Systems for Accessibility By Anna E. Cook. "…I will focus on what I believe to be the most pivotal accessibility work that designers can do: creating design systems with baked-in accessibility compliance. In particular, we'll focus on learning how to find accessibility issues in our existing design systems and documenting those issues in a way that makes them actionable for ourselves and our teams…" https://www.deque.com/blog/auditing-design-systems-for-accessibility/ 'Blind People Don't Visit My Website' By Rian Rietveld. "…I asked people without a disability what their biggest frustrations and hurdles are while using the web. And, this should come as no surprise, almost every problem or annoyance also is a common web accessibility issue! In this post I'd like to give you a broader view on web accessibility, who benefits from it and why you should bother… https://a11y-collective.com/blog/blind-people-dont-visit-my-website/ Public Sector Accessibility Regulations - Common Problems and How to Avoid Them By Chris Heathcote. "…We wanted to share some of the common accessibility problems and share some beneficial approaches to help anyone working towards meeting the accessibility standards (WCAG 2.1 AA)…" https://accessibility.blog.gov.uk/2021/04/23/public-sector-accessibility-regulations-common-problems-and-how-to-avoid-them/ Making Great Accessible Mobile Apps By Chris Heathcote. "…We've been talking to teams in the public sector that develop mobile apps to find out what makes a good accessible app…" https://accessibility.blog.gov.uk/2021/05/04/making-great-accessible-mobile-apps/ +02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS. List Markers and String Styles By Eric A. Meyer. "…what's new in the world of list markers. It might not be something you need to do often, but if you ever do, it's good to know that the capabilities in this area have increased, and stand to be even better in the future…" https://css-tricks.com/list-markers-and-string-styles/ fit-content and fit-content() By Peter Paul Koch. "Today we will look at fit-content and fit-content(), which are special values for width and grid definitions. It's … complicated - not as a concept, but in its practical application…" http://www.quirksmode.org/blog/archives/2021/04/fitcontent_and.html Two Options for Using Custom Properties By Peter Paul Koch. "Recently I interviewed Stefan Judis for my upcoming book. We discussed CSS custom properties, and something interesting happened…" http://www.quirksmode.org/blog/archives/2021/05/two_options_for.html Let's Use (X, X, X, X) for Talking About Specificity By Chris Coyier. "…Selectors Level 3 uses dashes briefly. Level 2 used both dashes and commas in different places…" https://css-tricks.com/lets-use-x-x-x-x-for-talking-about-specificity/ +03: EVALUATION & TESTING. Four Types of Potential Survey Errors By Jeff Sauro and Jim Lewis. "When we conduct a survey, we want the truth, even if we can't handle it…" https://measuringu.com/four-types-of-survey-errors/ Keeping Personas and Journeys Engaging and Relevant By Andrew Schall. "…This article describes the common pitfalls associated with these projects and offers practical advice that your team can use to ensure a healthy long life for your personas and journey maps…" https://www.uxbooth.com/articles/keeping-personas-and-journeys-engaging-and-relevant/ Conducting Usability Testing With Blind Users- Research Facilitation Tips By Kayla J Heffernan. "Before facilitating my first research sessions with blind users at Vision Australia, I prepared. In this post I'm going to outline what I did, and dive into some pragmatic tips on running these sessions so you too can be prepared…" https://medium.com/@kaylajheffernan/facilitation-tips-for-research-with-blind-users-acf7dad6554b +04: EVENTS. 2021 National Coding Symposium May 11-14, 2021. Online https://aphconnectcenter.org/coding/ Automated Accessibility Testing May 19, 2021. Online https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_3Ngwjoe2QpiS9IU5zcutqg Festival of Accessibility May 20, 2021. Online https://accessibility-festival.vfairs.com/ Manual Accessibility Testing May 26, 2021. Online https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_p0n9u3yuQFamZOkFvUJZ8w UX Strat USA 2021 September 13-15, 2021. Online and Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A. https://uxstrat.com/usa/ Inclusive Design 24 #ID24 September 16, 2021. Online https://inclusivedesign24.org/2021/ Devopsdays Portland 2021 September 20-21, 2021. Online https://devopsdays.org/events/2021-portland/welcome/ Devopsdays Houston September 21-22, 2021. Online https://devopsdays.org/events/2021-houston/welcome/ Accessibility Twin Cities September MeetUp September 27, 2021. Online https://www.meetup.com/Accessibility-Twin-Cities/events/275607606/ +05: HTML. HTML Developers: Please Consider - in the Year of 2021 By Steve Faulkner. "…By using native HTML features, wherever practical, over custom HTML with bolt-on semantics and interaction behaviours, you will save yourselves and users a lot of grief and ensure that your User Interfaces work robustly across the largest number of devices, operating systems, input devices, browsers and assistive technologies…" https://html5accessibility.com/stuff/2021/05/01/html-developers-please-consider-in-the-year-of-2021/ Surprised that people calling themselves accessibility consultants are unaware that the use of title attribute on #SUX By Steve Faulkner. "…points 'em at 'Short note: The abbreviation appreciation society'…" https://twitter.com/stevefaulkner/status/1314298385025970177 HTML Elements and Accessible Names By Russ Weakley. "The chart below shows a list of HTML elements and the roles and possible accessible names available via Chrome's accessibility tree…" https://russmaxdesign.github.io/html-elements-names/ A Link is a Button is a Link By Andrea Vaghi. "…Hyperlinks don't need an additional role="link". Hyperlinks are focusable by default. Communicate the purpose of a link to all users. Try to avoid excessive DOM sizes…" https://www.htmhell.dev/25-a-link-is-a-button-is-a-link/ The Humble Element and Core Web Vitals By Addy Osmani. "Images have also been a key part of the web. They communicate ideas instantly, but they are also a lot heavier than text to load. This means that it's essential to get loading and displaying them right, if you want to give your users a fantastic first impression. An excerpt from Addy's new book…" https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2021/04/humble-img-element-core-web-vitals/ 30 Days of HTML Day 28: , , srcset, and Sizes By Jen Kramer and Erika Lee. "… and are used for loading different images at different screen dimensions, with the browser loading only the image required so as to not impact site performance. srcset and sizes are used for choosing the image with the appropriate resolution for the device…" https://jen4web.substack.com/p/picture How Do I Draw a Line? (Video) By Heydon Pickering. "…Created for and premiered at Web Directions' Hover conference. Discover all the different ways you can draw lines with the web platform-from horizontal rules all the way to WebGL…" https://briefs.video/videos/how-do-i-draw-a-line/ +06: JAVASCRIPT. You Can Label a JavaScript 'if' Statement By Alex Riviere. "Labels are a feature that have existed since the creation of JavaScript. They aren't new! I don't think all that many people know about them and I'd even argue they are a bit confusing. But, as we'll see, labels can be useful in very specific instances…" https://css-tricks.com/you-can-label-a-javascript-if-statement/ Coding is Breaking Problems Into Tiny Parts By Chris Ferdinandi. "One of the most common challenges I hear from students who are just learning JavaScript is around knowing how to actually build projects from scratch. You can learn a many of the commonly used JS methods and browser APIs and run through a bunch of practice exercises, but how do you take that knowledge and actually apply it to a task?…" https://gomakethings.com/coding-is-breaking-problems-into-tiny-parts/ +07: MISCELLANEOUS. Q&A With Matt May, Head of Inclusive Design, Adobe By Equal Entry. "Matt May is Adobe 's head of inclusive design. His work includes integrating inclusive design practices across every aspect of the Adobe user experience, training and mentoring the Adobe Design team, and advocating principles of accessibility and inclusive design to the public at large…" https://equalentry.com/qa-with-mattmay-headofinclusivedesign-adobe/ Web History Chapter 8: CSS By Jay Hoffmann. "…Meyer unveiled the secret to the success of CSS: 'Never underestimate the effect of a small, select group of passionate experts.' CSS, the open and accessible design language of the Web, thrived not because of the technology itself, but because of people-the people who built it (and built with it) and what they shared as they learned along the way. The history of CSS, Meyer concluded, is the history of the people who made it. Fifteen years after that talk, and nearly three decades after its creation, that is still true…" https://css-tricks.com/chapter-8-css/ +08: NAVIGATION. Skip Links - Accessibility Quick Guide By Paul J Adam. "Skip links allow keyboard and screen reader users to jump directly to the main content of the page and bypass the navigation blocks. Screen reader users may have heading and landmark navigation methods but keyboard tabbing users without a screen reader need a skip link to jump to the main content…" https://pauljadam.com/guides/skip-links.html +09: TOOLS. MIDI Kit As Accessibility Tools-Music to My Ears By Ian Lloyd. "…I've come to realize that these buttons and pads can be quite easily put to other uses in my day-to-day work auditing web sites for accessibility…" https://www.tpgi.com/midi-kit-as-accessibility-tools-music-to-my-ears/ +10: USABILITY. Immersive Content Strategy By Preston So. "…Preston So shows us how to recast our fixed web content in more immersive ways-to create exciting new experiences and prepare our sites for an unpredictable future…" https://alistapart.com/article/immersive-content-strategy/ Lean UX Documentation for Tracking and Communicating in Agile By Anna Kaley. "Succinctly documenting the right details in key places helps Agile teams avoid information overload. When UX documentation is skipped or disorganized, teams waste time trying to find or remember information instead of improving the product." https://www.nngroup.com/articles/lean-agile-documentation/ Collaborating With Stakeholders (Video) By Sarah Gibbons. "An 8-step process for UX designers and researchers to collaborate better with their stakeholders, for increased collaboration, to help stakeholders meet their goals, and to ensure the impact of your work." https://www.nngroup.com/videos/collaborating-stakeholders/ First Rule of Usability? Don't Listen to Users (2001, a classic) By Jakob Nielsen. "To design the best UX, pay attention to what users do, not what they say. Self-reported claims are unreliable, as are user speculations about future behavior. Users do not know what they want." https://www.nngroup.com/articles/first-rule-of-usability-dont-listen-to-users/ +11: WEBWASTE & SUSTAINABILITY. Launch and Leave Culture Created Climate Crisis By Gerry McGovern. "…To say yes to the planet, we must say no to code, no to content, no to the stuff that is not necessary. Remove waste, whether you find it in the unoptimized image, the bloated text, the bloated CSS or JavaScript. Editors are good for the climate." https://gerrymcgovern.com/launch-and-leave-culture-created-climate-crisis/ [Section one ends.] ++ SECTION TWO: +12: What Can You Find at the Web Design Reference Site? Accessibility Information. https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/accessibility.html Association Information. https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/associations.html Book Listings. https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/books.html Cascading Style Sheets Information. https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/css.html Color Information. https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/color.html Drupal Information. https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/drupal.html Evaluation & Testing Information. https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/testing.html Event Information. https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/events.html HTML Information. https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/html.html Information Architecture Information. https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/architecture.html JavaScript Information. https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/javascript.html Miscellaneous Web Information. https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/misc.html Navigation Information. https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/navigation.html PHP Information. https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/php.html Sites & Blogs Listing. https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/sites.html Standards, Guidelines & Pattern Information. https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/standards.html Tool Information. https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/tools.html Typography Information. https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/type.html Usability Information. https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/usability.html WebWaste & Sustainability Information. https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/webwaste.html XML Information. https://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: https://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.]