+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE. - Volume 20, Issue 44, April 27, 2022. An email newsletter to distribute news and information about web design and development. ++ISSUE 44 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: MISCELLANEOUS. 07: NAVIGATION. 08: TYPOGRAPHY. 09: USABILITY 10: WEBWASTE & SUSTAINABILITY. SECTION TWO: 11: What Can You Find at the Web Design Reference Site? [Contents ends.] ++ SECTION ONE: New references. +01: ACCESSIBILITY. Accessibility is a Right, Not a Privilege By Gregory J. Rosmaita. "It is a human & a civil right. The next time - & every time - you upload an image to Twitter, upload > EDIT > ALT > type > SAVE > tweet That's it. A small effort that reaps enormous benefit." https://twitter.com/oedipusnj/status/1516850161615482883 Alternative Text (alt text) By Whitney Lewis. "Missing alternative text is a common accessibility error, so let's learn…" https://blog.pope.tech/2022/04/05/alternative-text-alt-text/ Ensure Third Party Content is Accessible By Ricky Onsman. "…Content is content and must be made accessible. While the WCAG guidance notes that third party content may be 'legitimately outside the author's control', it still must conform to all WCAG success criteria…" https://www.tpgi.com/ensure-third-party-content-is-accessible/ Beyond WCAG: Losing Spoons Online By LE Silveus McNamara. "…If you must use these features, use them sparingly. Try offering 'Off' buttons and 'Pause' switches, let users opt into interactions rather than starting them automatically, offer alternate color palettes, and follow WCAG standards for motion and flashing content. And most importantly, include people who are neurodivergent as well as people of other disability and diversity demographics in your user research and testing…" https://www.tpgi.com/beyond-wcag-losing-spoons-online/ 8 Ways to Make Website Accessibility Easier (and Less Expensive) By Bureau of Internet Accessibility. "…6. Keep your content as simple as possible…When in doubt, stick with simple layouts and basic HTML. By cutting out unnecessarily complex elements, you can limit the time you spend remediating accessibility issues - and for most websites, simpler content means a better user experience…" https://www.boia.org/blog/8-ways-to-make-website-accessibility-easier-and-less-expensive Regaining Your Accessibility Spark By Sheri Byrne-Haber. "All jobs have up and down cycles. Try these steps to get back on the upswing when you are on a down cycle in your accessibility journey…" https://sheribyrnehaber.medium.com/regaining-your-accessibility-spark-a182eee9e8e6 Accessibility of Financial Capability Material = Massive, Reliable Returns! By Jennie Delis. "…When making financial education material accessible, considerations include: Communication of math concepts; Creating visuals that communicate data; Creation of worksheets; Online calculators, games, and other interactions to promote learning. This month we cover accessibility resources specific to this topic…" https://mn.gov/mnit/media/blog/?id=38-525517 Brief Note on Buttons, Enter, and Space By Adrian Roselli. "Keyboard interaction note for just one control from the entire panoply of HTML controls…" https://adrianroselli.com/2022/04/brief-note-on-buttons-enter-and-space.html 6 Reasons to Avoid Using Web Accessibility Overlays By University of Minnesota. "Accessibility overlays are plug-in tools or widgets that claim to detect and 'repair' accessibility problems directly on websites and web apps in real-time…" https://university-relations.umn.edu/blog/2022/04/18/6-reasons-avoid-using-web-accessibility-overlays The Current State of Automatic Speech Recognition: A Report By Elisa Lewis. "…Our research found that the accuracy of the technology has improved measurably since the company's last report, published in January of 2021…" https://www.3playmedia.com/blog/the-state-of-automatic-speech-recognition/ Digital Inclusion: The New Normal, John Slatin AccessU 2022 Conference Returns May 9-12, 2022 By Deborah Edwards-Oñoro. "Molly Holzschlag, Catarina Rivera, Karl Groves, and Meryl Evans are among the many professionals speaking at the 19th edition of the John Slatin AccessU 2022 conference May 9-12, 2022…" https://www.lireo.com/digital-inclusion-the-new-normal-john-slatin-accessu-2022-conference-returns-may-9-12-2022/ Early Win for Deaf Plaintiff in VR Captioning Lawsuit By Lainey Feingold. "In 2020, lawyers for Dylan Panarra, a deaf man, filed a cutting edge lawsuit against the HTC corporation, one of the biggest electronics companies in the world…" https://www.lflegal.com/2022/04/vr-caption-lawsuit/ Do Internet-Only Businesses Come Under the Americans With Disabilities Act? By Sheri Byrne-Haber. "In theory, absolutely. But it's taking federal courts a while to get there. Meanwhile, Web3 is coming, and blockchain is already here…" https://sheribyrnehaber.medium.com/do-internet-only-businesses-come-under-the-americans-with-disabilities-act-c4cec73d38f3 +02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS. CSS Toggles Explainer and Proposal By Miriam Suzanne and Tab Atkins Jr. "…We propose generalizing the pattern so that it can be applied to any element using a declarative syntax in CSS, with built-in accessibility and performance…" https://css.oddbird.net/toggles/explainer/ +03: EVALUATION & TESTING. Use Your Plain Language Skills to Improve Your Survey By Caroline Jarrett. "Plain language skills are vital for surveys…" https://www.effortmark.co.uk/use-your-plain-language-skills-to-improve-your-survey/ Difficult-Easy or Easy-Difficult-Does It Matter? By Jeff Sauro and Jim Lewis. "…What we found, however, was that the differences in SEQ format did not significantly or consistently affect SEQ means overall or when analyzed by task difficulty for either within- or between-subjects analyses…" https://measuringu.com/reversing-seq-endpoints-means/ +04: EVENTS. A11y Paris 2022 May 11, 2022. Paris, France. https://www.a11yparis.org/ A11y Bytes 2022 May 19, 2022. Online https://a11ybytes.org/bytes-2022/ A Webinar of Anxiety: developments in accessibility for people with anxiety and panic disorders May 24-25, 2022. Online https://www.tpgi.com/webinar-may-24-at-12pm-et-a-webinar-of-anxiety-developments-in-accessibility-for-people-with-anxiety-and-panic-disorders/ Structured Content Conference May 24-25, 2022. Online and in person (San Francisco, London, Oslo) https://structuredcontent.live/ ASSETS 2022 October 23-26, 2022. Athens, Greece https://assets22.sigaccess.org/ M-Enabling Summit October 24-26, 2022. Washington, D.C., U.S.A. https://m-enabling.com/ EDUCAUSE Annual Conference October 25-28, 2022. Denver, Colorado, U.S.A. https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference +05: HTML. Plain Old Semantic HTML: A Perfect Basis for Accessibility By Bureau of Internet Accessibility. "To create web content that works for as many users as possible, websites need structure…" https://www.boia.org/blog/plain-old-semantic-html-a-perfect-basis-for-accessibility Web Components as Progressive Enhancement By Paul Hebert. "Web components are a powerful tool for creating custom HTML elements, but you can run into challenges if you try to replace existing elements with web components. To get the best of both worlds, try wrapping existing elements in web components instead…" https://cloudfour.com/thinks/web-components-as-progressive-enhancement/ +06: MISCELLANEOUS. Ableism has a Massive Impact By Nicolas Steenhout. "Do you know how much ableism impacts your workforce? If you are disabled, you probably know that the impact is significant. If you aren't disabled, you probably don't realize. The fact is, if you take the time to listen to disabled employees' experiences, you'll realize the prevalence of ableism. And the fact it can have significant impacts…" https://incl.ca/ableism-has-a-massive-impact/ The W3C is at a Crossroads for the Web and Itself, with MIT Exiting as Admin and Disarray On All Fronts By James Hercher. "The problem is too important not to be fixed, so nobody's panicking and everybody expects things to work out. But there is no actual solution in sight…" https://www.adexchanger.com/online-advertising/the-w3c-is-at-a-crossroads-for-the-web-and-itself-with-mit-exiting-as-admin-and-disarray-on-all-fronts/ +07: NAVIGATION. Designing Better Navigation With Navigation Queries By Vitaly Friedman. "In this series of articles, we highlight design patterns and techniques to design better interfaces. You can find more examples in 'Smart Interface Design Patterns', a 6h-video course with 100s of hand-picked examples, curated by Vitaly…" https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2022/04/designing-better-navigation-ux-queries/ +08: TYPOGRAPHY. Best Font for Online Reading: No Single Answer By Jakob Nielsen. "Summary: "Among high-legibility fonts, a study found 35% difference in reading speeds between the best and the worst. People read 11% slower for every 20 years they age." https://www.nngroup.com/articles/best-font-for-online-reading/ Accessible Typefaces, Fonts, and Text | Accessibility NYC Meetup Recap (Video) By Jared Smith. "Most of our time online is typically spent reading text, yet we don't often consider how accessible that text is…" https://equalentry.com/accessible-typefaces-fonts-text-accessibility-nyc-recap/ Childish Font Sizes By Tyler Sticka. "…18 or 20 pixels might feel pretty large at first glance when we're so used to squinting at 16 or less, but the data is clear and the readability benefits are immediate…" https://cloudfour.com/thinks/childish-font-sizes/ Changing the Face of the Web: W3C Web Fonts Working Group and MPEG recognized with a Technology & Engineering Emmy® Award By W3C. "Today the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Fonts Working Group and MPEG together received a 2021 Technology & Engineering Emmy® Award for standardizing font technology for custom downloadable fonts and typography for web and TV devices…" https://www.w3.org/2022/04/pressrelease-woff-emmyaward.html.en Fonts for the Web: Rationale, 1996 W3C Group Note 14 April 2022 "This is a requirements document dating to 1996, created at the start of work on Web Fonts at W3C by the Web Fonts Working Group, which is now being published as a matter of historical record…" https://www.w3.org/TR/2022/NOTE-font-rationale-20220414/ +09: USABILITY. Keep it Simple (UX Slogan #2) (Video) By Jakob Nielsen. "The road to usability is paved with temptations to complicate the design with extra features and options, but resisting featuritis is the best prescription for a good user experience…" https://www.nngroup.com/videos/keep-it-simple-ux-slogan-2/ How Businesses Can Keep Their Web Designs Relevant and Appealing in 2022 By Cindy Williams. "…In this article, I'll consider four success factors that can help you to integrate the customer-experience perspective into your Web-site design right from the beginning of your transformation effort…" https://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2022/04/how-businesses-can-keep-their-web-designs-relevant-and-appealing-in-2022.php 9 Useful Principles of UX Design By Isaias Lijauco. "…People don't like it when someone or something makes them feel dumb. Unfortunately, this fact seems to be lost on many Web designers, who embellish Web sites with overwhelming decor, overly complicated wording, and hard-to-use buttons. In combination, such issues can put off your target audience, increasing your site's bounce rates and damaging your brand's user experience. Don't follow their example and face the same consequences! Keep your UX design as simple as you can. Then people find your brand more approachable and easy to recommend to their friends." https://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2022/04/9-useful-principles-of-ux-design.php +10: WEBWASTE & SUSTAINABILITY. Standardising Website Carbon Calculations on Earth Day 2022 By Tom Greenwood. "…For version 3, we therefore decided to partner with industry leaders to collaborate on a standardised public methodology…" https://www.wholegraindigital.com/blog/website-carbon-calculations-v3/ Sustainability Recommendations Interest/Working Group By Tim Frick. "A few members of this group recently met with W3C to discuss creating sustainable web design recommendations, perhaps similar to the WAI's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) or perhaps something new entirely. For many of us who have worked in web/digital sustainability for some time, this seems like a natural next step…" https://www.w3.org/community/sustyweb/2022/04/19/sustainability-recommendations-working-group/ [Section one ends.] ++ SECTION TWO: +11: 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.]