+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 22, Issue 10, August 29, 2023.

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

++ISSUE 10 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: SITES AND BLOGS.
09: TOOLS.
10: USABILITY.
11: WEBWASTE & SUSTAINABILITY.
12: XML.

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

[Contents ends.]


++ SECTION ONE: New references.

+01: ACCESSIBILITY.

What Is Alt Text and How to Write It
By The Paciello Group Interactive (TPGi).
"…In this post, we'll show you how to add alt text to your HTML or within your content management system (CMS) that improves accessibility and user experience for all, while also providing tips on how to thoughtfully address SEO considerations. This includes a how-to write alt text guide and good alt text examples…"
https://www.tpgi.com/what-is-alt-text-and-how-to-write-it/

How I Write Alt Text for Code Snippets on Social Media
By Ben Myers.
"…What's the best alt text to provide? Should the alt text just be a copy of the full code? As we'll see, my answer is the classic accessibility mantra: It Depends…"
https://benmyers.dev/blog/code-snippet-alt-text/

Where to Put Focus When Deleting a Thing
By Adrian Roselli.
"When deleting something you should generally move focus to the prior equivalent control or its grouping container…"
https://adrianroselli.com/2023/08/where-to-put-focus-when-deleting-a-thing.html

How to Get 12% More LinkedIn Followers, Impressions, and Clicks!
By Jennie Delisi.
"…This article will give you the scoop on what you need to know when preparing:
* Posts.
* Profile and company pages.
* Articles on LinkedIn…"
https://mn.gov/mnit/media/blog/?id=38-587745

Playbook for Universal Design
By DTU Skylab.
"Supporting the development of inclusive innovations…"
https://universaldesignguide.com/

Progress Over Perfection: Advice for Sustainable Digital Accessibility (with Meryl K. Evans and Karl Groves)
By Level Access.
"…To better understand the steps teams can take to implement a manageable, impactful accessibility practice, our Chief Innovation Officer Karl Groves spoke with Meryl Evans, a professional speaker, trainer, consultant, and author who specializes in accessibility and inclusion…"
https://www.levelaccess.com/blog/progress-over-perfection-advice-for-sustainable-digital-accessibility/

The Accessibility Guidelines Working Group received several objections as part of the final step in publication of WCAG 2.2. 
By Rachael Bradley Montgomery.
We are working to resolve these as quickly as possible and hope to know more about timing later this week or early next week. We will post an update when we know more.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/rachael-bradley-montgomery-ph-d-6847144_accessibility-a11y-activity-7101930103248457729-eaCB

Critical Accessibility Theory (Video)
By Crystal Preston-Watson.
"…This session will delve into Critical Accessibility Theory, presenting its four core principles and demonstrating how this knowledge can drive companies, organizations, and practitioners towards developing truly accessible technology for individuals with disabilities…"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qCw3V3xl9k

A Historical Review of Web Accessibility Using WAVE (PDF)
By Pooja Naresh Bhatia.
"…Over the course of the past ten years, there has been
evidence that indicates that there has been an improvement in the accessibility of websites.
However, more effort is still required to reduce the number of WCAG violations found on a
webpage…"
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6gv246h5

What is a VPAT? How to Complete VPATs Effectively?
By Kris Rivenburgh.
"…This guide will instruct you on how to best fill-in and successfully complete the VPAT…"
https://www.digitala11y.com/what-is-a-vpat-how-to-complete-vpats-effectively/

Five Reasons to Get Excited About Governmentwide Section 508 Assessment Criteria
By Michael Gifford.
"…I believe it is worth highlighting the key reasons these questions are valuable in measuring government progress towards its ADA goals. There are a lot of questions, so I will be breaking this into two articles, the first focused on people and process…"
https://federalnewsnetwork.com/commentary/2023/08/five-reasons-to-get-excited-about-governmentwide-section-508-assessment-criteria/

W3C Accessibility Maturity Model
Sheri Byrne-Haber, David Fazio, Charles LaPierre, and Janina Sajka, editors.
"The W3C Accessibility Maturity Model Task Force has published an update."
https://www.w3.org/TR/maturity-model/

Navigating Web Accessibility Litigation: Advice from a General Counsel
By Level Access.
"…To better understand how general counsel can navigate web accessibility litigation effectively and mitigate future risk, our Chief Innovation Officer Karl Groves spoke with Vince Castiglione, an in-house attorney with consumer products companies since 2006…"
https://www.levelaccess.com/blog/navigating-web-accessibility-litigation-advice-from-a-general-counsel/


+02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.

A Guide to Designing Accessible, WCAG-Compliant Focus Indicators
By Sara Soueidan.
Sara published a new/updated version of the accessible focus indicators article.
https://www.sarasoueidan.com/blog/focus-indicators/

A Quick Introduction to CSS @scope
By Bramus Van Damme.
"Have you heard about #CSS @scope? It's an upcoming way to scope the reach of your CSS selectors, allowing you to move away from methodologies such as BEM because you no longer need to name those in-between elements…"
https://www.bram.us/2023/08/22/a-quick-introduction-to-css-scope/


+03: EVALUATION & TESTING.

Online User Reviews: A Treasure Trove of UX Research?
By Wonil Hwang.
"When we go to unfamiliar places and need to choose hotels or restaurants, or when we want to purchase new products that we haven't experienced before, we often refer to online user reviews…"
https://uxpajournal.org/online-reviews-ux-research/

Unlocking User Insights: Choosing the Right Prototype for Usability Testing
By Nomensa.
"…Choosing the right prototype is essential in the design process, allowing designers to refine their ideas and collect valuable feedback early on. With various prototyping options, tools and software at their disposal, designers need to align their research goals with the prototyping approach to fully leverage its benefits…"
https://www.nomensa.com/blog/choosing-the-right-prototype-for-usability-testing/

Efficiently Engaging: Toward an Expansive View of Time on Task
By Lawrence H. Williams.
"When it comes to website engagement, the metric time on task is often perceived as being negatively correlated with success factors like the likelihood of purchase and satisfaction…"
https://uxpajournal.org/engagement-time-on-task/

Level Up Your Focus Groups (Video)
By Therese Fessenden.
"To avoid common issues with focus groups, consider using these strategies to maximize participation and minimize the potential for bias."
https://www.nngroup.com/videos/level-up-focus-groups/


+04: EVENTS.

WCAG 2.2 - An Overview of the New Accessibility Guidelines
September 7, 2023.
Online
https://accessibility.deque.com/wcag-2.2-an-overview-of-the-new-accessibility-guidelines

Case Study: Creating Accessible Cultural Experiences
September 12, 2023.
Online
https://www.tpgi.com/webinar-september-12-at-12pm-et-case-study-creating-accessible-cultural-experiences/

Graphic Design for Accessibility
September 15, 2023.
Online
https://uwmadison.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0oce2pqTotGtGNIWKl-vCf4VrsacEN24V-#/registration

The Accessible Forms Checklist
September 19, 2023.
Online
https://www.tpgi.com/webinar-september-19-at-1230pm-et-the-accessible-forms-checklist/

Maps for All - Building Accessible Maps
September 26, 2023.
Online
https://accessibilityonline.org/cioc-508/session/?id=111071


+05: HTML.

Main-ly Speaking 
By Todd Libby.
"…Why are devs not using <main> more often?…"
https://dev.to/colabottles/main-ly-speaking-39np


+06: MISCELLANEOUS.

WebGlossary.info
By Jens Oliver Meiert.
"The Web Development Glossary (new edition just out) is now also available as a website-WebGlossary.info…"
https://meiert.com/en/blog/web-glossary/

EDUCAUSE QuickPoll Results: Risks and Opportunities in Higher Education Accessibility
By Mark McCormack.
"…This QuickPoll report looks at the challenges and opportunities of technology accessibility in higher education, with the hope of offering higher education decision makers and practitioners actionable insights for improving their work in this area…"
https://er.educause.edu/articles/2023/8/educause-quickpoll-results-risks-and-opportunities-in-higher-education-accessibility

A More Intelligent and Secure Web (Video)
By Philippe Le Hegaret.
"During the Web Technology Forum…in June 2023, Philippe Le Hegaret gave a talk introducing the Web standardization works on Web Neural Network, Machine Learning, Security, Private Advertising, Incremental font transfer, WebRTC, WebAssembly, WebGPU, WebTransport, WebCodecs, WCG, HDR, DID/VC, WCAG, etc…"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNFpgT8ZRqQ


+07: NAVIGATION.

Enhancing Accessibility: Link Text Best Practices
By Level Access.
"In this post, we'll explore the benefits of accessible link text for both website owners and users, and provide practical tips for writing it effectively…"
https://www.levelaccess.com/blog/enhancing-accessibility-link-text-best-practices/

The Dos & Don'ts for Styling Hyperlinks
By Eric Karkovack. 
"…Here are some tips for making them beautiful and keeping them usable…"
https://speckyboy.com/styling-hyperlinks/


+08: SITES AND BLOGS.

A11y Cat
By Amin Aminis.
"A11y Cat is a collection of accessibility links for professionals who work with digital accessibility…"
https://www.a11ycat.net/


+09: TOOLS.

Quick and Very Dirty Target Size Checker
By Steve Faulkner.
"WCAG 2.2 is almost upon us, many of us have started testing the new Success Criteria for paying clients. I wanted to find a way to speed up the testing of 2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum). What I produced with the help of ChatGPT is a quick and very dirty target size bookmarklet…"
https://html5accessibility.com/stuff/2023/08/28/quick-and-very-dirty-target-size-checker/


+10: USABILITY.

Designing User Interface Toggles for Usability
By Alyaa Al-Jasim, Prof Pietro Murano.
"…We present a series of toggle design guidelines based on the results that, if followed by designers and developers, will help to produce more usable UIs for better user experiences…"
https://uxpajournal.org/design-user-interface-toggles-usability/

Web UX: Study Guide
By Huei-Hsin Wang. 
"Unsure where to start? Use this collection of links to our articles and videos to learn how users interact with the web and how to design effective web user experiences."
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/web-ux-study-guide/

Dark Mode: How Users Think About It and Issues to Avoid
By Tanner Kohler and Amy Zhang. 
"Dark mode is popular, but not essential. Users like dark mode but maintain similar behaviors without it. They think about it at the system level, not the application level. If you choose to support dark mode, test your design to avoid common dark-mode issues."
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/dark-mode-users-issues/

Visual Design Hacks for the Non-designer (Video)
By Kelley Gordon.
"Make your work look visually compelling by using these visual-design hacks: preexisting color palettes, cohesive icons, and grids for alignment."
https://www.nngroup.com/videos/visual-design-hacks/


+11: WEBWASTE & SUSTAINABILITY.

Blog Posts on Disability and Climate Change Miss the Mark
By Karen Costa.
"Instead of engaging in ableism and "terror teaching," we should focus on helping all students engage in climate action…"
https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/letters/2023/08/20/blog-posts-disability-and-climate-change-miss-mark

GOV.UK One Login: Building a Green Digital Service
By Natalie Jones.
"I wanted to update you on an aspect of our work in GOV.UK One Login that we haven't really talked about before, our drive to make it one of the most sustainable government digital services in operation…"
https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2023/08/22/gov-uk-one-login-building-a-green-digital-service/


+11: XML.

Please Size Your Inline SVGs
By Aaron Gustafson.
"While it is a bit of an edge case, every now and then I'll hit a site-yes, even a high profile one-and the CSS will fail to load for some reason. When this happens, inevitably every inline SVG resource on the page will grow to fill the entire width of my viewport, making for a really awkward experience…"
https://www.aaron-gustafson.com/notebook/please-size-your-inline-svgs/

[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.

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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:
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+ 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.]