+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE. - Volume 25, Issue, June 3, 2025. An email newsletter to distribute news and information about web design and development. ++ISSUE 49 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: TYPOGRAPHY 11: USABILITY. 12: WEBWASTE & SUSTAINABILITY. SECTION TWO: 13: What Can You Find at the Web Design Reference Site? [Contents ends.] ++ SECTION ONE: New references. +01: ACCESSIBILITY. Quick Tip: Context is Key By Nat Tarnoff. "…take everything in context! We test on a per page basis. If a control makes sense in the context of the page without further information, you're good to go…" https://tarnoff.info/2025/05/27/quick-tip-context-is-key/ A11y 101: 1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus By Nat Tarnoff. "I'll be honest, I often question if I'm evaluating this one right. Let's look at what the text of 1.4.13…" https://tarnoff.info/2025/06/02/a11y-101-1-4-13-content-on-hover-or-focus/ Testing Methods: Prerecorded Media Alternative By Dennis Deacon. "WCAG 1.2.8 Media Alternative (Prerecorded) is a Level AAA conformance level Success Criterion. It states that an alternative for time-based media is provided for all prerecorded synchronized media and for all prerecorded video-only media…" https://www.dennisdeacon.com/web/accessibility/testing-methods-prerecorded-media-alternative/ Create Accessible Google Docs (Video) By Amy Drayer, Khaled Musa, and Luke Kudryashov. "In this presentation, Amy will go over the ins and outs of how to create accessible Google Docs that are usable by everyone. Khaled will provide a demonstration on using Google Docs with a screen reader, and what navigating an inaccessible document is like for screen reader users." https://mediaspace.umn.edu/media/t/1_36k2w1bq The Discomfort of Describing Persons in Alt Text (Video) By Elizabeth J. Pyatt. "This session will review strategies for determining which qualities of a image of person should be described in image alt text. The session will also explore how cultural preconceptions may make this task a challenge, even an uncomfortable one, but an important one for helping users understand the context of what the image conveys." https://mediaspace.umn.edu/media/t/1_544og2vi Make Your Surveys Easier to Manage for Users By Funka. "…The results showed that surveys created with the most common tools can be difficult to use and understand. Many tools do not fulfil legal requirements for digital accessibility, but unclear questions, poor structure and difficult-to-navigate design solutions also create barriers, causing some users to drop out of the survey midway through…" https://stiftelsenfunka.org/what-we-do/ongoing-projects/new-project-examines-accessibility-in-surveys/make-your-surveys-easier-to-manage-for-users/ The Future of Accessibility (Video) By Karl Groves. Karl's AccessU 2025 Keynote presentation. "AI is everywhere. Soon it will be everywhere-er. Currently, there is a lot of hype about what AI can do (or not) and what the potential harms may be. Using information gleaned from current AI research, this presentation will discuss the ways that AI will impact accessibility within our lifetimes…" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mkXxtHuqIM Comparing Local LLMs for Alt-Text Generation, Round 2 By Dries Buytaert. "…the quality is not yet at the level where I would trust these models to generate thousands of alt-texts without human review…" https://dri.es/comparing-local-llms-for-alt-text-generation-round-2 Enhancing Accessibility of Thematic Web Maps for Visually Impaired Users By Samuel Manu, Dirk Burghardt, and Eva Hautha. "…This study examined ways to make thematic web maps accessible by reviewing scientific literature on web accessibility, analysing accessibility features within popular web mapping libraries, and assessing WCAG guideline applicability to thematic maps…" https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42489-025-00189-x Best Examples of EAA Compliant Websites in 2025 By Melwyn Joseph. "With the European Accessibility Act deadline approaching, a lot of teams are scrambling to get their sites up to standard. To help, we've put together a list of the best EAA compliant websites we could find -the ones that actually get it right, both in spirit and in execution…" https://www.webyes.com/blogs/best-eaa-compliant-websites/ Is the DOJ Web Accessibility Rule in Danger? By Ken Nakata. "…On May 12, 2025, the American Council on Education (on behalf of a ton of other educational associations, including EDUCAUSE) asked the Trump Administration to pause implementation of the Department of Justice's ADA Title II Web Accessibility regulation…" https://convergeaccessibility.com/2025/06/02/doj-web-accessibility-rule-in-danger/ Legal Update: May 2025 By Ken Nakata. "Unlike last month, there is hardly anything happening this month in terms of web accessibility legal developments. But be sure to see my other post from the same day, however, about some disturbing patterns elsewhere and an important call to action…" https://convergeaccessibility.com/2025/06/02/legal-update-may-2025/ +02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS. What We Know (So Far) About CSS Reading Order By Daniel Schwarz. "The reading-flow and reading-order proposed CSS properties are designed to specify the source order of HTML elements in the DOM tree, or in simpler terms, how accessibility tools deduce the order of elements. You'd use them to make the focus order of focusable elements match the visual order, as outlined in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.2)…" https://css-tricks.com/what-we-know-so-far-about-css-reading-order/ +03: EVALUATION & TESTING. Likert Scales 101 (Video) By Maddie Brown. "Likert scales measure user opinions by asking participants to rate statements. They capture nuanced feedback but can face biases. To improve accuracy, use clear questions and techniques to reduce bias." https://www.nngroup.com/videos/likert-scales-101/ Data Vs. Findings Vs. Insights In UX By Vitaly Friedman. "What's the difference between data, findings, and UX insights? And how do you argue for statistical significance in your UX research? Let's unpack it…" https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2025/05/data-vs-findings-vs-insights-ux/ +04: EVENTS. How to Create Accessible Videos? (Digital Accessibility Webinar) June 11, 2025. Online https://accessingenuity.com/pages/webinar/how-to-create-accessible-videos-digital-accessibility-webinar Part 1: Creating Accessible Microsoft Word Files - Headings, Tables, Lists, Styles, and Structure June 11, 2025. Online https://accessingenuity.com/pages/webinar/part-1-creating-accessible-microsoft-word-files-headings-tables-lists-styles-and-structure-digital-accessibility-webinar No Barriers, Just Bar Charts: Chart Accessibility Made Easy June 13, 2025. Online https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_I1DCAPRwQ0KMBN5FG3NfnQ Accessibility Symposium 2.0 June 17, 18, 19, 2025. Online https://ocul.on.ca/accessibility-symposium CU Boulder DAO Digital Content Accessibility Training June 17, 2025 Online https://cuboulder.zoom.us/meeting/register/ITBgAyF1RtCPosLRzZxeCA#/registration Web Accessibility in Mind Conference September 16-17, 2025. Online https://conference.webaim.org/ +05: HTML. The col Element By Heydon Pickering. "There are some elements that, well, if you're reaching to use them, you're probably about to make a mistake…" https://heydonworks.com/article/the-col-element/ +06: JAVASCRIPT. Up and Coming ARIA By John Northup. "In this article, we'll look at some of the 'up and coming' ARIA features-some already supported, some just getting started, and some you might not have heard of…" https://webaim.org/blog/up-and-coming-aria/ +07: MISCELLANEOUS. What's New in Web (Video) By Rachel Andrew. "Building on the rapid evolution of web features, we'll explore the speed at which features are progressing, from initial launch in Chrome to Baseline newly available, how developers can keep track of this, and the relationship to Interop 2025. Discover the tools for tracking these advancements and understand their connection to Interop 2025 to make sure your projects are future-proof…" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beYbnNT_02U&t=1452s Ladybird: That Rare Breed of Browser Based on Web Standards By David Eastman. "Ladybird is a new open source browser. It's still in dev mode, but hints at a future where websites won't continue to ignore web standards…" https://thenewstack.io/ladybird-that-rare-breed-of-browser-based-on-web-standards/ Privacy Principles Robin Berjon and Jeffrey Yasskin, editors. "W3C Statement 15 May 2025…Privacy is an essential part of the web. This document provides definitions for privacy and related concepts that are applicable worldwide as well as a set of privacy principles that should guide the development of the web as a trustworthy platform. People using the web would benefit from a stronger relationship between technology and policy, and this document is written to work with both…" https://www.w3.org/TR/2025/STMT-privacy-principles-20250515/ Privacy (Video) By Tara Whalen. "At the April 2025 W3C Member meeting, Tara shared a progress update on the Privacy and Advertising Working Groups, launched in late 2024. The groups are working to develop standards that enhance web privacy and promote ethical advertising. Key work includes the Global Privacy Control signal, updates on browser fingerprinting, privacy-preserving ad measurement, and a review of updated W3C privacy principles." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxOKYBnqqXc +08: NAVIGATION. The Landing Zone By Jeremy Keith. "…Next time you're discussing the design of a web page-whether it's with a colleague or a client-try talking about the landing zone." https://adactio.com/journal/21923 +09: TOOLS. Introducing: Webbed Sites (Video) By Heydon Pickering. "Everything you need to build and publish your website without having to write a single line of code. Just paste your existing design into your Webbed Sites account. And from there, your state-of-the-art AI assistant Martin takes over…" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wqnc2U9Fyc +10: TYPOGRAPHY. Pope Francis' Tomb: A Type Tragedy By Oliver Schöndorfer. "…The issue here is that the type is spaced so poorly - clearly without any typographic understanding…The principle is simple: balance the space inside each letterform with the space between the letters themselves…" https://pimpmytype.com/pope-francis/ +11: USABILITY. The Template Trap: How Template Culture Is Dumbing Down UX By Sarah Gibbons and Claire Jen. "Over-reliance on frameworks as universal solutions rather than adaptable starting points undermines critical thinking and threatens our field's intellectual rigor." https://www.nngroup.com/articles/template-trap/ +12: WEBWASTE & SUSTAINABILITY. Web Sustainability Guidelines (WSG) at a Glance Alexander Dawson, Editor. "This page provides a paraphrased summary of the Web Sustainability Guidelines (WSG). For the normative technical specification, see https://w3c.github.io/sustainableweb-wsg/. It aims to be a helpful entry point for individuals and stakeholders who have an interest in digital sustainability and the work undertaken by the Sustainable Web Interest Group…" https://w3c.github.io/sustainableweb-wsg/glance.html Sustainability and Regulations (Video) By Sandrine Elmi Hersi. "At the April 2025 W3C member meeting, Sandrine outlined European and French efforts to reduce the environmental impact of digital technologies. To help promote eco-design and global cooperation, Arcep published a 2024 framework with 78 best practices to make digital services, devices, networks, and AI together for lasting digital sustainability…" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hproz6GcRoA [Section one ends.] ++ SECTION TWO: +13: 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.]