[webdev] Web Design Update: December 27, 2014

Laura Carlson lcarlson at d.umn.edu
Sat Dec 27 10:14:11 CST 2014


+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 13, Issue 26, December 27, 2014.

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

++ISSUE 26 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: COLOR.
04: DRUPAL.
05: EVALUATION & TESTING.
06: EVENTS.
07: HTML5.
08: JAVASCRIPT.
09: MISCELLANEOUS.
10: NAVIGATION.
11: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES & PATTERNS.
12: TOOLS.
13: TYPOGRAPHY.
14: USABILITY.

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

[Contents ends.]


++ SECTION ONE: New references.

+01: ACCESSIBILITY.

Using aria-describedby to Provide Helpful Form Hints
By Leonie Watson.
"When a form field has a label, screen readers will announce it
automatically when focus moves to the field. If additional information
is available to help people complete the task, it's also a good idea
to associate it with the field in question."
http://www.paciellogroup.com/blog/2014/12/using-aria-describedby-to-provide-helpful-form-hints/

Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools List
By W3C Web Accessibility Initiative.
"Web accessibility evaluation tools are software programs or online
services that help you determine if web content meets accessibility
guidelines. This page provides a list of evaluation tools that you can
filter to find ones that match your particular needs..."
http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/tools/

Digital Accessibility Legal Update (December 2014)
By Law Office of Lainey Feingold.
"This post is part of an occasional series about recent legal
developments impacting technology and information access for people
with disabilities. The series is illustrated by a toolbox - because
law has proven an effective tool in improving the accessibility and
usability of digital content, print information and technology for
everyone. There are many ways to use the law, reflected by the many
tools in the toolbox..."
http://lflegal.com/2014/12/legal-update-1214/

The Next Frontier in ADA Litigation - Website and App Access for the Disabled
By Joe Liburt, Tim Long, Jill Rosenberg.
"What many retailers might not be aware of is the growing risk of
litigation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and
derivative state laws arising from websites or mobile apps that
allegedly discriminate against disabled individuals..."
http://www.accessibilitynewsinternational.com/the-next-frontier-in-ada-litigation-website-and-app-access-for-the-disabled/

Don't Tweet Pictures of Text
By Adrian Roselli.
"...Christian covered a few reasons why you shouldn't rely on
images...Let me add some more..."
http://blog.adrianroselli.com/2014/12/dont-tweet-pictures-of-text.html

Describe Me
By Museum Victoria.
"Describe Me asks you to write alternative text (alt-text) for images
to make our Collections Online more useful for people who are blind or
have low vision. Alt-text is text associated with an image that
conveys the same essential information as the image. It is important
for people who use screen readers or view websites in text-only
format. By writing a short description of what you see, you'll help to
make Collections Online more useable and accessible.."
http://describeme.museumvictoria.com.au/


+02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.

Naming Things
By Paul Lloyd.
"There are only two hard things in computer science: cache
invalidation and naming things..."
http://24ways.org/2014/naming-things/


+03: COLOR.

Integrating Contrast Checks in Your Web Workflow
By Geri Coady.
"A common misconception about accessibility is that meeting compliance
requirements hinders creativity and beautiful design-but we beg to
differ. Unfortunately, like many company websites and internal
projects, Simply Accessible has spent so much time helping others that
they had not spent enough time helping themselves to show the world
who they really are. This was the perfect opportunity for them to
practise what they preached..."
http://24ways.org/2014/integrating-contrast-checks-in-your-web-workflow/

Learn More About Color By Working In Grayscale
By Steven Bradley.
"Do you find color difficult to work with? Do you have trouble
combining colors in a color scheme? Would you believe me if I told you
one way to learn to work with color is to remove the color
information?..."
http://www.vanseodesign.com/web-design/luminance-working-in-grayscale/


+04: DRUPAL.

Drupal Security Best Practices - A Guide for Governments and Nonprofits
By Mike Gifford.
"The need for government security has never been higher, but
unfortunately decades of bad assumptions have lead to many government
websites being very vulnerable to attack."
http://openconcept.ca/drupal-security-best-practices-guide-governments-and-nonprofits


+05: EVALUATION & TESTING.

The Guide to Usability Testing (ebook)
By Chris Bank and Jerry Cao.
"Tips and analysis for over 30 different usability testing methods.."
http://linkis.com/www.uxpin.com/rH3bE


+06: EVENTS.

DevNexus 2015
March 10-12, 2015.
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.
http://www.devnexus.com/s/index

Midwest PHP 2015 Conference
March 14-15, 2015.
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A.
http://2015.midwestphp.org/

SmashingConf Oxford
March 17-18, 2015.
Oxford, England
http://www.smashingconf.com/

Mobilism 2015
March 27, 2015
Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
http://mobilism.nl/2015

An Event Apart Seattle
March 30-April 1, 2015.
Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.
http://aneventapart.com/event/seattle-2015

WebVisions NYC
April 2-3, 2015.
New York, New York, U.S.A.
http://www.webvisionsevent.com/new-york/

UX Immersion Mobile 2015
April 13-15, 2015.
Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A.
http://uxim15.uie.com/


+07: HTML5.

Thoughts About HTML5 Structural Elements
By Steven Bradley.
"Do you use the new HTML5 structural elements like header, aside,
article, and footer? If so, do you do use them because of the added
semantics they carry?..."
http://www.vanseodesign.com/web-design/html5-structural-elements/

Analyst Watch - 2015 Will be a Pivotal Year for HTML5
By Al Hilwa.
"...The HTML5 standard is as much a political triumph as it is a
technical triumph. HTML5 holds the promise of a unified set of
technologies that can provide skills, code and effort sharing across
multiple devices and operating systems from all walks of tech-land.
Even if the promise of writing once and running everywhere cannot be
realized fully (and it is clear that it cannot), HTML5 can provide
time and cost savings by sharing aspects of the code or development
effort."
http://sdtimes.com/analyst-watch-2015-will-pivotal-year-html5


+08: JAVASCRIPT.

ARIA-hidden (State)
By Rakesh Paladugula.
"ARIA-hidden state is used to hide certain portion of content for
assistive technology users. Use of CSS properties such as display:
none or visibility: hidden hide the content from the browser, in most
of the cases even assistive technologies also do not render the
content to the user when these CSS properties are used..."
http://www.maxability.co.in/2014/12/aria-hidden-state/

One JavaScript - Avoiding Versioning in ECMAScript 6
By Axel Rauschmayer.
"What is the best way to add new features to a language? This blog
post describes the approach taken by ECMAScript 6, the next version of
JavaScript. It is called One JavaScript, because it avoids
versioning."
http://www.2ality.com/2014/12/one-javascript.html

ECMAScript 6 - New OOP Features Besides Classes
By Axel Rauschmayer.
"Classes are the major new OOP feature in ECMAScript 6 [1]. However,
it also includes new features for object literals and new utility
methods in Object. This blog post describes them..."
http://www.2ality.com/2014/12/es6-oop.html

Understanding DOM and Its Importance for Accessibility (Video)
By Karl Groves.
"As web developers we like to think that our hard work creating HTML,
CSS, and JavaScript is what makes our sites so great, but the reality
is that all our hard work is really just a request that says "'Please,
Mr. Browser, can you make this website do all the cool stuff I've
designed here?' At the time the user's browser actually receives your
web page and all of its assets, your control of the situation entirely
ceases and control for how your site really looks and operates is
entirely in the hands of the browser."
http://vimeo.com/84970341


+09: MISCELLANEOUS.

Inadvertent Algorithmic Cruelty
By Eric A Meyer.
"...If I could fix one thing about our industry, just one thing, it
would be that: to increase awareness of and consideration for the
failure modes, the edge cases, the worst-case scenarios.  And so I
will try."
http://meyerweb.com/eric/thoughts/2014/12/24/inadvertent-algorithmic-cruelty/

6 Common Challenges in Managing UX Projects and How to Overcome Them
By Loop 11.
"...It's impossible not to notice certain patterns on how user
experience projects wind up, regardless of the scope, the team size or
even the deadline and the budget. These patterns, and the continuous
iteration on how to better deal with them, have led us to identify
some principles that pave the way to a better experience design. We'll
talk about them in a future post. But first, let's talk a bit about
the most common problems we have faced when doing UX..."
http://www.loop11.com/the-6-most-common-problems-in-ux-projects/

Meet for Learning
By Leslie Jensen-Inman.
"'I've never worked in a place like this,' said one of my direct
reports during our daily stand-up meeting..."
http://24ways.org/2014/meet-for-learning/


+10: NAVIGATION.

Link Breakage - Address that Moving to HTTPS URLs Breaks Links Wholesale
By Tim Berners-Lee.
"The disappearance of web material and the rotting of links is itself
a major problem. This finding currently encouraging the wholesale
breaking of links by moving from http: to https: , perhaps doing more
damage to the web than any other change in its history..."
https://github.com/w3ctag/web-https/issues/11


+11: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES & PATTERNS.

Why I Care About MathML
By Peter Krautzberger.
"I think MathML is so far the best solution to present mathematical
content on the web...But mathml sucks...What I also learned early on
(in crass contrast to my 2009 self above) was that MathML has turned
out to be critical for having truly accessible mathematics...."
http://boolesrings.org/krautzberger/2014/12/26/why-i-care-about-mathml/

Poor Man's Styleguide
By Bryan Braun.
By poormansstyleguide.
"A quick-and-dirty frontend styleguide, designed to be copied and
pasted into your CMS..."
http://www.poormansstyleguide.com/


+12: TOOLS.

Tenon Check Chrome Extension
By Karl Groves.
"This extension adds a button to your browser. Click it, and the page
you're currently viewing will be tested for Accessibility against WCAG
2.0 using Tenon.io."
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/tenon-check/bmibjbhkgepmnehjfhjaalkikngikhgj


+13: TYPOGRAPHY.

The Good, The Bad And The Great Examples Of Web Typography
By Jeremiah Shoaf.
"Choosing typefaces is an integral part of every web design project.
With thousands of typefaces available from hosting services such as
Typekit, as well an ever-improving collection of free fonts available,
there has never been a better time to be a typography-obsessed web
designer."
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2014/12/22/the-good-the-bad-and-the-great-examples-of-web-typography/

Typecast Web Typography Application
By Deborah Edwards-Onoro.
"If you missed the announcement last week (like I did), web designers
who love typography received an early holiday present..."
http://www.lireo.com/typecast-free-web-typography-application/


+14: USABILITY.

Designing For the Slow Web
By Ben Rowe.
"...Ultimately, designing for the slow web is about showing respect
for our users. Your users are probably very busy people, with constant
distractions in their lives. So make sure you're always respecting
their time. Never be a distraction to your user's already-busy day.
Never be pushy. A slower web should reduce the noise and informational
clutter, not add to it. So next time you're adding a feature, or
sending out a notification, ask yourself, 'Is this interaction or this
touch-point truly going to make my user's day better?'"
http://uxmas.com/2014/were-living-in-the-fast-web

FAQs Still Deliver Great Value
By Susan Farrell.
"A usable website FAQ can improve products, services, information, and
user experience as part of your knowledge management process."
http://www.nngroup.com/articles/faqs-deliver-value/

Cohesive UX
By Cameron Moll.
"With Yosemite, Apple users can answer iPhone calls on their MacBooks.
This is weird. And yet it's representative of a greater trend toward
cohesion..."
http://24ways.org/2014/cohesive-ux/

Twas the Night Before...Flat Design
By Steven Bradley.
"...Depth will return, I promise you that, some buttons already are
not quite so flat. It's just a trend I say as I turn out the light,
A new trend for all, and to all a good night."
http://www.vanseodesign.com/web-design/twas-the-night-before-flat-design/


[Section one ends.]


++ SECTION TWO:

+15: 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

Drupal Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/drupal.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

HTML Information.
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/html.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.


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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 at d.umn.edu


[Issue ends.]


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