Web Design Update: December 22, 2025

[Laura Carlson]

+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 26, Issue 26, December 22, 2025.

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?
https://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/
New links in these categories:

01: ACCESSIBILITY.
02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.
03: COLOR.
04: EVENTS.
05: HTML.
06: MISCELLANEOUS.
07: NAVIGATION.
08: TOOLS.
09: USABILITY.

SECTION TWO:

10: What Can You Find at the Web Design Reference Site?

[Contents ends.]


++ SECTION ONE: New references.

+01: ACCESSIBILITY.

What Continuous Improvement Model is Best for Accessibility?
By Sheri Byrne-Haber.
"Most organizations start their accessibility journey in reactive mode…"
https://buttondown.com/access-ability/archive/what-continuous-improvement-model-is-best-for/

Don't Leave the Screen Reader Hungry
By Geri Reid.
"Screen readers don't always announce what's visually on screen. This
article explores that gap - through the medium of burritos…"
https://htmhell.dev/adventcalendar/2025/17/

More About Screen Reader Speech Queues
By Russ Weakley.
"This article is a follow-up on Understanding screen reader speech queues…"
https://www.maxdesign.com.au/articles/more-about-speech-queues.html

How aria-labelledby Really Works
By Russ Weakley.
"The aria-labelledby attribute lets you use existing text on the page
to name another element for assistive technologies.…"
https://www.maxdesign.com.au/articles/aria-labelledby.html

Tests for aria-labelledby and aria-describedby
By Russ Weakley.
"aria-labelledby and aria-describedby do not ask the browser to
discover text automatically. Instead, the author explicitly tells the
browser which elements to use by referencing their IDs…"
https://www.maxdesign.com.au/articles/test-cases-labelledby-describedby.html

The Design System of the Christmas Factory
By Tasha11y.
"…The Elves Oli Daynight and Any Goodcookie have been called into
Santa's office. Oli Daynight is the elf responsible for the design of
the platform and Any Goodcookie is the accessibility expert, hired
recently following Candy Canes' recommendation…"
https://wonkythoughts.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-design-system-of-christmas-factory.html

Preparing for New Web Accessibility Requirements
By Carli Spina and Rebecca Albrecht Oling.
"Small steps can produce significant improvements…"
https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2025/12/17/preparing-for-new-web-accessibility-requirements/

Accessibility Updates (Video)
By W3C Web Accessibility Initiative.
"At the November 2025 TPAC event, Shawn Lawton Henry, W3C Director of
Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), highlighted W3C's work on global
accessibility including WCAG 2.2 becoming an ISO standard; that W3C is
expanding its training offerings with a new Accessibility Fundamentals
course, an updated WCAG 2.2 course, and potential future courses on
evaluation. WAI also continues translation work; updates to ATAG and
better coordination around accessibility testing…"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqpplGBMbzI

Leading Inclusive Digital Transformation - Accessibility
By Shawn Lawton Henry.
"This session briefly:
* introduces accessibility, W3C, WAI, and WCAG
* explains that accessibility is essential for some and useful for all
* introduces a user-centered approach (rather than checklist approach)
* lists ways that high-level leaders can champion accessibility
* encourages making the digital world less disabling and more accessible…"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvy85FCb0RM

Germany Rejects Accessibility Overlays for EAA Compliance
By Chris Yoong.
"BIK testing centers won't audit any website that uses an accessibility widget…"
https://chrisyoong.com/blog/germany-rejects-accessibility-overlays-for-eaa-compliance

Is It an Evil Overlay? How Can You Tell?
By Joe Dolson.
"I'm approaching this story from the starting assumption that
accessibility overlays are a problem…"
https://www.joedolson.com/2025/12/is-it-an-evil-overlay-how-can-you-tell/

Copilot Accessibility Principles
By GitHub.
"These principles define what it means for Copilot to be an accessible
and inclusive AI collaborator for people with disabilities. They're
grounded in learnings from user research and real‑world use, and
describe what good looks like when AI assists, responds, and
collaborates with users: clear, predictable, flexible, and supportive
of a wide range of access needs…"
https://primer.style/accessibility/foundations/copilot-principles/

Testing Methods: On Focus
By Dennis Deacon.
"A hybrid approach to WCAG 3.2.1 On Focus combines automated,
AI-based, and manual testing to ensure predictable, non-disorienting
focus behavior. This method efficiently identifies technical issues
while validating real-world user experience, creating truly accessible
and inclusive digital content…"
https://www.dennisdeacon.com/web/accessibility/testing-methods-on-focus/

Testing Methods: On Input
By Dennis Deacon.
"WCAG 3.2.2 On Input ensures users stay in control by preventing
unexpected context changes triggered by inputs. A hybrid testing
approach, combining automation, AI, and manual methods, delivers both
technical accuracy and a user-centered evaluation of accessibility…"
https://www.dennisdeacon.com/web/accessibility/testing-methods-on-input/

Testing Methods: Consistent Navigation
By Dennis Deacon.
"A hybrid approach to testing WCAG 3.2.3 Consistent Navigation
combines automated, AI-based, and manual evaluation to ensure
predictable, intuitive, and accessible navigation. Automated scans
catch structural issues, AI predicts user confusion, and manual
testing validates real-world usability…"
https://www.dennisdeacon.com/web/accessibility/testing-methods-consistent-navigation/

Testing Methods: Change on Request
By Dennis Deacon.
"A hybrid approach to WCAG 3.2.5 Change on Request combines automated
scanning, AI-based analysis, and manual testing to ensure interface
changes occur only when users request them. This method identifies
risks, prioritizes high-impact issues, and validates real-world
accessibility for inclusive, predictable experiences."
https://www.dennisdeacon.com/web/accessibility/testing-methods-change-on-request/

Testing Methods: Consistent Help
By Dennis Deacon.
"Testing WCAG 3.2.6 Consistent Help ensures guidance and instructions
remain predictable and coherent across digital experiences. A hybrid
approach, automated, AI-based, and manual testing, delivers actionable
insights, enhancing accessibility, usability, and user confidence."
https://www.dennisdeacon.com/web/accessibility/testing-methods-consistent-help/

Targeting by Reference in the Shadow DOM
By Eric A. Meyer.
"I've long made it clear that I don't particularly care for the whole
Shadow DOM thing. I believe I understand the problems it tries to
solve, and I fully acknowledge that those are problems worth solving.
There are just a bunch of things about it that don't feel right to me,
like how it can break accessibility in a number of ways…"
https://meyerweb.com/eric/thoughts/2025/12/19/targeting-by-reference-in-the-shadow-dom/


+02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.

Styling by Language: Using the lang Attribute for Multilingual Design
By Julia Undeutsch.
"If you 've ever built a bilingual English - Japanese website, you
know the struggle. English uses letters with ascenders, descenders,
and varying widths. Japanese, on the other hand, mixes three scripts:
kanji, hiragana, and katakana, each forming balanced, square-like
characters…"
https://htmhell.dev/adventcalendar/2025/21/


+03: COLOR.

Data Visualization Accessibility: Focus on Color
By Minnesota IT Services.
"This article explores how to make data visualizations more accessible
by focusing on color choices. Learn why color matters, how to test
contrast, and what design strategies help users with different visual
abilities-including those using screen readers. Includes practical
tips, examples, and links to tools and resources…"
https://mn.gov/mnit/media/blog/?id=38-716215


+04: EVENTS.

Introduction to the Screen Reader Ropes Course: Demystifying Screen
Reader Use for Manual Testing
January 8, 2026.
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/7317642785505/WN_TRlI9cI2QheVPDl9ZOyy1g#/registration

Universal Design for Learning for IT with Tom Tobin
January 12, 15, 20, and 27, 2026, 3-4:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
Online
https://events.educause.edu/learning-labs/2026/universal-design-for-learning-for-it-professionals

Building (and Maturing) a Practical Digital Accessibility Strategy
with Kyle Shachmut
February 2, 5, 10, and 17, 2026, 12-1:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
Online
https://events.educause.edu/learning-labs/2026/building-and-maturing-a-practical-digital-accessibility-strategy


+05: HTML.

Giving Pages a Clear Shape by Using Headings
By Steve Barnett.
Let's go through the three most common issues, and how to fix them.
https://htmhell.dev/adventcalendar/2025/16/

Forms Are a Badly Designed Part of HTML
By Jens Grochtdreis.
"…I will concentrate in this article on forms and especially on
missing elements, inconsistent behaviour and the problems with
styling…"
https://htmhell.dev/adventcalendar/2025/18/

The Many Lives of the Page Title
By Katrin Kampfrath.
"The page title - together with its co-star, the favicon - appears on
stage in the browser tab. It shows up in search results. It 's
announced by screen readers when a page loads. And it even becomes the
default name when you bookmark a page.…"
https://htmhell.dev/adventcalendar/2025/20/

Semantics Beyond the Tag Name
By Nathan Knowler.
"…There is a terrible epidemic that plagues the web: divitis…"
https://htmhell.dev/adventcalendar/2025/19/

Does Chrome Get the <header> Element Wrong?
By Russ Weakley.
"…Chrome is not misinterpreting the 'ARIA in HTML' specification. What
you see as sectionHeader in the accessibility tree is a platform-level
structural role chosen by the browser when landmark semantics do not
apply…"
https://www.maxdesign.com.au/articles/header.html


+06: MISCELLANEOUS.

So Many Websites
By Robin Rendle.
"…perhaps the death of search is good for the future of the web.
Perhaps websites can be free of dumb rankings and junky ads that are
designed to make fractions of a penny at a time. Perhaps the web needs
to be released from the burden of this business model. Perhaps mass
readership isn't possible for the vast majority of websites and was
never really sustainable in the first place…"
https://robinrendle.com/notes/So-Many-Websites/


+07: NAVIGATION.

About Skip Links
By Morgan Murrah.
"…If you are using a keyboard or a screen reader skip links provide a
way to help assist skipping cluttered content…"
https://www.morganwebdev.org/posts/skip-link/


+08: TOOLS.

Nu HTML Checker Update
By Adrian Roselli.
"The Nu HTML Checker has gotten a bunch of updates to validate ARIA. Try it…"
https://toot.cafe/@aardrian/115735570170956083


+09: 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/

Why Dark Mode Isn't Always the Best Choice: A UX Perspective
By Yashwanth S.
"…In this article, we dig beneath the surface-level hype to understand
the psychology, accessibility concerns, and contextual nuances that
make dark mode far more complex than most designers acknowledge…"
https://www.loop11.com/why-dark-mode-isnt-always-the-best-choice-a-ux-perspective/

[Section one ends.]


++ SECTION TWO:

+10: 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:lcar...@d.umn.edu


[Issue ends.]