Web Design Update: January 13, 2021

[Laura Carlson]

+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 19, Issue 29, January 13, 2021.

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

++ISSUE 29 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: JAVASCRIPT.
06: MISCELLANEOUS.
07: NAVIGATION.
08: TOOLS.
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.

Taking the Keyboard Navigation Red Pill
By Denis Boudreau.
"Not everyone out there relies on a mouse or a trackpad when using
their computers…"
https://uxdesign.cc/taking-the-keyboard-navigation-red-pill-dbb76dd73b1e

Grids Part 2: Semantics
By Sarah Higley.
"This is part 2 in a series about ARIA grids (not at all related to CSS grids…"
https://sarahmhigley.com/writing/grids-part2/

Seven Ways to Test for Accessibility of Your Web Site With Browser
By Chris Heilmann.
"…for a quick, preliminary test you don't need to install anything or
pay for a service. Browsers come with developer tools built-in and
these have great accessibility testing features. Here's a list of the
ones in the Developer Tools of browsers like Microsoft Edge and Google
Chrome…"
https://christianheilmann.com/2021/01/11/seven-ways-to-test-for-accessibility-of-your-web-site-with-browser-developer-tools/

Accessibility
By @MozDevNet.
"…this module will cover general best practices (which are
demonstrated throughout the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript topics), cross
browser testing, and some tips on enforcing accessibility from the
start. We'll cover accessibility in special detail…"
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn/Accessibility

Web Accessible Code Libraries and Design Patterns
By Dennis Lembree.
"…Here is an extensive list of recommended code libraries, patterns,
and design systems. It's one list instead of separating by category as
many have elements of each…"
http://www.webaxe.org/web-accessible-code-library-design-systems-patterns/

Bulletproofing Embedded Tweets
By Adrian Roselli.
"You may rely on embedding tweets in your posts as a quick and easy
way to quote or reference a person or subject. There are two
challenges to relying on this, however. 1.) A tweet or account may be
deleted or go private; 2.) The content may not be accessible to users
with disabilities…"
https://adrianroselli.com/2021/01/bulletproofing-embedded-tweets.html

The State of Accessibility with Derek Featherstone (Podcast)
By James Royal-Lawson and Per Axbom.
"…Accessibility legend Derek Featherstone joins us to talk about how
things have changed, the role design plays, and how inclusion and
diversity is where we are heading…"
https://uxpodcast.com/253-accessibility-derek-featherstone/

A Brief History of Screen Readers
By Becky Gibson.
"It is hard for a sighted user to imagine navigating the web without
actually seeing a page or using a mouse. Blind screen reader users
have no problem navigating a web page that is coded correctly and
follows basic accessibility guidelines. A screen reader is an
assistive technology used by the blind, people with low vision, and
people with cognitive or learning disabilities. It is software that
interprets the information coded on a screen and presents it to the
user in speech or Braille output."
https://knowbility.org/blog/2021/a-brief-history-of-screen-readers/

Accessibility Overlay, Widget, Toolbar, Menu, etc.
By Jeff Singleton.
"…As most accessibility professionals, if not all, I believe that
accessibility overlays are not a solution for the inaccessibility of a
website…"
https://convergeaccessibility.com/2021/01/11/accessibility-overlays-ignorance-is-not-bliss/

Reminder - WCAG Outlines the Absolute Minimum…
By Adrian Roselli.
"…of what you need to do to approach accessibility. It is not a goal.
It is a starting point…"
https://twitter.com/aardrian/status/1348666919667314688

Thread: Too Many #a11y Specialists Understand WCAG But Don't Understand…
By Julie Romanowski.
"…how conformance issues may/may not impact people with disabilities (PwD)…"
https://twitter.com/jr_roman/status/1347995730598834177

Bill to Establish Web Accessibility Guidelines Fails to Pass
By Allen Smith.
"A bill calling for official Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Web
accessibility guidelines, the Online Accessibility Act (H.R. 8478),
failed to pass during the 116th Congress, which ended Jan. 3.
Disability rights advocates opposed the proposed legislation, saying
standards already exist and the bill would have limited plaintiffs'
rights.…"
https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/employment-law/pages/online-accessibility-act.aspx

A Record-Breaking Year for ADA Digital Accessibility Lawsuits
By Jason Taylor.
"In 2020, web, app and video accessibility cases are up almost 25%
year-on-year. December saw an almost 100% rise over January. Total
digital accessibility lawsuits in 2020 exceeds 3,500. When you combine
federal and state ADA lawsuits, the trend is moving upward…"
https://blog.usablenet.com/a-record-breaking-year-for-ada-digital-accessibility-lawsuits

Got Sued Under the ADA for Inaccessibility?
By Sheri Byrne-Haber.
"Here is what you can expect. Part 2 of a two-part article…"
https://sheribyrnehaber.medium.com/got-sued-under-the-ada-for-inaccessibility-5745692cd8a9


+02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.

Styling For Windows High Contrast With New Standards For Forced Colors
By Microsoft Edge Team.
"As Microsoft Edge prepared to re-platform on top of Chromium open
source, we recognized our responsibility to continue supporting those
who depend on Windows high contrast for web content. We also
recognized a fantastic opportunity-it was time to finally standardize
high contrast styling features…"
https://blogs.windows.com/msedgedev/2020/09/17/styling-for-windows-high-contrast-with-new-standards-for-forced-colors/

The Future of CSS: Higher Level Custom Properties to Control Multiple
Declarations
By Bram(us) Van Damme.
"…Let's take a look at our current options, and how this (possible)
future addition to the CSS spec - along with the @if at-rule it
introduces - might look…"
https://www.bram.us/2020/12/30/the-future-of-css-higher-level-custom-properties-to-control-multiple-declarations/

'aspect-ratio' is Going to Deprecate FitVids
By Chris Coyier.
"…Once we can rely on it, FitVids (which I use on literally every site
I make in one form or another) can entirely go away in favor of a
handful of CSS applied directly to the elements (usually
videos-in-<iframe>s)…"
https://css-tricks.com/aspect-ratio-is-going-to-deprecate-fitvids/

Careful When Changing the Display of 'summary'
By Chris Coyier.
"I got a very helpful bug report the other day (thanks Kilian!) about
the <details> element in a blog post of mine not showing the default ▶
icon, and thus looking rather like any ol' random <p>…"
https://css-tricks.com/careful-when-changing-the-display-of-summary/


+03: EVALUATION & TESTING.

Usability Testing Guide: The Process of Conducting a Usability Test
By Gerry Duffy.
"…Usability testing is a core component of User Centered Design and
can be used at any stage in the process. It provides valuable insight
into the mind of the user, giving us a better understanding of users'
mental models, and it helps to highlight issues that might negatively
impact the experience, while also pointing to solutions. If you are
new to Usability Testing and want to learn more or just interested in
how someone else approaches it, this article gives an overview of how
to set-up and run a usability test, and provides a checklist of things
to do to complete a usability testing project…"
https://boxesandarrows.com/usability-testing-guide/

Confidence Intervals for Net Promoter Scores
By Jim Lewis and Jeff Sauro.
"The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a widely used metric, but it can be
tricky to work with statistically…"
https://measuringu.com/nps-confidence-intervals/


+04: EVENTS.

Introducing Crest-An Open-Source Web Accessibility Test Automation Tool
January 20, 2021.
Online
https://www.meetup.com/a11ybay/events/275619781/

A Celebration of the Accessibility Acts of Canada and the US
January 21, 2021.
Online
https://raic.org/civicrm/event/info?id=455

Screen Readers in the Wild
January 25, 2021.
Online
https://knowbility.org/services/online-training/2021/january/screen-readers-in-the-wild/

Invitation: WAI-Tools Final Meeting
January 26, 2021.
Online
https://www.w3.org/WAI/news/2021-01-07/WAI-Tools-meeting/

National Association of Government Web (NAGW) Conference
September 28-October 1, 2021.
Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.A.
https://nagw.org/content.php?page=conference

An Event Apart Denver
October 11-13, 2021.
Denver, Colorado U.S.A.
https://aneventapart.com/event/denver-2021


+05: JAVASCRIPT.

Yes, Vanilla JS Does Scale
By Chris Ferdinandi.
"There's a never-ending myth I see circulating…"
https://gomakethings.com/yes-vanilla-js-does-scale/


+06: MISCELLANEOUS.

Design Thinking: The Learner's Journey
By Sarah Gibbons.
"As an individual learns design thinking, they go through 4 learning
phases: newcomer, adopter, leader, and grandmaster."
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/design-thinking-learners-journey/

Accessible Virtual Conferences
By Michele A. Williams et al.
"This is a guide to organizing and executing accessible virtual
conferences inclusive for people with disabilities…"
http://www.sigaccess.org/accessible-virtual-conferences/

Basic Signs with Danelle Gournaris (Video)
By Danelle Gournaris.
"…Here are a few basic signs that you can use if you meet a deaf or
hard of hearing person who uses American Sign Language…"
https://mn.gov/deaf-commission/news/?id=1063-462405


+07: NAVIGATION.

More or Less Burger-Less Navigation
By Manuel Matuzović.
"For your and my inspiration: A collection of websites that don't hide
the navigation on mobile behind a burger/menu button…"
https://www.matuzo.at/blog/more-or-less-burger-less-navigation/

Part 1: Understanding the 'New Normal' Through Journey Mapping
By Diana Glozman.
"…This three-part series will lay out our process and core-takeaways
from this journey mapping experience…"
https://www.uxbooth.com/articles/journey-mapping-in-a-remote-work-environment/


+08: TOOLS.

Winning At Web Accessibility in 2021 With These Tools for Developers
By Jake Tracey.
"I've divided this article into 4 categories - resources, development
tools, continuous integration and screen readers…"
https://hackernoon.com/winning-at-web-accessibility-in-2021-with-these-tools-for-developers-el2h31nt


+09: USABILITY.

Maintain Consistency and Adhere to Standards (Usability Heuristic #4)
By Rachel Krause.
"Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations,
or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform and industry
conventions."
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/consistency-and-standards/

Popup Problems (Video)
By Anna Kaley.
"Popups and many kinds of modal dialogs are often intrusive user
interface elements that get in the way of users' goals and cause
annoyance. Here are some of the worst popup UX sins."
https://www.nngroup.com/videos/popup-problems/

UX Animations (Video)
By Page Laubheimer.
"Animations can make user interfaces both easier and nicer to use, but
the timing has to be right, as we demonstrate in this video. Many
other details also contribute to the quality of animation in the user
experience."
https://www.nngroup.com/videos/ux-animations/

Chrome Dev Summit: Sign-up Form Best Practices [Video]
By Deborah Edwards-Onoro.
"…In his 13-minute Chrome Dev Summit 2020 video, Chrome Developer
Advocate Sam Dutton shares helpful tips and advice for creating forms
that help your users sign up, sign in, and manage their account…"
https://www.lireo.com/chrome-dev-summit-sign-up-form-best-practices-video/

UX Designers Pushing AI in the Enterprise: A Case for Adaptive UIs
By John Zimmerman et al.
"…AI and UX design have grown up as quite different disciplines. But
we're now starting to see that small bits of AI can enrich a UI in
interesting, useful ways. Adaptive user interfaces (AUIs) employ
elements of AI to improve user experience. AUIs recognize and automate
frequent tasks, such as when an email recognizes a phone number and
lets users initiate a call with a tap on the number. These bits of
low-risk AI free up a little time for consumers and maybe make them a
little happier…"
http://interactions.acm.org/archive/view/january-february-2021/ux-designers-pushing-ai-in-the-enterprise

Ethics Not Only for Research, but Also for Design
By Victor Yocco.
"…Research is an essential part of creating good UX. We are often in
roles where we interact with our users in order to collect data to
inform our UX. We need to ensure our UX research is compliant with
ethical standards of research conducted with humans. To do this, we
need to have an awareness of potential ethical issues in research,
training on how to conduct ethical research, and a systematic review
of our research protocols to avoid potential ethical pitfalls. In this
article, Victor Yocco discusses some areas of ethical consideration
for UX practitioners when conducting UX research, and explores
potential solutions to preventing research from venturing into
unethical territory…"
https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2020/12/ethical-considerations-ux-research/


+10: WEBWASTE & SUSTAINABILITY.

Embracing Sustainable Digital Design
By Gerry McGovern.
"How do you work sustainably as a digital professional? If you are a
producer of code or content then you are a producer of CO2. How do you
ensure your digital activities produce as little CO2 as possible?
Better still, how do you ensure that your digital work is useful
enough that it saves more energy than the energy required to make and
maintain it?…"
https://gerrymcgovern.com/embracing-sustainable-digital-design/


[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.


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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:lcar...@d.umn.edu


[Issue ends.]