Web Design Update: June 23, 2026

[Laura Carlson]

+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 26, Issue 52, June 24, 2026.

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

++ISSUE 52 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: EVALUATION & TESTING.
05: EVENTS.
06: HTML.
07: JAVASCRIPT.
08: MISCELLANEOUS.
09: NAVIGATION.
10: TOOLS.
11: TYPOGRAPHY.
12: USABILITY.

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

[Contents ends.]


++ SECTION ONE: New references.

+01: ACCESSIBILITY.

Designing for People Who Are D/deaf
By Ela Gorla.
"We don't often think about design in relation to the needs and expectations of D/deaf people. However, many of the choices we make when designing products and services - from the positioning and labelling of items to the selection of form elements and the use of plain language - can have a significant impact on the experience of D/deaf people…"
https://tetralogical.com/blog/2026/06/17/designing-for-deaf-people/

GAAD 2026 Recap: Navigating Maps with a Screen Reader: A Conversation
By Minnesota IT Services.
"View the event recording & transcript, and browse resources…"
https://mn.gov/mnit/media/blog/index.jsp?id=38-752602

Making Maps Accessible with WCAG 2.1: What We Learned, and Where to Go Next
By Minnesota IT Services.
"…Screen readers read linearly-maps don't…"
https://mn.gov/mnit/media/blog/index.jsp?id=38-754174

Context Matters: Combating Bigotry in Media Through Contextualized Alternative Text for Blind and Low-Vision Users
By H. Moskowitz.
"…OSU has an ethical obligation to ensure that its descriptions do not unintentionally reproduce the very harms the archive is meant to preserve and study…"
https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/honors_college_theses/76537928b

Overcorrection, Podcasting, and Running on Empty
By Nicolas Steenhout.
"Fear of making mistakes slows accessibility down far more than the occasional mistake ever would."
https://buttondown.com/nic-steenhout/archive/overcorrection-podcasting-and-running-on-empty/

A Systematic Approach to PDF Accessibility (Video)
By Chad Chelius and Raquella Freeman.
"Whether you are new to PDF accessibility or struggling to remediate more advanced issues, this webinar is here to help. Join our presenters to become more aware of how people with disabilities use PDFs, discuss the most common and more irregular document accessibility issues, learn how to go beyond the Acrobat Accessibility Checker, and gain insight into the go-to tools they use to speed up remediation workflows. Registrants will be able to submit questions in advance during the registration process."
https://www.accessibilityonline.org/cioc-508/archives/111220

Understanding PDF Forms and the User Experience (Podcast)
By Chad Chelius and Dax Castro.
"If you've ever struggled to understand why PDF forms are inaccessible, you need to listen to this episode! Chad and Dax dive deep into one of the most frustrating areas of document accessibility: PDF forms…"
https://a11ychax.libsyn.com/understanding-pdf-forms-and-the-user-experience

PDF Accessibility's Gold Standard Requires 136 Checks and Still Needs Human Eyes
By Kessler West.
"If your organization produces public-facing PDFs, you need to adhere to PDF accessibility standards. Easier said than done…"
https://silktide.com/blog/pdf-matterhorn-pros-and-cons/

Enhancing Slide Presentation Accessibility for Blind and Low-Vision Audiences Through Delay-Buffered Editing
By A. Haque and J. Hong.
"…We presented a delay-buffered approach that enhances the accessibility of slide presentations for blind and low-vision audiences by automatically trimming redundant speech and inserting concise slide descriptions at transition points. Through two studies with 16 BLV participants, we demonstrated that this approach substantially improves comprehension, orientation, and awareness of visual content in recorded presentations. Comprehension accuracy increased from 50% to 89%, and slide transition detection improved from 16.7% to 100%…"
https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3800645.3812965

U of Target Audiences (Accessibility, SEO, AEO/GEO)
By Adrian Roselli.
"…Sure, there's overlap between SEO and LLM-thieving. SEO and accessibility even have slight overlap. But accessibility is about people. Twisting a human affordance to feed these corporate efforts to make humans redundant (among all the other harms) is a signal…"
https://adrianroselli.com/2026/06/union-of-target-audiences-accessibility-seo-aeo-geo.html

The Case for an Accessibility Designer Vibe Coding When All His Coworkers Are Also Vibe Coding
By Eric W. Bailey.
"…Digital accessibility work requires an extreme level of detail and precision, all while keeping a mind to the larger, holistic whole…"
https://ericwbailey.website/published/the-case-for-an-accessibility-designer-vibe-coding-when-all-his-coworkers-are-also-vibe-coding/

Improvements to Web for AI Should Benefit All Users
By Jason Grigsby.
"…I hope we can all agree that user needs come before agent needs…"
https://cloudfour.com/thinks/improvements-to-web-for-ai-should-benefit-all-users/

[BUG] LLM Biased Against Accessible Code #56079
By Esti Shay.
"…Claude treats accessibility fixes as optional trade-offs rather than requirements, even when the project's own rules say otherwise. That's distinct from just not knowing the right ARIA pattern — it's a values problem in how the model weighs competing priorities…"
https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/56079

Can Your AI Pass the Accessibility Test?
By Aaron Gustafson.
"…The core point was straightforward: AI does not fix a broken process; it accelerates whatever process you already have. If accessibility is already in the workflow, AI can help scale inclusion. If it's not, AI will scale the same barriers teams are already shipping…"
https://www.aaron-gustafson.com/notebook/can-your-ai-pass-the-accessibility-test/

Evaluating the Feasibility of LLM-Based Automation of Manual WCAG Compliance Testing (PDF)
By Annemae Van De Hoef, Koen Smit, Sam Leewis, Duain Castro, Fabian Hartman, Juliana Todorova, Nick Kuiper.
"…The risk is, that in practice, a purely automated scan might report a perfect score, whereas a human audit uncovers many issues…"
https://pure.buas.nl/ws/portalfiles/portal/39685816/Proceedings_of_the_39th_Bled_eConference_Co_Creating_Human-Centred_and_Responsible_Digital_Futures.pdf#page=1051

Tell Congress to Stop the Dismantling of the Department of Education and Protect Students with Disabilities
By American Association of People with Disabilities.
"On June 16, Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced that the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) and the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) will be moved out of the Department of Education…"
https://aapd.quorum.us/campaign/148277/

Duckworth, Gillibrand, Senate Democrats Urge the Trump Administration to Help Ensure Websites and Apps Are Accessible for Americans with Disabilities
By Tammy Duckworth and Kirsten Gillibrand.
"…Delaying these requirements perpetuates inequities in access to essential government services…"
https://www.duckworth.senate.gov/news/press-releases/duckworth-gillibrand-senate-democrats-urge-the-trump-administration-to-help-ensure-websites-and-apps-are-accessible-for-americans-with-disabilities


+02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.

Surprising Effects of CSS Shorthands
By Miriam Suzanne and Stacy Kvernmo.
"CSS properties come in two excellent flavors - longhand properties have a direct impact on the element, while shorthand properties take a much more convoluted path. There's a lot going on when we use a shorthand property, with hidden surprises, and reasons we might use one or the other.…"
https://www.oddbird.net/2026/05/28/winging-it-32/


+03: COLOR.

Why Did My Button Stop Working? (The Browser Won't Tell You)
By Manuel Matuzović.
"The browser silently disables the geolocation button when your contrast ratio drops below 3:1 - no console warning, no visual feedback. The only clue is hiding in a panel nobody checks.
Clip from Manuel Matuzovic's talk at SmashingConf Amsterdam.…"
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ssUSSIKTuZg

A Deep Dive into Contrast Themes
By Curtis Wilcox.
"Contrast Themes (aka "forced-colors") are a step users take beyond using sites' Light or Dark mode. Learn what they do, why they're used, how to test your site, and how to improve your site for when they're used.…"
https://accessibility.huit.harvard.edu/news/2026/05/deep-dive-contrast-themes

Storied Colors
By A Single Editor.
"Storied Colors is a catalogue of named colors - pigments, dyes, lakes, glazes, and a small number of digital hues - each accompanied by the documentary evidence required to call it by its name. The launch corpus opens at two hundred and fifty entries. It is maintained as a single-author project…"
https://storiedcolors.com/


+04: EVALUATION & TESTING.

Data Isn't Enough: The Power of Narrative in UX (Video)
By Caleb Sponheim.
"People need narrative, not just numbers, to make decisions. Bring both…"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCF4MnJHdYE

Incentive Structures for Diary Studies
By Maria Rosala.
"A mindful incentive structure can keep diary study participants engaged and responding, without overloading you with low-quality responses."
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/diary-study-incentives


+05: EVENTS.

American Council of the Blind Annual Convention
July 13-31, 2026.
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A
https://www.acb.org/convention

US Digital Accessibility: Laws, Resources, and Real‑World Insights with Katherine Eng and Jay Wyant
July 14, 2026.
Online
https://www.accessibilityonline.org/cioc-508/session/?id=111223

HCI International 2026
July 26-31, 2026.
Montreal, Canada
https://2026.hci.international

Accessible Design, Tools and Processes with Claire Webber, Lucy Serret, and Stéphanie Walter
August 14, 6 p.m. Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT).
Online
https://events.humanitix.com/ozewai-accessible-design-tools-processes-ask-the-professionals-14-august-2026

Creating a Digital Accessibility Program in Higher Education with Jesse Loesberg
August 20, 2026.
Online
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/1517811899156/WN_qXXcZ8HnS6CMDZcTad83YQ#/registration


+06: HTML.

Enable Responsive Images and Alternative Text for HTML Video Poster Images #12585
By Scott Jehl.
"…Introduce an accessible text description for video poster images via the img element's alt attribute…"
https://github.com/whatwg/html/pull/12585


+07: JAVASCRIPT.

The Siren Song of ariaNotify()
By Mat "Wilto" Marquis.
"…That's what gets you, with accessibility work: quick-and-easy decisions made in isolation can have unforeseen consequences in the context of the overall experience, and unless those assumptions are tested very carefully - early and often - we can't know what those consequences might be…"
https://css-tricks.com/the-siren-song-of-arianotify/

Deep Dive: Understanding Live Regions, Part 1
By James Jacobs.
"In this three-part deep dive, I'll explore how live regions help keep screen reader users informed of dynamic content changes, how to create and configure them, and the common problems and questions that crop up when working with them."
https://www.jamesjacobs.me/blog/deep-dive-understanding-live-regions-part-1/

Deep Dive: Understanding Live Regions, Part 2
By James Jacobs.
https://www.jamesjacobs.me/blog/deep-dive-understanding-live-regions-part-2/

Deep Dive: Understanding Live Regions, Part 3
By James Jacobs.
https://www.jamesjacobs.me/blog/deep-dive-understanding-live-regions-part-3/

How to Build an Accessible ARIA Date Picker Control
By CANAXESS.
"Learn how to build an accessible ARIA date picker control from the ground up following the ARIA Authoring Practices Guide (APG) date picker pattern. We'll walk through the ARIA roles, states, properties, keyboard behaviour and focus management needed to make a custom date picker work properly for screen reader and keyboard users."
https://ozewai.org/blog/technical-articles/how-to-build-an-accessible-aria-date-picker-control-canaxess/


+08: MISCELLANEOUS.

Gareth Goes Fireside (Video)
By Steve Faulkner.
"I first remember meeting Gareth Ford Williams on a plane over the atlantic circa 2015, he was travelling, like me to CSUN. …"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2nD6Dqdoks

Do Websites Need to Function Exactly the Same on Every Platform
By Bramus Van Damme.
"…it is perfectly fine for sites to offer different, alternative, functionality based on what the platform and input method can offer…Your UIs should already be accessible without [these features]…"
https://www.bram.us/2026/06/21/do-websites-need-to-function-exactly-the-same-on-every-platform/


+09: NAVIGATION.

A11y 101 - 3.2.3 Consistent Navigation
By Nat Tarnoff.
"…Consistency is a form of empathy…"
https://tarnoff.info/2026/06/22/a11y-101-3-2-3-consistent-navigation/

Multi-Level Navigation: The Challenge of Identifying Parent Sections for Screen Readers
By Régine Lambrecht.
"Many guides show you how to build an accessible navigation menu, but they overlook the "you are here" complexity. How do we translate an "active parent" visual highlight into something a screen reader user actually understands?…"
https://elevenways.be/en/articles/multi-level-navigation-the-challenge-of-identifying-parent-sections-for-screen-readers


+10: TOOLS.

Able Player v5.0.0 Released
By Joe Dolson.
"…Adds a feature to automatically convert YouTube Embed blocks to use Able Player…"
https://www.joedolson.com/2026/06/able-player-v5-0-0-released/

Simple Accessibility Tooling
By Morgan Murrah.
"…If you keep your tests and results simple, I suggest it is possible to gain new ground in increasing focus on accessibility so you, and the organization or team, can do more than just merely pass tests…"
https://www.morganwebdev.org/posts/simple-accessibility-tooling/


+11: TYPOGRAPHY.

The Typefaces Used for FIFA 2026
By Oliver Schöndorfer.
"…If you pick a font that is very condensed and black and small it's a perfect recipe for making things harder to read…"
https://pimpmytype.com/fifa-2026-font/


+12: USABILITY.

Quantity Yields Quality in UX: Iterative vs. Parallel vs. Competitive Design (Video)
By Therese Fessenden.
"No design is perfect on the first try. Combining iteration, parallel design, and competitive testing helps teams move quickly, explore broadly, and make confident, evidence-based design decisions…"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKdcORGxaD8


+13: WEBWASTE & SUSTAINABILITY.

Cloud Sustainability at Scale: Why Open Source Will Define the Next Era of Green Computing
By Niki Manoledaki.
"he next decade of cloud growth and, specifically, AI growth, depends on whether we can make these systems not just powerful, but sustainable. The foundation is already being built in the open. Now it needs the support, contributions, and participation of the entire cloud native community.…"
https://cloudnativenow.com/contributed-content/cloud-sustainability-at-scale-why-open-source-will-define-the-next-era-of-green-computing/

[Section one ends.]


++ SECTION TWO:

+14: 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:
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.]

Laura L. Carlson
Information Technology Systems and Services
University of Minnesota Duluth
Duluth, MN U.S.A. 55812-3009
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/

W3C Invited Expert
Accessibility Guidelines Working Group
https://www.w3.org/groups/wg/ag/participants

Pronouns: she/her/hers