Web Design Update: September 1, 2026
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Laura Carlson
Sep 1, 2026, 4:14:12 AMSep 1
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+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 27, Issue 10, September 1, 2026.
An email newsletter to distribute news and information about web design and development.
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: INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE.
07: MISCELLANEOUS.
08: NAVIGATION.
SECTION TWO:
09: What Can You Find at the Web Design Reference Site?
[Contents ends.]
++ SECTION ONE: New references.
+01: ACCESSIBILITY.
Is It Time to Get Ready for WCAG 3? Let's Read It Together
By Natalie MacLees.
"It's a fair question, and you have probably run into some very confident answers. Search for it and you will find articles explaining the new Bronze, Silver, and Gold conformance levels, the scoring system, and exactly how your team should prepare. Plenty of them were published this year. Then you open the actual draft, and it does not quite say that…"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd82ZiwmY9o
The 2.1.1 "Specific Timings" Clause
By Adrian Roselli.
"…All functionality of the content is operable through a keyboard interface without requiring specific timings for individual keystrokes…"
https://adrianroselli.com/2026/08/the-2-1-1-specific-timings-clause.html
A11y 101 - 4.1.3 Status Messages
By Nat Tarnoff.
"…Status messages are how we say, ‘I heard you. I'm working on it. Here's what happened.'…"
https://tarnoff.info/2026/08/31/a11y-101-4-1-3-status-messages/
Where Usability Testing and Accessibility Audits Overlap
By Kessler West.
"…Technically compliant and actually usable are not the same…"
https://silktide.com/blog/accessibility-vs-usability-testing/
Choosing the Right Tool for Accessible Forms: When a Fillable PDF Makes Sense
By Minnesota IT Services.
"When your team creates a digital form for employees or the public, it may be tempting to begin by asking, 'Should we use an online form or a fillable PDF?' The right answer depends on the form's purpose and how people will use it…"
https://mn.gov/mnit/media/blog/index.jsp?id=38-766210
+02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.
prefers-reduced-motion, Explained (And How to Test It)
By Kevin Fröba.
"prefers-reduced-motion is the CSS media feature that tells your site whether the person using it has asked their device for less animation. Honoring it is the single most important thing you can do for motion accessibility…"
https://motionspec.dev/blog/prefers-reduced-motion
+03: EVALUATION & TESTING.
5 Ways to Use Rapport When Moderating
By Jenna Herring and Jeff Sauro.
"…Rapport is supposed to make honesty easier, but push it too far and it does the opposite…"
https://measuringu.com/five-ways-to-use-rapport-when-moderating/
+04: EVENTS.
Web & AI International Standards Seminar on Generative UI and WebSkill
September 6, 2026, 13:30-17:30 China Standard Time
Shenzhen, China
https://www.w3.org/events/conferences/2026/web-ai-international-standards-seminar-generative-ui-and-webskill/
https://labs.w3.org/beihang/signup/web-ai-ccf-shenzhen-2026-09
Know Where You Stand: Understanding Your Digital Accessibility Position with David Sloan and Stephen Cutchins
September 10, 2026.
Online
https://vispero.com/lp/understanding-your-digital-accessibility-position/
US Digital Accessibility Laws and Resources: Follow-Up Q&A
September 22, 2026.
Online
https://www.accessibilityonline.org/ADA-Audio/session?id=111231
Accessibility Careers, Recruitment and Mentoring with Amanda Mace, Rachael Bradley Montgomery, and Sheri Byrne-Haber
September 23, 11 a.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST)
Online
https://events.humanitix.com/ozewai-accessibility-careers-recruitment-mentoring-ask-the-professionals-september-2026
WCAG Success Criteria and Conformance with Eric Eggert, Patrick Lauke, Sarah Puli, and Gian Wild
October 15, 2026.
Online
https://ozewai.org/blog/local-events/wcag-success-criteria-and-conformance-15-october-2026/
Closing The Gap
October 20-22, 2026.
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A.
https://www.closingthegap.com/conference/
ASSETS 2026
October 25-28, 2026.
Porto, Portugal
https://assets26.sigaccess.org/
+05: HTML.
The 4 Hs of HTML
By Álvaro Montoro.
"As diamonds are defined by the 4 Cs, HTML has 4 Hs that are important and present in every page and, more often than not, get confused by designers and developers…"
https://alvaromontoro.com/blog/68111/the-4-hs-of-html
Figure, Video, Figcaption, and Accessibility
By Schalk Neethling.
"…A video is not made accessible by the markup we wrap around it. It is made accessible by the alternatives we provide to people who are blind or have low vision, people who are deaf or hard of hearing, and people who would simply rather read…"
https://schalkneethling.com/posts/figure-figcaption-video-and-accessibility/
+06: INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE.
Designing IA for Long-Term Findability: What Happens After Launch?
By The UX Bulletin.
"…Use labels that scale: Favor flexible, user-centered language over trendy or internal terms…"
https://www.ux-bulletin.com/information-architecture-for-findability/
Information Architecture - Secret to Converting Complexity into Clarity
By Nikhil Vij.
"Findability precedes usability. In the alphabet and on the Web. You can't use what you can't find. - Peter Morville."
https://www.netsolutions.com/insights/information-architecture/
+07: MISCELLANEOUS.
The Hidden Cost of Mental Clutter at Work-and How to Clean It Up
By Ingrid Pope.
"…The real exhaustion comes from constant email anxiety, disrupted thinking through endless distractions, or self-sabotaging inner chatter running in the background all day long. It is this mental clutter that gets in the way of effectiveness…The impact of mental clutter spreads far beyond individual stress levels and directly affects how an organization functions…"
https://www.fastcompany.com/91584354/the-hidden-cost-of-mental-clutter-at-work-and-how-to-clean-it-up-leadership-performance-mental-clutter
Disability, Meta Glasses, Datasets, and MAiD
By Nicolas Steenhout.
"Nothing About Us Without Us shouldn't start only after someone else, very often a non-disabled person or institution, has already decided that what they're doing is about us."
https://buttondown.com/nic-steenhout/archive/disability-meta-glasses-datasets-and-maid/
+08: NAVIGATION.
The Bypass Mechanism Screen Reader Users Still Don't Have
By Neil Osman.
"…People are entitled to move past content that doesn't serve them without being forced through it a piece at a time, the same as keyboard users already are for repeated blocks…"
https://www.neilosman.com/posts/bypass-block-mechanism/
Content Formatting Guidelines for LLMs vs Google Search
By Kessler West.
"Getting cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google's AI Overviews depends less on keywords or backlinks than on how well a machine can parse the page…"
https://silktide.com/blog/getting-cited-in-llms-vs-google-search/
[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.]
- Volume 27, Issue 10, September 1, 2026.
An email newsletter to distribute news and information about web design and development.
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: INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE.
07: MISCELLANEOUS.
08: NAVIGATION.
SECTION TWO:
09: What Can You Find at the Web Design Reference Site?
[Contents ends.]
++ SECTION ONE: New references.
+01: ACCESSIBILITY.
Is It Time to Get Ready for WCAG 3? Let's Read It Together
By Natalie MacLees.
"It's a fair question, and you have probably run into some very confident answers. Search for it and you will find articles explaining the new Bronze, Silver, and Gold conformance levels, the scoring system, and exactly how your team should prepare. Plenty of them were published this year. Then you open the actual draft, and it does not quite say that…"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd82ZiwmY9o
The 2.1.1 "Specific Timings" Clause
By Adrian Roselli.
"…All functionality of the content is operable through a keyboard interface without requiring specific timings for individual keystrokes…"
https://adrianroselli.com/2026/08/the-2-1-1-specific-timings-clause.html
A11y 101 - 4.1.3 Status Messages
By Nat Tarnoff.
"…Status messages are how we say, ‘I heard you. I'm working on it. Here's what happened.'…"
https://tarnoff.info/2026/08/31/a11y-101-4-1-3-status-messages/
Where Usability Testing and Accessibility Audits Overlap
By Kessler West.
"…Technically compliant and actually usable are not the same…"
https://silktide.com/blog/accessibility-vs-usability-testing/
Choosing the Right Tool for Accessible Forms: When a Fillable PDF Makes Sense
By Minnesota IT Services.
"When your team creates a digital form for employees or the public, it may be tempting to begin by asking, 'Should we use an online form or a fillable PDF?' The right answer depends on the form's purpose and how people will use it…"
https://mn.gov/mnit/media/blog/index.jsp?id=38-766210
+02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.
prefers-reduced-motion, Explained (And How to Test It)
By Kevin Fröba.
"prefers-reduced-motion is the CSS media feature that tells your site whether the person using it has asked their device for less animation. Honoring it is the single most important thing you can do for motion accessibility…"
https://motionspec.dev/blog/prefers-reduced-motion
+03: EVALUATION & TESTING.
5 Ways to Use Rapport When Moderating
By Jenna Herring and Jeff Sauro.
"…Rapport is supposed to make honesty easier, but push it too far and it does the opposite…"
https://measuringu.com/five-ways-to-use-rapport-when-moderating/
+04: EVENTS.
Web & AI International Standards Seminar on Generative UI and WebSkill
September 6, 2026, 13:30-17:30 China Standard Time
Shenzhen, China
https://www.w3.org/events/conferences/2026/web-ai-international-standards-seminar-generative-ui-and-webskill/
https://labs.w3.org/beihang/signup/web-ai-ccf-shenzhen-2026-09
Know Where You Stand: Understanding Your Digital Accessibility Position with David Sloan and Stephen Cutchins
September 10, 2026.
Online
https://vispero.com/lp/understanding-your-digital-accessibility-position/
US Digital Accessibility Laws and Resources: Follow-Up Q&A
September 22, 2026.
Online
https://www.accessibilityonline.org/ADA-Audio/session?id=111231
Accessibility Careers, Recruitment and Mentoring with Amanda Mace, Rachael Bradley Montgomery, and Sheri Byrne-Haber
September 23, 11 a.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST)
Online
https://events.humanitix.com/ozewai-accessibility-careers-recruitment-mentoring-ask-the-professionals-september-2026
WCAG Success Criteria and Conformance with Eric Eggert, Patrick Lauke, Sarah Puli, and Gian Wild
October 15, 2026.
Online
https://ozewai.org/blog/local-events/wcag-success-criteria-and-conformance-15-october-2026/
Closing The Gap
October 20-22, 2026.
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A.
https://www.closingthegap.com/conference/
ASSETS 2026
October 25-28, 2026.
Porto, Portugal
https://assets26.sigaccess.org/
+05: HTML.
The 4 Hs of HTML
By Álvaro Montoro.
"As diamonds are defined by the 4 Cs, HTML has 4 Hs that are important and present in every page and, more often than not, get confused by designers and developers…"
https://alvaromontoro.com/blog/68111/the-4-hs-of-html
Figure, Video, Figcaption, and Accessibility
By Schalk Neethling.
"…A video is not made accessible by the markup we wrap around it. It is made accessible by the alternatives we provide to people who are blind or have low vision, people who are deaf or hard of hearing, and people who would simply rather read…"
https://schalkneethling.com/posts/figure-figcaption-video-and-accessibility/
+06: INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE.
Designing IA for Long-Term Findability: What Happens After Launch?
By The UX Bulletin.
"…Use labels that scale: Favor flexible, user-centered language over trendy or internal terms…"
https://www.ux-bulletin.com/information-architecture-for-findability/
Information Architecture - Secret to Converting Complexity into Clarity
By Nikhil Vij.
"Findability precedes usability. In the alphabet and on the Web. You can't use what you can't find. - Peter Morville."
https://www.netsolutions.com/insights/information-architecture/
+07: MISCELLANEOUS.
The Hidden Cost of Mental Clutter at Work-and How to Clean It Up
By Ingrid Pope.
"…The real exhaustion comes from constant email anxiety, disrupted thinking through endless distractions, or self-sabotaging inner chatter running in the background all day long. It is this mental clutter that gets in the way of effectiveness…The impact of mental clutter spreads far beyond individual stress levels and directly affects how an organization functions…"
https://www.fastcompany.com/91584354/the-hidden-cost-of-mental-clutter-at-work-and-how-to-clean-it-up-leadership-performance-mental-clutter
Disability, Meta Glasses, Datasets, and MAiD
By Nicolas Steenhout.
"Nothing About Us Without Us shouldn't start only after someone else, very often a non-disabled person or institution, has already decided that what they're doing is about us."
https://buttondown.com/nic-steenhout/archive/disability-meta-glasses-datasets-and-maid/
+08: NAVIGATION.
The Bypass Mechanism Screen Reader Users Still Don't Have
By Neil Osman.
"…People are entitled to move past content that doesn't serve them without being forced through it a piece at a time, the same as keyboard users already are for repeated blocks…"
https://www.neilosman.com/posts/bypass-block-mechanism/
Content Formatting Guidelines for LLMs vs Google Search
By Kessler West.
"Getting cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google's AI Overviews depends less on keywords or backlinks than on how well a machine can parse the page…"
https://silktide.com/blog/getting-cited-in-llms-vs-google-search/
[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.]
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
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
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