Web Design Update: December 16, 2025

[Laura Carlson]

+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 26, Issue 25, December 16, 2025.

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

++ISSUE 25 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: BOOKS.
03: DRUPAL.
04: EVALUATION & TESTING.
05: EVENTS.
06: HTML.
07: JAVASCRIPT.
08: MISCELLANEOUS.
09: TOOLS.
10: TYPOGRAPHY.
11: WEBWASTE & SUSTAINABILITY.
12: XML.

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

[Contents ends.]


++ SECTION ONE: New references.

+01: ACCESSIBILITY.

Meeting WCAG Is an Achievement
By Eric Eggert.
"A notion that I always hear and have heard for a long time is that
meeting the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) feels like not
doing enough for accessibility1 . And that's true from a certain view.
The goal of WCAG is not to create super accessible sites, it's to
ensure basic accessibility for a wide range of users…"
https://yatil.net/blog/meeting-wcag-is-an-achievement

The Most Common Cognitive Barriers in Digital Experiences
By Fable.
"When it comes to cognitive accessibility, many common design patterns
create friction. Here are some common challenges that make digital
experiences harder to use for this audience…"
https://makeitfable.com/community-content/common-cognitive-barriers-in-digital-experiences/

Accessibility as a Core Requirement
By Michael Harshbarger.
"When accessibility moves from 'nice to have' to 'non-functional
requirement,' everything changes: how you plan, how you manage risk,
and how customers experience the product…"
https://michaelharshbarger.com/insights/accessibility-core-requirement.html

A11y Considerations in Math on the Web
By Manuel Sánchez.
"Maybe it has happened to you that you wanted to write some formulas
in HTML to display on a website, and even though there are multiple
ways to do it, accessibility is often not considered in the process.
How the formula is read by screen readers is crucial to ensure that we
don't leave anyone behind…"
https://htmhell.dev/adventcalendar/2025/12/

Are You Fixing the Wrong Thing? (Podcast)
By Chad Chelius and Dax Castro.
"Are you spending hours 'fixing' things in a PDF that your screen
reader users will never notice? In this episode Chad Chelius and Dax
Castro ask a hard question: Are you fixing the wrong thing?"
https://a11ychax.libsyn.com/are-you-fixing-the-wrong-thing

Common Misconceptions About WCAG
By Ela Gorla.
"…the way the guidelines are discussed often leads to mixed
assumptions about what they cover and how they should be used"…"
https://tetralogical.com/blog/2025/12/10/common-misconceptions-about-wcag/

Complying With WCAG Is Not All for Websites: Accessibility Issues and
Solutions Faced by Users With Dyslexia When Accessing WCAG-Compliant
Websites
By Jianan Lyu.
"…The results show that compliance with WCAG guidelines does not automatically
translate into genuine accessibility for users with dyslexia…"
https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A2015804

A11y 101: 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (Minimum)
By Nat Tarnoff.
"Modern dynamic websites use layers of content on a page. We have
tooltips, popups, dialogs, menus, navigation, and modals that bring
more functionality by using these layers. But they can introduce a
problem for keyboard-only users when focus can fall on content
underneath. Let's explore how this can resolved…"
https://tarnoff.info/2025/12/08/a11y-101-2-4-11-focus-not-obscured-minimum/

Testing Methods: Language of Page
By Dennis Deacon.
"WCAG 3.1.1 Language of Page ensures each web page's primary language
is programmatically identifiable, enabling screen readers, translation
tools, and text-to-speech technologies to function accurately. A
hybrid testing approach, automated, AI-based, and manual, ensures full
compliance and accessibility."
https://www.dennisdeacon.com/web/accessibility/testing-methods-language-of-page/

Testing Methods: Language of Parts
By Dennis Deacon.
"WCAG 3.1.2 Language of Parts ensures multilingual content is
programmatically identifiable, enabling assistive technologies to
switch languages accurately. A hybrid testing approach, automated,
AI-based, and manual, ensures correct pronunciation, accessibility,
and an inclusive user experience."
https://www.dennisdeacon.com/web/accessibility/testing-methods-language-of-parts/

Testing Methods: Unusual Words
By Dennis Deacon.
"WCAG 3.1.3 ensures content with uncommon, specialized, or idiomatic
words is clarified for all users. A hybrid testing approach, automated
scanning, AI analysis, and manual review, identifies and explains
unusual words, enhancing comprehension, inclusivity, and real-world
accessibility."
https://www.dennisdeacon.com/web/accessibility/testing-methods-unusual-words/

Testing Methods: Abbreviations
By Dennis Deacon.
"WCAG 3.1.4 Abbreviations ensures all users can understand acronyms,
initialisms, and shorthand by providing clear definitions. A hybrid
testing approach, combining automated scans, AI analysis, and manual
review, ensures accuracy, accessibility, and clarity for diverse
audiences."
https://www.dennisdeacon.com/web/accessibility/testing-methods-abbreviations/

Testing Methods: Reading Level
By Dennis Deacon.
"A hybrid approach to WCAG 3.1.5 Reading Level combines automated
scanning, AI-driven contextual analysis, and manual review. This
method ensures content is readable, audience-focused, and inclusive,
balancing efficiency, precision, and real-world accessibility for all
users."
https://www.dennisdeacon.com/web/accessibility/testing-methods-reading-level/

Testing Methods: Pronunciation
By Dennis Deacon.
"A hybrid testing approach for WCAG 3.1.6 Pronunciation combines
automation, AI, and human expertise to ensure accuracy and
inclusivity. Automation scans broadly, AI adds contextual insight, and
manual validation ensures linguistic precision and meaningful
accessibility outcomes…"
https://www.dennisdeacon.com/web/accessibility/testing-methods-pronunciation/

W3C Web Accessibility Initiative: 2025 Year in Review
By Scott Hollier.
"…While there's always a need to be vigilant in improvement, it's
great to see the W3C continuing its work in the Web Accessibility
Initiative (WAI) to support people with disability in its online
content…"
https://www.accessibility.org.au/w3c-web-accessibility-initiative-2025-year-in-review/

Using the Browser Console for Accessibility Testing
By Russ Weakley.
"With a few lines of JavaScript, you can highlight headings, outline
landmarks, check image alternatives, inspect accessible names, and
much more - on any page. This guide includes 11 copy-and-paste
snippets you can run right away…"
https://www.maxdesign.com.au/articles/console.html

What Does Hidden Actually Mean in Accessible Name Computation?
By Russ Weakley.
"One important part of the Accessible Name and Description Computation
specification defines what it means for something to be considered
hidden during that calculation…"
https://www.maxdesign.com.au/articles/hidden-content.html

How Does the Shadow DOM Appear in the Accessibility Tree?
By Russ Weakley.
"Browsers face a problem: screen readers need to understand what's
inside web components. Without flattening, screen readers would not be
able to see the real anything inside the shadow root…"
https://www.maxdesign.com.au/articles/the-shadow-dom.html

Don't Fall Into the "Accessibility Grade/Score" Trap
By Sheri Byrne-Haber.
"In the rush to make digital products accessible, many teams lean on a
single accessibility score or grade to convey how good (or bad) a
product is from the accessibility point of view…"
https://buttondown.com/access-ability/archive/dont-fall-into-the-accessibility-gradescore-trap/

Is Vibe Coding Vibing With Accessibility?
By Researchers, IDEA Lab, University of Michigan.
"Help Us Test New Guidelines for Accessible Vibe Coding…"
https://idea11y.dev/VibeCheck/


+02: BOOKS.

* Smith, Kel. Moving Technology Forward without Leaving People Behind,
Morgan Kaufmann, 2026.


+03: COLOR & CONTRAST.

Accessibility Contrast Disagreement Explorer (APCA vs WCAG)
By Mike Gifford.
"Explore how different color combinations respond to APCA & WCAG
testing. Note: APCA is still evolving and different models may provide
different results…"
https://mgifford.github.io/apca-wcag2/


+04: EVALUATION & TESTING.

Adapting UX Research for Neurodiversity and Cognitive Disabilities
By Fable.
"…We identified five areas where small but meaningful changes can make
research more effective and inclusive for cognitive testers…Avoid
hypothetical questions…Build rapport and be clear about purpose…Prompt
frequently to keep cognitive participants on task …Prioritize
moderated sessions for best results…Adapt talk aloud protocols to
offer a do-first buffer…"
https://makeitfable.com/article/cognitive-accessibility-pilot-case-study/

Common Journey Mapping Mistakes (Video)
By Sarah Gibbons.
"Journey mapping often goes wrong when teams use broad scopes, skip
research, or forget user need. Clarity, focus, and insight are key to
creating actionable UX maps."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIw-ooBJLS0

What Are UX Research Deliverables?
By Jeff Sauro and Jim Lewis.
"…Here's a list of common UX research deliverables classified as
interim, final, and artifacts…"
https://measuringu.com/what-are-ux-deliverables/


+05: EVENTS.

The Accessibility Meetup-Triangle Style
December 16, 2025.
Morrisville, North Carolina, U.S.A.
https://www.meetup.com/durham-raleigh-a11y/events/309801827/

Every Jira Ticket Is Your Accessibility Policy
February 3, 2026.
Online and New York, New York, U.S.A.
https://www.meetup.com/a11ynyc/events/312256022/

DrupalCon 2026
March 23-26, 2026.
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
https://events.drupal.org/chicago2026

Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium
March 26-27, 2026
Baltimore Maryland, U.S.A.
https://nfb.org/programs-services/legal-program/jacobus-tenbroek-disability-law-symposium


+06: HTML.

The <time> Element Should Actually Do Something
By Nolan Lawson.
"…I'd love to see browsers and screen readers make use of <time> like
this. But for now, it's just kind of an inert relic of the early HTML5
days. I'll still use it, though, because (as Marge Simpson would say),
I just think it's neat."
https://nolanlawson.com/2025/12/14/the-time-element-should-actually-do-something/

Them's the Breaks
By Tyler Sticka.
" As commonplace as <br> is, it's rarely preferable to more semantic HTML…"
https://htmhell.dev/adventcalendar/2025/15/

Hell Is Other People's Markup
By Ian Lloyd.
"HTMLHell started as a site that showed some of the finest, and by
that I mean most awful, examples of crimes against markup the world
has to offer (and how these crimes can be put right)…"
https://htmhell.dev/adventcalendar/2025/13/

Windows Narrator HTML Support
By Grace Snow and Steve Faulkner.
"Screen reader HTML Support table update: the first release of Windows
Narrator HTML Support is now live…"
https://tetralogical.github.io/screen-reader-HTML-support/Narrator.html

That Time I Tried Explaining HTML and CSS to My 5-Year Old Niece
By Kevine Nzapdi.
"I would like to tell you what I learned from a five-year old child
about HTML and CSS…"
https://css-tricks.com/that-time-i-tried-explaining-html-and-css-to-my-5-year-old-niece/


+07: JAVASCRIPT.

a11y Freedom Beaver
By Steve Faulkner.
"The first rule originally appeared in 2012 Notes on using ARIA, it
was then moved to a new home Using ARIA…"
https://www.htmhell.dev/adventcalendar/2025/10/


+08: MISCELLANEOUS.

Get the Core Right and the Resilient Code Will Follow (Video)
By Andy Bell.
"More often than not, front-end developers will focus purely on
improving their technical skills. Andy is going to show you a better
way by demonstrating how you can produce simpler, more resilient
codebases by improving your planning and core skills. Specifically
improving how you provide and receive feedback from designer
colleagues…"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7sh-5UYnJc

In Conversation Fireside With Web Existentialist (Video)
By Steve Faulkner.
"Eric (Bailey) and I have crossed paths in the past, he is a thinker
and prodigious developer/advocate of accessibility practice and
disability rights. I had the honour of spending an hour with him
recently talking about disability, accessibility, politics, depression
and religion amongst other things…"
https://html5accessibility.com/stuff/2025/12/15/in-conversation-fireside-with-web-existentialist-eric-bailey-3-12-2025/


+09: TOOLS.

Cognitive Accessibility Toolkit
By Fable.
"This toolkit will help you make the most of cognitive accessibility
research with Fable Engage…"
https://makeitfable.com/tutorial/cognitive-accessibility/


+10: TYPOGRAPHY.

Accessibility is a Human Right, Cruelty a Human Wrong
By L. Jeffrey Zeldman.
"…this one small detail-a typographic change intended to make digital
communications just a bit harder for the disabled to read-encapsulates
the moronic sadism of this hateful administration…"
https://zeldman.com/2025/12/13/accessibility-is-a-human-right-cruelty-a-human-wrong/


+11: WEBWASTE & SUSTAINABILITY.

Web Sustainability Guidelines (WSG)
W3C Group Note Draft 15 December 2025
Alexander Dawson and Rose Newell, Editors.
"The Web Sustainability Guidelines (WSG) provide recommendations to
help digital teams make informed sustainable development decisions.
They cover the planetary, people, and prosperity PPP) principles of
digital products and services that organizations create and manage.
These cross-functional guidelines aim to improve the web overall,
including initiatives that leverage artificial intelligence and other
emerging technologies delivered via the web…"
https://www.w3.org/TR/web-sustainability-guidelines/


+12: XML.

The Wonderful World of Web Feeds
By Maureen Holland.
"Web feeds are incredible! And a bit confusing! Why are the feed links
often called 'RSS'? And why is this 'RSS' feed in an atom.xml file…
hang on, what is feed.json for? What are they even feeding into
anyway?…"
https://htmhell.dev/adventcalendar/2025/14/


[Section one ends.]


++ SECTION TWO:

+13: 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.]