Web Design Update: March 31, 2026.

[Laura Carlson]

+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 26, Issue 40, March 31, 2026.

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

++ISSUE 40 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: EVALUATION & TESTING.
03: EVENTS.
04: MISCELLANEOUS.
05: NAVIGATION.
06: USABILITY.

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

[Contents ends.]


++ SECTION ONE: New references.

+01: ACCESSIBILITY.

Designing for People With Low Vision
By Ian Lloyd.
"…Low vision affects millions of people worldwide, yet it's often overlooked in the design process. The design choices we make, from how we emphasise content to where we position controls, can either empower people to customise their experience or create unnecessary barriers. By understanding these impacts and designing with flexibility in mind, we can create interfaces that truly work for everyone."
https://tetralogical.com/blog/2026/03/24/designing-for-people-with-low-vision/

Unpacking the Accessibility Trap of Google Slides' "Beautify" Feature
By Liz Hogrefe.
"…This of course renders most screen readers useless as there is no longer text for screen readers to ingest…"
https://blogs.swarthmore.edu/its/2026/03/25/unpacking-the-accessibility-trap-of-google-slides-beautify-feature/

Focus Indicators 101: A Simple Guide for Developers (Video)
By Pope Tech.
"A lot of developers accidentally break keyboard navigation with outline: none. Here is how you can restore it while maintaining your site's aesthetic…"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT-MWywxv74

A11y 101: 2.5.7 Dragging Movements
By Nat Tarnoff.
"…2.5.7 is a reminder that convenience shouldn't come at the cost of access. Drag-and-drop can be a great feature, but it should never be the only way to accomplish a task."
http://tarnoff.info/2026/03/30/a11y-101-2-5-7-dragging-movements/

3 Reasons Why You Should Care About Document Accessibility
By Jonathan Hassell.
"In this article, Jonathan Hassell, CEO at digital accessibility specialists, Hassell Inclusion, looks at three reasons why document accessibility should be mandatory for marketers.…"
https://www.thedrum.com/industry-insight/three-reasons-why-you-should-care-about-document-accessibility

Dreaming of Accessible Development: Annotated Wishes for Designers & Devs (Video)
By Osborne Rodriguez.
This talk explores actionable strategies and best practices for achieving accessible development by outlining key wishes and effective annotation techniques for designers and developers to enhance collaboration and inclusivity in digital product creation.
https://a11ytalks.com/posts/2026-mar

InDesign Styles, Unlock the Accessibility Potential (Video)
By Malin Hammarberg.
"…you will learn the essential style techniques: paragraph styles, character styles, export tags, and language settings. Discover why they matter, when to use which styles, avoid common mistakes, and what to check before export. Styles aren't just for formatting - they're your accessibility superpower…"
https://stiftelsenfunka.org/whats-up/free-friday-webinars/indesign-styles-an-accessibility-superpower/

Bad Example: Timesheet Submit Button
By Rachele DiTullio.
"…Please, just use a <button> for submitting forms."
https://racheleditullio.com/blog/2026/03/bad-example-timesheet-submit-button/

What Is a Digital Accessibility Audit?
By Equal Entry.
"A digital accessibility audit shows how well your product works for people with disabilities and anyone using accessibility tools…"
https://equalentry.com/digital-accessibility-audit/

The Accessibility Problem Isn't Design. It's Engineering.
By Chris Gibbons.
"…It isn't about awareness. It's about who's writing the front-end code, and whether they're qualified to write it…"
https://gbbns.co/journal/accessibility-problem-isnt-design/

Why You Shouldn't Trust the People Who Built Your Inaccessible Site to Fix It
By Sheri Byrne-Haber.
"…It's no different than someone throwing sugar in your gas tank at a gas station and then offering to sell you a new engine…"
https://buttondown.com/access-ability/archive/why-you-shouldn-t-trust-the-people-who-built-your/

Accessibility Law of Headlines
By Adrian Roselli.
"Betteridge's law of headlines states that any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no. For at least the digital accessibility landscape, I would like to amend it, fork it, whatever it: 'Any headline that asserts a thing is accessible is wrong.'"
https://adrianroselli.com/2026/03/accessibility-law-of-headlines.html

Fidelity and Elan Show Zero Accountability for Accessibility
By Kelly Ford.
"This is a textbook example of a complete lack of accountability from both Fidelity Investments and Elan Financial Services for a fundamental accessibility failure…"
https://theideaplace.net/fidelity-and-elan-show-zero-accountability-for-accessibility

Applying Accessibility Fixes With Stealth for the Greater Good
By Steve Frenzel.
"…The work is not done if the thing we are working on cannot be operated with a keyboard…"
https://piccalil.li/blog/applying-accessibility-fixes-with-stealth-for-the-greater-good/

WCAG a vs AA, Outdated Accessibility Statements, and More!
By Nicolas Steenhout.
"…Level AA isn't a nice-to-have upgrade - it's the baseline for creating experiences that disabled people can actually use…"
https://buttondown.com/nic-steenhout/archive/wcag-a-vs-aa-outdated-accessibility-statements/

ADA Title II Update: What We Know, What We Don't, and What to Do Now
By Glenda Sims.
"Pausing accessibility work does not reduce legal risk. It increases existing risk and can introduce new risk…"
https://www.deque.com/blog/ada-title-ii-update-what-we-know-what-we-dont-and-what-to-do-now/

Beware of "AI" Accessibility Audits
By Karl Groves.
"…This is not just ordinary inaccuracy. It is counterfeit expertise. The system produces something that looks like competent work while quietly severing itself from the source evidence…"
https://afixt.com/beware-of-ai-audits/


+02: EVALUATION & TESTING.

How UX Teams Misread Usability Test Results (And What to Do Instead)
By Ahmad Benny.
"…This guide rips apart the three most common interpretation traps in UX research and shows you how to stop looking for validation and start seeing the truth.his guide rips apart the three most common interpretation traps in UX research and shows you how to stop looking for validation and start seeing the truth…"
https://www.loop11.com/how-ux-teams-misread-usability-test-results-and-what-to-do-instead/

By How to Use Banner Tables to Present Survey Results
By Jim Lewis and Jeff Sauro.
"…When used appropriately, banner tables provide an efficient way to summarize survey results across multiple segments."
https://measuringu.com/how-to-use-banner-tables-to-present-survey-results/


+03: EVENTS.

Meeting Title II Accessibility Requirements: How the Compliance Impact People, What to Build (and Avoid), and the Key Decisions to Make During Development
April 1, 2026.
Online
https://accessingenuity.com/pages/webinar/meeting-title-ii-accessibility-requirements-how-the-compliance-impact-people-what-to-build-and-avoid-and-the-key-decisions-to-make-during-development-digital-accessibility-webinar

How Do Organisations Succeed in Accessibility? (IAAP)
April 15, 2026.
Online
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_oVKLBJ1BQum4xDKvkB7hkA?_gl=1*2x3ft9*_gcl_au*NzQ1ODU1MDQxLjE3NzQ0MTg2MDYuMTk2MDQ5ODc5My4xNzc0NDE4NjA4LjE3NzQ0MTg2MDc.*_ga*MTQ5Nzc0NjQ4LjE3NTU4NDQwMzg.*_ga_L8TBF28DDX*czE3NzQ1MDU4OTgkbzExNyRnMSR0MTc3NDUwNTkwMiRqNTYkbDAkaDA.#/registration

Writing Alt Text for the Humanities
April 16, 2026.
Online
https://umn.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_QIQ75n7aTJKZcq1rpv3abw#/registration

Meets Style Sheets
May 6, 2026.
Online
https://smashingconf.com/meets-style-sheets

a11yTO Camp 2026
May 9, 2026.
Toronto, Canada
https://camp.a11yto.com/

Open Source Assistive Technology Hackathon
May 21, 2026.
San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/open-source-assistive-technology-hackathon-tickets-1984064378967


+04: MISCELLANEOUS.

Mike [TM] Smith AKA Sideshowbarker - Fireside
By Steve Faulkner.
@SteveF...@mastodon.social
"I have known Mike and worked on stuff with him for almost 20 years. Without Mike's friendship, support and mentorship I would not have been able to get the main element into HTML and more importantly, implemented in browsers. Mike works at the W3C and has done as long as I have known him. He previously worked at Opera, when they had a browser engine…"
https://html5accessibility.com/stuff/2026/03/29/miketmsmith-aka-sideshowbarker-fireside/

Use of Large Language Models in Standards Work
Hidde de Vries and Elena Lape, Editors
"As Large Language Models (LLMs) become increasingly synonymous with 'AI', and are used by people within our community, we want to highlight considerations around different ways in which LLMs can be useful or problematic when it comes to leveraging them in standards work at W3C…"
https://www.w3.org/TR/llms-standards/


+05: NAVIGATION.

There's No Need to Include "Navigation" in Your Navigation Labels
By Martin Underhill.
"Including the word 'navigation' in your <nav> labels. There's no need…[it's] unnecessarily repetitive for screen reader users."
https://www.tempertemper.net/blog/theres-no-need-to-include-navigation-in-your-navigation-labels

The Site-Search Paradox: Why The Big Box Always Wins
By Carrie Webster.
"Success in modern UX isn't about having the most content. It's about having the most findable content. Yet even with more data and better tools than ever, internal search often fails, leaving users to rely on global search engines to find a single page on a local site. Why does the 'Big Box' still win, and how can we bring users back?…"
https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2026/03/site-search-paradox-why-big-box-always-wins/


+06: USABILITY.

Gestalt Principles: Design Intuitive Interfaces (Video)
By Tanner Kohler.
"Ever look at a design and know something feels off… but you can't explain why? Gestalt principles give you the language and framework to figure it out…"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGZ2jUvBf1w


[Section one ends.]


++ SECTION TWO:

+07: 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.]

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