+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 26, Issue 41, April 7, 2026.
An email newsletter to distribute news and information about web design and development.
++ISSUE 41 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: HTML.
06: JAVASCRIPT.
07: TOOLS.
08: USABILITY.
09: WEBWASTE & SUSTAINABILITY.
SECTION TWO:
10: What Can You Find at the Web Design Reference Site?
[Contents ends.]
++ SECTION ONE: New references.
+01: ACCESSIBILITY.
Screen Readers Are Not Testing Tools
By Eric Eggert.
Testing with assistive technologies is an important part of any accessibility review. However, especially when auditing against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), they should not be the primary tools to use for testing. Here's why:
https://yatil.net/blog/screen-readers-are-not-testing-tools
Designing for People Who Are Blind
By Graeme Coleman.
"When designing products and services, we often think in terms of their visual appearance. However, some people use digital content without being able to see it. This means we need to design interfaces that remain understandable, navigable, and controllable even when people are unable to perceive layout, colour, and spatial clues…"
https://tetralogical.com/blog/2026/04/02/designing-for-people-who-are-blind/
Making Emojis and Icons Screen Reader Accessible
By Elle Smith.
"…In this article, we're focusing on ways you can make sure your emojis and icons are accessible with screen readers.…"
https://blog.pope.tech/2026/04/01/making-emojis-and-icons-screen-reader-accessible/
A Simple Way to Make Instructions More Accessible
By Josh Crawford.
"…When you write instructions avoid using visual descriptors such as position, colour or shape. Instead, use names or labels to make them easier to comprehend and follow for everyone."
https://www.digitalaccesstraining.com/pages/articles?p=a-simple-way-to-make-instructions-more-accessible
A11y 101: 2.5.8 Target Size
By Nat Tarnoff.
"Here's a scenario I see all the time. A designer hands me a mockup with these elegant, tiny icons in a row; maybe a toolbar with edit, delete, and share buttons, each one maybe 16 pixels square. Looks clean. Minimal. Modern. Then I put my thumb on it. And I miss. Every. Single. Time…"
https://tarnoff.info/2026/04/06/a11y-101-2-5-8-target-size/
Locked Out: Why OTP and 2FA Often Fail Users with Disabilities
By Sheri Byrne-Haber.
"…Making OTP and 2FA accessible is not a one-step solution. It requires combining various approaches, such as offering method choices, extending time limits, creating clearly labeled and keyboard-navigable inputs, and testing with real disabled users…"
https://buttondown.com/access-ability/archive/locked-out-why-otp-and-2fa-often-fail-users-with/
AI Prototyping: Harder. Worser. Faster. Wronger.
By Anna E. Cook.
"We've gotten very good at producing things faster. But that doesn't mean we're producing the right things…"
https://annaecook.com/writing/2026/ai-prototyping-harder-worser-faster-wronger
Scaling Accessibility: Frontend Accessibility Architecture & Leadership
By Niharika Pujari.
"…In this talk, Niharika reframed accessibility as a frontend architecture concern and a leadership responsibility, not just an individual skill or compliance task…"
https://equalizedigital.com/scaling-accessibility-frontend-accessibility-architecture-leadership-niharika-pujari/
The WebAIM Million
By WebAIM.
"The 2026 update to WebAIM's annual analysis of the top one million home pages is available. This year saw an increase in detectable errors…"
https://webaim.org/projects/million/
This, Still Not for Everyone
By Matthias Ott.
"…Pages are getting more complex, ARIA usage is exploding (up 27% in a single year), and the same six types of errors … still account for 96% of all detected failures…"
https://matthiasott.com/notes/this-still-not-for-everyone
As DOJ Title II Deadline Looms, Some Gray Persists in Who Must Comply
By Jason Collins
"U.S. student media may face the same deadlines as state and local governments to meet accessibility requirements…"
https://the-word.news/2026/0402/student-news-title-ii/
ADA Title II Feedback - Higher Ed IT Accessibility Professionals (PDF from March 25 Meeting)
By Kyle Shachmut, Eudora Struble, and Kara Gaulrapp.
"…Weakening this rule would not remove the underlying legal obligation—it would only remove the clarity that helps institutions and practitioners succeed…"
Document linked from:
https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/viewEO12866Meeting?viewRule=true&rin=1190-AA82&meetingId=1340073&acronym=1190-DOJ/CRT
These Blind Students Say Their College Blocked Their Education. A New Rule Could Help
By Jonaki Mehta.
"…Just as stairs can exclude people who use wheelchairs from accessing government buildings, inaccessible web content and mobile apps can exclude people with a range of disabilities…"
https://www.npr.org/2026/04/06/nx-s1-5720191/digital-accessibility-college-education-disability
Accessibility Problems Hide Inside AI-Generated Websites
By Akinyele Akintomiwa Michael.
"The annual WebAIM Million report shows an overall backslide, but slight progress for news sites…"
https://the-word.news/2026/0402/accessibility-problems-hide-inside-ai-generated-websites/
Accessibility Overlays Create Problematic 'Quick-Fixes'
By Akinyele Akintomiwa Michael.
"Without fixing the foundation, overlays create disruption for some users, but fail to offer legal protection…"
https://the-word.news/2026/0402/accessibility-overlays-create-problematic-quick-fixes/
Legal Update: March 2026
By Ken Nakata.
"March brought a concentrated run of decisions touching nearly every phase of ADA web accessibility litigation — from what damages are actually recoverable after a Title II win, to how the work product doctrine protects counsel-directed audits, to the continuing incoherence of the nexus test in the Eleventh Circuit. One decision also moves overlay vendor liability from theory to live litigation…"
https://convergeaccessibility.com/2026/04/06/legal-update-march-2026-copy/
+02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.
CSS or BS?
By Keith Cirkel.
"We show you a CSS property name. You tell us if it's real or if we made it up. That's it. It starts easy. It does not stay easy…"
https://www.keithcirkel.co.uk/css-or-bs/
+03: EVALUATION & TESTING.
Bayes' Law in UX Research: The Power and Perils of Priors
By Jeff Sauro and Jim Lewis.
"…In this article, we explore the consequences of manipulating those prior probabilities in different ways."
https://measuringu.com/bayes-law-in-ux-research-the-power-and-perils-of-priors/
+04: EVENTS.
A11y Idaho Community of Practice
This month's topic: Accessibility checkers.
April 8, 2026.
Online
https://uidaho.zoom.us/meeting/register/6KkAkSMUSVqpyj8Pnf2GuA#/registration
CascadiaJS 2026
June 1-2, 2026.
Seattle, Washingtion, U.S.A.
https://cascadiajs.com/2026
UX London 2026
June 2-4, 2026.
London, England, United Kingdom
https://2026.uxlondon.com/
Resilient and Maintainable CSS with Miriam Suzanne
June 2-10, 2026.
Online
https://smashingconf.com/online-workshops/workshops/modern-css-miriam-suzanne/
UX Scotland
June 10-11 2026.
Edinburgh, Scotland
https://uxscotland.net/ux-scotland-2026
+05: HTML.
Semantic HTML Just Might Make Your CSS Less Fragile
By Schalk Neethling.
"A real-world exploration of how choosing the right HTML elements for interview transcripts solves both semantic and styling challenges in one cascading swoop…"
https://schalkneethling.com/posts/semantic-html-just-might-make-your-css-less-fragile/
+06: JAVASCRIPT.
A Bugbear About aria-label
By Martin Underhill.
"…So this is always text, and specifically about how software uses text to convey something to the user. It's about the underlying accessible name…"
https://www.tempertemper.net/blog/a-bugbear-about-aria-label
+07: TOOLS.
New Bookmarklet - Structure Revealer
By Ian Lloyd.
"…I wanted another way to visualise how a page is structured, but with the ability to switch off things that I don't need to see…"
https://a11y-tools.com/blog/2026/03/new-bookmarklet-structure-revealer/
Ask AIMee: An Accessible Accessibility-Focused AI Chatbot
By WebAIM.
"We're happy to introduce AIMee - an easy-to-use, AI-powered conversational chatbot focused on accessibility. AIMee has been designed to be highly accessible to users with disabilities. Ask her accessibility questions to get quick answers and guidance…
https://webaim.org/blog/ask-aimee/
+08: USABILITY.
Analyzing Good Designs: Figma's Shortcut (Video)
By Kelley Gordon.
"In Figma's Shortcut, typography and other elements are aligned to a grid, a clear visual hierarchy is established, and various design elements are used consistently in the design…"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1QKE9XOS0M
+09: WEBWASTE & SUSTAINABILITY.
Notes from "AI & the Future of Sustainability Reporting"
By Hidde de Vries.
"Today I was at an event on sustainability reporting. It was hosted by Digital Catapult and excellently moderated by Jo Lindsay Walton and Chanell Daniels…"
https://hidde.blog/ai-sustainability-reporting/
[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.
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+ 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:
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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.]