Web Design Update: February 4, 2025

[Laura Carlson]

+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 25, Issue, February 4, 2025.

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

++ISSUE 32 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: TYPOGRAPHY.
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.

Tooltips are Presentational
By James Edwards.
"The ARIA tooltip role is functionally useless and semantically
meaningless. The only legitimate use-case for tooltips is to show
information that's already accessibly defined. So tooltips only
benefit sighted users, and are therefore presentational…"
https://www.tpgi.com/tooltips-are-presentational/

Accessibility Tooling and Good Intentions
By Heather Buchel.
"Your accessibility tooling deserves the same first class treatment as
the rest of your stack…"
https://heather-buchel.com/blog/2025/01/accessibility-tooling/

Generating Image Descriptions and Alt-Text With AI
By Dries Buytaert.
"I tested 12 LLMs - 10 running locally and 2 cloud-based - to assess
their accuracy in generating alt-text for images…"
https://dri.es/generating-image-descriptions-and-alt-text-with-ai
GitHub:
https://github.com/dbuytaert/image-caption/

Join the Discussion-From Your Inbox
By George Joeckel.
"Which WebAIM resource had its 25th birthday on November 1, 2024? The
answer is our Web Accessibility Email Discussion List…"
https://webaim.org/blog/join-the-discussion/

Highlights From the Fiscal Year 2024 Government-Wide Section 508
Assessment (Video)
By ADA Great Lakes Center.
"In late 2022, Congress enacted the Consolidated Appropriations Act,
Section 752, requiring the General Services Administration (GSA), in
consultation with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), to report
annually on the Section 508 compliance of the federal government and
each federal agency. The presenters will review an overview of the
2024 report to Congress, including the assessment criteria, survey
results, and a highlight of key recommendations…"
https://www.accessibilityonline.org/cioc-508/archives/111147

The Politics of Accessibility
By Brian DeConinck.
"After last November, I heard a number of people in my professional
life say things like 'good UX isn't political' or 'building products
that work for everyone isn't political' or even 'accessibility isn't
political'…"
https://www.briandeconinck.com/the-politics-of-accessibility/

The DOJ Provides Practical Guidance on How to Implement a Digital
Accessibility Program
By Seyfarth Shaw.
"he DOJ's new step-by-step guidance for state and local governments on
how to comply with new regulations that mandate accessible web content
is also useful for public accommodations looking to make their
websites and mobile apps accessible to individuals with disabilities…"
https://www.adatitleiii.com/2025/01/the-doj-provides-practical-guidance-on-how-to-implement-a-digital-accessibility-program/

New DOJ Title II Web Accessibility Guidance
By Ken Nakata.
"…This post reviews the good and the bad in the guidance. While
complying with the new rule is required, nothing in the new guidance
document is mandatory. Instead, the document is intended as high-level
guidance to help state and local governments comply with the new
regulation…"
https://convergeaccessibility.com/2025/01/30/new-doj-title-ii-web-accessibility-guidance/

Which U.S. States Have Digital Accessibility Laws? A Comprehensive List
By Lily Clark.
"…we provide a brief overview of U.S. federal digital accessibility
law, along with a list of digital accessibility laws and policies in
each state…s"
https://onlineada.com/articles/which-u-s-states-have-digital-accessibility-laws-a-comprehensive-list/


+02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.

CSS Nesting: Use With Caution
By Andy Bell.
"…There are features that fill me with dread though and right at the
top of that list is native CSS nesting. I know that opinion will be
rather unpopular, but the whole deal of the site is front-end
education for the real world, so I'm here to provide that for you
today…"
https://piccalil.li/blog/css-nesting-use-with-caution/

The Mistakes of CSS
By Juan Diego Rodríguez.
"Surely you have seen a CSS property and thought 'Why?'…"
https://css-tricks.com/the-mistakes-of-css/


+03: EVALUATION & TESTING.

Accessibility Research Frequently Asked Questions
By Fable.
"There's a misconception that accessibility research is complex and
requires new skills and a large shift in how research is conducted. In
fact, many UX research methods also apply to accessibility research.
But, having questions about kickstarting a new process is natural - so
we've got expert answers…"
https://makeitfable.com/article/accessibility-research-faqs/

3 Ways to Test Your Survey (Video)
By Maddie Brown.
"Test your survey with three methods: Cognitive Walkthroughs check
question clarity with target users, Mechanical Tests ensure software
functions like skip logic, and Usability Tests observe real user
interaction."
https://www.nngroup.com/videos/3-ways-to-test-surveys/

Measures of Central Tendency 101 (Video)
By Rachel Banawa.
"Discover how mean, median, and mode can impact your UX insights.
Learn 3 key tips to consider when deciding which one to use for your
data."
https://www.nngroup.com/videos/measures-of-central-tendency-101/


+04: EVENTS.

Web Accessibility Challenges Webinar with Lucy Greco
February 11, 2025.
Online
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/VEXZKMMCTF-varR9octW0w#/registration

Ask the Professionals: W3C Digital Accessibility Maturity Model
February 14, 2025.
Online
https://events.humanitix.com/ozewai-online-event-ask-the-professionals-14-february-2025

International JavaScript Conference London
May 12-14, 2025.
Online and London, England, United Kingdom
https://javascript-conference.com/london/


+05: HTML.

Foundations: Grouping Forms With <fieldset> and <legend>
By Demelza Feltham.
"In this post, we explore how to use the <fieldset> and <legend>
elements to group and label form elements effectively, creating a more
accessible and well-structured experience…"
https://tetralogical.com/blog/2025/01/31/foundations-fieldset-and-legend/

HTML Element Test File Index
By Steve Faulkner.
"Last updated 03 February 2025…"
https://stevefaulkner.github.io/AT-browser-tests/


+06: JAVASCRIPT.

How to Use ARIA Alert Effectively
By Florian Schroiff.
"Boost web accessibility with ARIA alerts. Learn best practices, avoid
pitfalls, and ensure compatibility across browsers and assistive
tech…"
https://www.a11y-collective.com/blog/aria-alert/

Notes on Google Search Now Requiring JavaScript
By Jim Nielsen.
"…Requiring JavaScript is all about control…"
https://blog.jim-nielsen.com/2025/javascript-required/


+07: TYPOGRAPHY.

Relative Units & Typography
By OddBird.
"Join Miriam Suzanne, Stacy Kvernmo, and special guest Alan Stearns -
typography enthusiast, co-chair of the CSS Working Group, and
self-described CSS Panjandrum - for a conversation about typography…"
https://www.oddbird.net/2025/01/24/winging-it-15/


+08: USABILITY.

Why Customers Hate Chatbots (And Why You Should Too)
By Louise North.
"Chatbots were supposed to revolutionize customer service. Instead,
they've become a symbol of frustration and disconnection…"
https://webdesignerdepot.com/why-customers-hate-chatbots-and-why-you-should-too/


+09: WEBWASTE & SUSTAINABILITY.

How Do We Work Out the Environmental Savings From Accessibility? (Slides)
By Chris Adam.
Chris' FOSDEM slides:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/12DZnZsbtCrJ9K5iM8Th3CDiV1CRQLh08XOZ8NrN5O8c/

The Internet's Invisible Carbon Footprint
By Xavier Harding.
"Did you know that writing an email can send 17 grams or more of
carbon dioxide into the atmosphere? Or that going audio-only on Zoom
calls reduces carbon emissions by up to 96%?…"
https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/blog/ai-internet-carbon-footprint/

Frugal Machine Learning: Making AI More Efficient, Accessible, and Sustainable
By Taro Yamada.
"…This paper presents a comprehensive survey on the emerging field of
frugal machine learning, highlighting key approaches, challenges, and
future research directions. We classify frugal techniques into
categories such as model efficiency, data efficiency, and hardware
efficiency, and provide an overview of notable methods and their
applications. We also discuss open problems and potential avenues for
advancing FML…"
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5012869

AI Will Spew Gas Fumes for Years Before the Nuclear Revolution Takes Of
By Matthew Gault.
"Nuclear reactors take a long time to build and Big Tech will use gas
power to bridge the gap and meet its energy demands…"
https://gizmodo.com/ai-will-spew-gas-fumes-for-years-before-the-nuclear-revolution-takes-off-2000550092


[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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+ 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.]