Web Design Update: May 20, 2025

[Laura Carlson]

+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 25, Issue, May 20, 2025.

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

++ISSUE 47 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: MISCELLANEOUS.
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.

Everything's More Complicated in Groups: Required Groups
By Alicia Evans.
"…In this post, I'll address one way in which groups are different
from individual fields: How to indicate when groups as required. Using
HTML, a little bit of ARIA , and visual indicators, this post will
explore how to communicate a required status for groups…"
https://www.tpgi.com/everythings-more-complicated-in-groups-required-groups/

A11y 101: 1.4.12 Text Spacing
By Nat Tarnoff.
"…First step is we stop setting dimensions for text (and containers) in pixels…"
http://tarnoff.info/2025/05/19/a11y-101-1-4-12-text-spacing/

A11y 101: How to Test Manually
By Nat Tarnoff.
"Too often, I see companies touting their high accessibility scores.
They use tools like aXe Core, Lighthouse, Access Engine, or other free
automated tools to derive them. But this only tells a part of the
story, and it doesn't even tell half of it. Let's explore what is
needed, why, and how we go about continuing the testing…"
http://tarnoff.info/2025/05/15/a11y-101-how-to-test-manually/

There Is No Spoon (Video)
By Léonie Watson.
"Generative AI can feel astonishingly real, but like the spoon in The
Matrix, it is nothing more than an illusion-patterns of probability
masquerading as truth. Just like Neo had to bend his mind to see
beyond the illusion, we must recognise that AI does not understand,
reason, or perceive reality; it just generates plausible facsimiles.
This talk will explore the relationship between humans and generative
AI, particularly in the realm of accessibility, where accuracy,
clarity, and real-world impact are critical. We'll examine the risks
and limitations, but also the extraordinary potenttesting…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyRxd072JrA

Third-Party Solutions & Accessibility - A Primer
By Dennis Deacon.
"As a Solutions Engineer at TPGi, I meet with prospective customers
new to digital accessibility on a regular basis to understand their
needs and scope out services, such as audits. And one topic that comes
up frequently is third-party solutions. And the customer push back in
including third-party solutions in scope for audits…"
https://www.dennisdeacon.com/web/accessibility/third-party-solutions-accessibility-a-primer/

Flipping the Script on Audio Description: Time to Think Outside the
Vox (Podcast)
By Thomas Reid.
"…It's time to think differently about access. It's time for an Access
Revolution… We're talking about access from all perspectives…"
https://reidmymind.com/

Defining RACI Roles for Improving Digital Accessibility
By Access Armada.
"…Creating a RACI matrix can clarify how different parts of the team
can contribute towards improving digital accessibility along with the
specific actions they should take…"
https://www.accessarmada.com/blog/defining-raci-roles-for-improving-digital-accessibility/

Accessible Content Management Systems (CMS) (Video)
By Australian Web Accessibility Initiative.
"Moderated by OZeWAI Committee Member Ricky Onsman (TPGi), featuring
Amber Hinds (Equalize Digital), Mike Gifford (CivicActions) and Ricky
Blacker (WPEngine)…"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TB54ksDnB8

Understanding the "Guidelines on Equal Access to Digital Goods and
Services" Q&A Webinar (Video)
By Intopia.
"This webinar gave people the opportunity to ask questions about the
updated 'Disability Discrimination Act Guidelines on Equal Access to
Digital Goods and Services'. We talk about what's in the Guidelines,
why they matter, and how you can start putting them into practice…"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrlT_dic9cM

What Is a Conforming Alternate Version and When Would We Use It?
By Greg Schwarz and Stephanie Waegener.
"Learn when inaccessible digital content may be unavoidable and have
cause for a secondary accessible version…"
https://mn.gov/mnit/about-mnit/accessibility/news/?id=38-683740

Tooltips, Toggletips, and Dialogs (Slides)
By Manuel Matuzović.
"A presentation at A-Tag 2025 in May 2025 in Vienna, Austria…"
https://noti.st/matuzo/povngy/slides

The Impact of Accessibility Laws in Canada: A Critical Perspective
By Thomas Logan.
"In this A11y Insights podcast episode, accessibility expert Nic
Steenhout shares personal stories and critiques Canada's accessibility
laws, saying they often lack enforcement. He discusses web
accessibility challenges, effective alt text, and how some
organizations are improving. Nic emphasizes that true accessibility
means usability for everyone, not just checking boxes for compliance…"
https://equalentry.com/accessibility-laws-impact-canada/


+02: BOOKS.

Cruse, Dale and Boudreau, Denis. "Inclusive Design for Accessibility:
A Practical Guide to Digital Accessibility, UX, and Inclusive Web &
App Design, Packt Publishing, 2025.
https://www.packtpub.com/en-us/product/inclusive-design-for-accessibility-9781835888230


+02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.

How to Have the Browser Pick a Contrasting Color in CSS
By Jen Simmons.
"…Using the contrast-color() function does not guarantee that the
resulting pair of colors will be accessible. It's quite possible to
pick a color (in this case a background color) that will not have
enough contrast with either black or white. It's still up to the
humans involved - designers, developers, testers, and more - to ensure
there's enough contrast…"
https://webkit.org/blog/16929/contrast-color/


+03: EVALUATION & TESTING.

What Happens When You Test a Mobile Prototype on Desktop?
By Jim Lewis and Jeff Sauro.
"…There is surprisingly little published research comparing
assessments of the same mobile application on desktops and mobile
devices. In this article, we'll review what we found on published
differences in testing as well as report on the findings from an
experiment we conducted…"
https://measuringu.com/ratings-of-a-mobile-app-prototype-on-desktop-and-mobile-devices/


+04: EVENTS.

Color in CSS
May 29, 2025.
Online
https://a11ytalks.com/posts/2025-may

A11y Boston Meetup
May 29, 2025.
Online and Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A
https://www.meetup.com/a11yboston/events/307797020/

Inclusive Design 24 (#id24)
Call for presentations closes May 31, 2025.
September 25, 2025.
Online
https://inclusivedesign24.org/2025/

Green Digital Accessibility International Conference 2025
September 8-9, 2025.
Warsaw, Poland
https://english.swps.pl/we-the-university/our-news-and-events/conferences-and-seminars/34359-green-digital-accessibility-international-conference-2025#organizator

WordPress Accessibility Day
October 15-16, 2025.
Online
https://2025.wpaccessibility.day/


+05: HTML.

The caption Element
By Heydon Pickering.
"…The <caption> element has nothing to do with closed captions.
Despite the name, it isn't a generic captioning mechanism either. The
<caption> element is specifically for labelling <table>s. It should
describe the purpose of the table and its data…"
https://heydonworks.com/article/the-caption-element/

Expanding/Collapsing with Details
By Andrew Downie.
"…For writing contents that the reader can expand and contract, this
is a simple and very effective approach. No risk of the JavaScript
misbehaving and, for that matter, no need to write the JS in the first
place. "
https://ozewai.org/blog/technical-articles/expanding-collapsing-with-details/

How Often Should We Speak About HTML Conformance?
By Jens Oliver Meiert.
"Valid, standards-compliant HTML is the quality baseline we should
expect from professional web developers, yet it's rare for sites to
ship with valid HTML, and therefore we need to talk more about valid
HTML…"
https://meiert.com/blog/speaking-about-html-conformance/


+06: MISCELLANEOUS.

{Email} Accessibility Report 2025
By The Email Markup Consortium (EMC).
"Accessibility in HTML emails remains critically under-addressed in 2025."
https://emailmarkup.org/en/reports/accessibility/2025/

So You Think You Want an Accessibility Advisory Council?
By Sheri Byrne-Haber.
"What to do, and more importantly, what to avoid…"
https://buttondown.com/access-ability/archive/so-you-think-you-want-an-accessibility-advisory/

Painting With the Web (Video)
By Matthias Ott.
"Today's Web is more complex, unpredictable, dynamic, and powerful
than ever. Yet, 25 years after 'A Dao of Web Design' we still approach
building for the Web with a mindset of control, using linear workflows
and static design tools that often don't reflect the Web's true nature
and potential. The canvas we work on has transformed, the materials we
use have changed. Together, we'll explore how we can use web design
engineering to start painting with the Web and create designs that are
resilient, accessible, and true to the Web's greatest strength: its
inherent flexibility…"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Pq7VqNrtk4


+07: TOOLS.

Best Kept Secret: The IBM Accessibility Checker
By Steve Faulkner.
"…blows other #a11y testing tools out of the water…"
https://mastodon.social/@SteveFaulkner/114497582785089366

Accessibility Testing on Windows on Mac
By Tatyana Bayramova.
"A quick guide to Accessibility Testing using Windows-only tools on a
modern Mac with Apple Silicon processor…
https://tatanotes.com/blog/accessibility-testing-on-windows-on-mac/


+08: USABILITY.

Broken by Design
By L Jeffery Zeldman.
"I encounter broken systems like this almost every week. And probably,
so do you."
https://zeldman.com/2025/05/15/my-glamorous-life-broken-by-design/

Accessibility Beyond Compliance: A Driver for Innovation and UX
By Claudio Guerra.
"As the deadline for compliance with the European Accessibility Act
approaches, we share some insights on how accessibility can become a
driver for innovation and user experience improvement-going beyond
mere regulatory compliance…"
https://tangible.is/en/thinking/2025/01/accessibility-beyond-compliance-a-driver-for-innovation-and-ux

UX Copy Sizes: Long, Short, and Micro
By Taylor Dykes.
"Better target user needs by understanding the three sizes of copy:
long-form, short-form, and microcopy…"
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ux-copy-sizes/

2-Factor Authentication (2-FA) (Video)
By Tim Neusesser.
"2-FA is one of the simplest ways to protect user data, but you must
balance security with the potential impact on usability…"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vp2Dg5g5FY


+09: WEBWASTE & SUSTAINABILITY.

Sustainable by Design: A Playbook for Product Managers
By Climate Product Leaders.
"38 nature-positive best practices to enhance your product management
skills and contribute to the fight against climate change and
biodiversity crises…"
https://climateproductleaders.org/playbook/

Mapping Disability Inclusive Climate Action in Europe
By Andre Felix.
"Climate change is under way faster than ever according to the
recently published Indicators of Global Climate Change 2023. The
effects of climate change on persons with disabilities is well
documented…"
https://www.edf-feph.org/publications/rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-and-climate-action-final-report/

[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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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.]