Web Design Update: February 24, 2026

[Laura Carlson]

+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 26, Issue 35, February 24, 2026.

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

++ ISSUE 35 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: MISCELLANEOUS.
06: USABILITY.

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

[Contents ends.]


++ SECTION ONE: New references.

+01: ACCESSIBILITY.

Here’s how to instruct a LLM to reference the ARIA Authoring Practices Guide
By Eric W. Bailey.
"…The APG was created to demonstrate ARIA’s capabilities. Because of
this, it disproportionately favors ARIA in its code examples. This is
even in spite of ARIA’s first rule. The APG was also not created to
serve as a pattern library, design system, or single source of truth
for the “right way” to make something. Unfortunately, a lot of people
treat it this way…"
https://ericwbailey.website/published/heres-how-to-instruct-a-llm-to-reference-the-aria-authoring-practices-guide/

Accessibility Fundamentals
By National Center on Accessible Digital Educational Materials &
Instruction (NCADEMI
Free Self-paced course. "The 9 course skills at the heart of this course are:
* Alternative Text
* Captions
* Clear Writing
* Color Use
* Headings
* Links
* Lists
* Tables
* Text Contrast"
https://ncademi.learn.usu.edu/courses/ncademi

Why You Need to Close Open Objects When Users Navigate Away
By Sheri Byrne-Haber.
"Imagine opening a dropdown, expanding an accordion, or opening a
dialog box, then following a link that loads a new object. The old
object is still programmatically marked as open. That means it lingers
in the accessibility tree. If you open something else, now you have
two things open. These stale objects become digital clutter, confusing
users about what’s active and what isn’t. This isn’t a cosmetic
detail. It’s an accessibility problem that affects navigation, focus,
and trust…"
https://www.sheribyrnehaber.com/why-you-need-to-close-open-objects-when-users-navigate-away/

Why Separate Guest and Logged In States Create Accessibility Barriers
By Sheri Byrne-Haber.
"Do you have differing logged-in and logged-out experiences for your
users? Do you merge the two when someone logs in? If you don’t, you
are creating accessibility barrier.…"
https://www.sheribyrnehaber.com/why-separate-guest-and-logged-in-states-create-accessibility-barriers/

Optimizing VoiceOver in an iOS E-Commerce App with Conditional Accessibility
By Diogo Melo.
"In the previous articles, we built an iOS e-commerce app accessible
to VoiceOver, Full Keyboard Access, and Voice Control users. This
article explores how we can optimize the VoiceOver experience without
breaking Full Keyboard Access or Voice Control in the process."
https://axesslab.com/optimizing-voiceover-in-an-ios-e-commerce-app-with-conditional-accessibility/

Frankenponents: Beware of Needless Complexity (Video)
By Microsoft.
"Inclusive and accessible design is about being intentional with the
interactions we build. As we work to do more with less, will we bring
out tricks or treats? Watch our video about Frankenponents to learn
how layering standard design conventions can create a monster of
unintentional complexity…"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMcH8-D-b2s

When Accessibility Demand Letters Land on Your Desk: A Framework for
Strategic Response By Dennis Deacon.
"Accessibility demand letters reveal organizational readiness and risk
management gaps. This article outlines four response pathways, from
non-engagement to structured good-faith engagement, showing how
strategic response minimizes litigation, contains costs, and builds
long-term compliance resilience…"
https://www.dennisdeacon.com/accessibility-2/when-accessibility-demand-letters-land-on-your-desk-a-framework-for-strategic-response/

You’re Getting Sued. What Happens Now?
By Karl Groves.
"…Like various HR laws, privacy laws, financial and tax laws, and
safety laws, accessibility is yet another compliance domain for your
business. Taking it seriously moving forward is the best way to ensure
you avoid a repeat lawsuit. This means not treating accessibility like
a one-and-done project, but something that requires ongoing
attention…"
https://afixt.com/youre-getting-sued-what-happens-no


+02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.

An In-Depth Guide to Customising Lists With CSS
By Richard Rutter.
"This first rule of styling lists is that they should be treated with
the same reverence you would show any other text.…"
https://piccalil.li/blog/an-in-depth-guide-to-customising-lists-with-css/

Container Queries and Units in Action
By Miriam Suzanne.
"One of the goals when writing CSS is to build component parts that
will adapt well to different (and unexpected) contexts…"
https://www.oddbird.net/2026/02/18/queries-units-actions/

CSS Scope & Mixins (Video)
By Stacy Kvernmo and Miriam Suzanne.
"A chat with Chris Coyier…"
https://www.oddbird.net/2026/01/22/winging-it-28/


+03: EVALUATION & TESTING.

A Scale to Assess Consumer Perceptions of Technology Product
Inclusivity: Development and Validation
By Carmen Van Ommen, Barbara S. Chaparro, Joseph Keebler, Sanjay
Batra, and Mei Lu.
"Consumers are increasingly loyal to brands that are inclusive of them
and their values, which promotes a sense of belonging. The goal of
inclusive design is to design for the widest population possible;
however, technology product inclusivity is a multifaceted concept that
reflects consumer experience with a product, perceptions of trust, and
ways to satisfy psychological needs…"
https://uxpajournal.org/scale-consumer-perceptions-tech-product-inclusivity/

An Introduction to Effect Sizes
By Jim Lewis and Jeff Sauro.
"…In this article, we provide a short introduction to effect sizes,
extending our thoughts from our earlier article…"
https://measuringu.com/an-introduction-to-effect-sizes/

Don't Rely on AI to Do Your Thinking (Video)
By Nielsen Norman Group.
"…In this article, we provide a short introduction to effect sizes,
extending our thoughts from our earlier article…"
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wgaxgQ-vBVY


+04: EVENTS.

Maturing Document Accessibility Strategy - Knowledge, Tools, Processes
February 26, 2026.
Online
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/2217713321282/WN_EJIZqDSBShCDs21QCfYuKw#/registration

InDesign Styles, an Accessibility Superpower (Funka)
February 27, 2026.
Online
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_EEWDI8-HTRaU4UOd9W53XQ#/registration

Digital Collegium 2026 Minnesota Regional Conference
Call for Proposals: February 28, 2026.
Conference: June 17, 2026.
Minneapolis, Minnesota U.S.A.
https://events.digicol.org/mn26

10 Tips for Accessible Publishing With Adobe InDesign
March 3, 2026.
Online
https://www.accessibilityassociation.org/webinar/a16IV00000BOwSjYAL/wbn0291

Lunchtime! What EN 301 549 Brings to the Table with Eric Eggert
March 12, 2026.
Online
https://axesslab.com/webinar-lunchtime-what-en-301-549-brings-to-the-table/


+06: MISCELLANEOUS.

Matt May Speaks
By Steve Faulkner.
"I have known Matt for yonks. He has been a part of the
accessibility/web standards industrial complex for too long… He shares
his experience and supports others in many ways…"
https://html5accessibility.com/stuff/2026/02/22/matt-may-speaks/

XR Accessibility: What Meta Horizon Worlds Teaches Us About
By Thomas Logan.
"In this article, based on his presentation, Thomas Logan explores the
accessibility lessons shared in a detailed presentation on Meta
Horizon Worlds and the Meta Quest 3."
https://equalentry.com/xr-accessibility-inclusive-design/


+07: USABILITY.

Sometimes the Best Accessibility Fix is a Usability Fix
By Sheri Byrne-Haber.
"Teams often arbitrarily divide work into two piles: “UX defects” and
“accessibility defects”. That split creates the belief that
accessibility is an add-on rather than a dimension of good design. In
practice, accessibility gains often come from fixing ordinary UX
friction points that already frustrate people who don’t have
disabilities (yet)…"
https://www.sheribyrnehaber.com/sometimes-the-best-accessibility-fix-is-a-usability-fix/

Native HTML Components Don't Guarantee Good UX
By Adam Silver.
"The lucky thing about the reset button is that the solution is
simple: Don’t use one - doesn’t matter if it’s native or not. But
unlike the reset button, many native elements can’t be scrapped - they
need to be replaced with something better."
https://adamsilver.io/blog/native-html-components-dont-guarantee-good-ux/

Designing For the 5-Second Brain
By Damien Woods.
"People aren’t as patient as they think they are. Nowhere is this more
apparent than in first impressions. We’re quick to judge, not just
each other, but books, films, and, importantly, for UX: websites and
apps…"
https://www.loop11.com/designing-for-the-5-second-brain/


[Section one ends.]


++ SECTION TWO:

+08: 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.]