Web Design Update: August 5, 2025

[Laura Carlson]

+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 26, Issue 06, August 5, 2025.

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

++ISSUE 06 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: TOOLS.
07: TYPOGRAPHY.
08: USABILITY.
09: WEBWASTE & SUSTAINABILITY.
10: XML.

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

[Contents ends.]


++ SECTION ONE: New references.

+01: ACCESSIBILITY.

Countdowns and Timers - Forgotten Detail That Can Make Your Users
Really Hate Your Product
By Bogdan Cerovac.
"Please make sure you consider all users when developing countdowns,
timers and similar dynamic information or risk making some experiences
horrible…"
https://cerovac.com/a11y/2025/07/countdowns-and-timers-forgotten-detail-that-can-make-your-users-really-hate-your-product/

A11y 101: 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks
By Nat Tarnoff.
"…Let's look at the different reasons and methods…"
http://tarnoff.info/2025/08/04/a11y-101-2-4-1-bypass-blocks/

Testing Methods: Contrast (Minimum)
By Dennis Deacon.
"WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) is a Level AA conformance level Success
Criterion. It ensures text and images of text have a contrast ratio of
at least 4.5:1 against their background. There are a few exceptions to
this rule…"
https://www.dennisdeacon.com/web/accessibility/testing-methods-contrast-minimum/

Horizontal Scrolling Containers Are Not a Content Strategy
By Adrian Roselli.
"…If you consider horizontal scrolling containers as a way to get more
content on the page or to de-clutter a page or even to keep content
above 'the fold' then you might want to reconsider. Rework your
information architecture, your page design, your objective, and so on.
Otherwise you risk creating barriers, usability hassle, and
functionally lost content…"
https://adrianroselli.com/2025/08/horizontal-scrolling-containers-are-not-a-content-strategy.html

1.2.5: Adversarial Conformance
By Adrian Roselli.
"…WCAG is renowned for being open to interpretation. Sometimes, as
this case, the interpretation is trying to balance original intent
versus current approaches. However, too often it's trying to twist the
language to satisfy a particular outcome…"
https://adrianroselli.com/2025/08/1-2-5-adversarial-conformance.html

Found an Accessibility Issue? Now What? (Video)
By Sergei Kriger.
"In this talk, I will share my experience in reporting accessibility
issues to development teams and guide you on how to make these reports
not only heard, but also understood and (possibly) implemented. We
will go step-by-step through the process of creating readable reports
supported by well-recorded demos."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBLrREfflyc

ADA Video Compliance Checklist
By Team A11Y Collective.
"Follow our ADA video compliance checklist to ensure accessibility and
avoid legal risks. Get practical steps that work."
https://www.a11y-collective.com/blog/ada-video-compliance/

Captions and Subtitles: What's the Difference?
By University of Colorado Boulder.
"…These terms are often used interchangeably, but they serve distinct
purposes. While they may look similar on screen, captions and
subtitles provide access in different ways. Whether you're creating or
watching video content, understanding this distinction helps ensure
that everyone can engage fully and inclusively with the material…"
https://www.colorado.edu/digital-accessibility/newsletter/accessibility-minute-july-2025

More Than Just Text: The Real Power of Labels
By Akash Shukla.
"Have you ever thought about why defining a clear and descriptive
label matters so much in accessibility?…"
https://www.tpgi.com/more-than-just-text-the-real-power-of-labels/

Document Structure in Word: The Essentials
By Josh Crawford.
"Some content creators focus on making documents look professional and
visually appealing, not realising that certain structural choices can
make their content inaccessible to screen reader users and difficult
to navigate for everyone. This guide explains the invisible framework
that makes documents truly accessible, identifies common structural
problems that create barriers, and provides practical solutions using
Word's built-in features to create documents that work effectively for
all readers without requiring complex technical knowledge…"
https://www.digitalaccesstraining.com/pages/articles?p=document-structure-in-word-the-essentials

Do-It-Yourself Accessibility Basics
By National Center on Accessible Digital Educational Materials &
Instruction (NCADEMI).
"…By practicing basic techniques available in most content development
tools, you'll ensure that students with sensory, physical, and
cognitive disabilities can effectively use the materials you create.
This resource offers examples of how to apply these techniques in two
common document editors: Word and Google Docs…"
https://ncademi.org/resources/diy-accessibility-basics/

Accessibility Basics
By National Center on Accessible Digital Educational Materials &
Instruction (NCADEMI).
"Making digital instructional content accessible means ensuring that
learners with disabilities can access and engage with the materials
provided for learning. The nine core skills below will help you create
more accessible digital documents, videos, and images."
https://ncademi.org/resources/basics/

Getting Started With Manual Testing Webinar (Video)
By Pope Tech.
"Learn how to include manual testing accessibility testing in your workflow…"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mouix6bDER0

Using AI For Accessibility Work (Video)
By Lucy Greco.
"This talk explores the way to think about using AI for accessibility
tasks. I show how different agents describe complex images…"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5PIbuYw5ks

European Accessibility Act is Here - What Next? (Video)
By Ian Sinclair.
An interview-with-susanna-laurin
https://knowbility.org/blog/2025/be-a-digital-ally-european-accessibility-act-is-here-what-next-an-interview-with-susanna-laurin

WCAG vs EAA: Understanding Where WCAG Stops and Where the EAA Starts
By Team Stark.
"Many teams believe that meeting WCAG standards means their digital
products are compliant with the European Accessibility Act (EAA).
Using a clear comparison grounded in EN 301 549 and EN 17161, we
extensively detail what's in and out of scope-and why organizations
need to operationalize accessibility like they do privacy and
security…"
https://www.getstark.co/blog/wcag-vs-eaa/

Legal Update: July 2025
By Ken Nakata.
"For at least half of July, there were hardly any legal developments.
This changed around the middle of the month as a few interesting web
accessibility cases started popping up in my Lexis feed…"
https://convergeaccessibility.com/2025/08/04/legal-update-july-2025/


+02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.

It's Time for Modern CSS to Kill the SPA
By Jono Alderson.
"Native CSS transitions have quietly killed the strongest argument for
client-side routing. Yet people keep building terrible apps instead of
performant websites…"
https://www.jonoalderson.com/conjecture/its-time-for-modern-css-to-kill-the-spa/

CSS Hyphens, Words, Syllables, and Languages
By Frank M Taylor.
There's a newish CSS feature called hyphens that specifies how you
want words to be hyphenated when the text wraps. But if you use it
(and really you should), you're going to need to make sure you're also
correctly identifying the language. And to understand why that
matters, we need to talk about words and syllables.
https://blog.frankmtaylor.com/2025/07/17/css-hyphens-words-syllables-and-languages/


+03: EVALUATION & TESTING.

Inclusive Personas and Inclusive User Research
By Eric W. Bailey.
"I am not a big fan of personas. They're oft-abused tools whose
utility is far too frequently not interrogated, and consequently
create more harm than good…"
https://ericwbailey.website/published/on-inclusive-personas-and-inclusive-user-research/

Is It OK to Edit the Wording of Standardized UX Questions?
By Jim Lewis and Jeff Sauro.
"…In this article, we provide four examples from three standardized UX
questionnaires (UX-Lite, SEQ, and SUS) of how we've manipulated the
wording, subtly and dramatically, to show how some wording
modifications can be tolerated while others can't…"
https://measuringu.com/is-it-ok-to-edit-the-wording-of-standardized-ux-questions/

The Hidden Bias Killing Your UX Insights: Common-Knowledge Effect (Video)
By Evan Sunwall.
"The common knowledge effect is when teams favor shared info over
unique insights, risking UX input. Use 7 tactics to ensure better
decisions and boost your impact on projects."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--HASBsD5Ow


+04: EVENTS.

Part 1: PDF Accessibility Basics - Understanding the Tags Tree in Adobe Acrobat
August 6, 2025.
Online
https://accessingenuity.com/pages/webinar/part-1-pdf-accessibility-basics-understanding-the-tags-tree-in-adobe-acrobat

Beyond Title II Compliance - Proactive Accessibility Strategies from
K-12, Higher Ed and Beyond
August 6, 2025.
Online
https://benetech.zoom.us/webinar/register/9217537326719/WN_HahGfYOBQouudMvAC3WEiw#/registration

How to Get Started With Project-Based Accessibility Research and Testing
August 11, 2025.
Online
https://makeitfable.com/webinar/getting-started-with-a11y-research-and-testing/

Tackling Tricky Accessibility Challenges with Janell Sims
August 15, 2025.
Online
https://evolvingweb.com/tackling-tricky-accessibility-challenges-webinar

Part 2: PDF Accessibility Basics - How to Test for Accessibility with JAWS
August 20, 2025.
Online
https://accessingenuity.com/pages/webinar/part-2-pdf-accessibility-basics-how-to-test-for-accessibility-with-jaws-digital-accessibility-webinar

Creating Accessible Digital Content and Presentations (Part 2)
August 20, 2025.
Online
https://mainecite.org/trainings/creating-accessible-digital-content-and-presentations-part-2-august-20-2025/


+05: MISCELLANEOUS.

The Many 'Blindnesses' of Neurodivergence That Have Nothing To Do With Sight
By Sheri Byrne-Haber.
"…Here are several forms of non-visual 'blindness' that many
neurodivergent people experience…"
https://buttondown.com/access-ability/archive/the-many-blindnesses-of-neurodivergence-that-have/

The Truth About the R-Word, From the People It Hurts Most
By The Arc.
"…We need more people to understand why the R-word is offensive, why
it’s still harmful, and why it must stop…"
https://thearc.org/blog/the-truth-about-the-rword/


+06: TOOLS.

Tools for Developers with Kilian Valkhof (Video)
By Oddbird.
"Kilian Valkhof, Miriam Suzanne, and James Stuckey Weber talk about
developer tools including the Polypane browser and other accessibility
tools…"
https://www.oddbird.net/2025/07/17/winging-it-20/

Introducing Accented
By Pavel Pomerantsev.
"Accented helps you catch accessibility issues on your page the moment
they appear - no need to run audits using browser extensions. It
integrates seamlessly into your dev flow with just a few lines of
code…"
https://accented.dev/blog/2025-07-16-introducing-accented/

Image Description Toolkit V2 Available
By Kelly Ford.
"I've made another series of updates to what I'm calling the Image
Description Toolkit since my last announcement…"
https://theideaplace.net/image-description-toolkit-v2-available/

Force Focus Bookmarklet
By Moritz Glantz.
"Some websites don't show any visual indicator when elements receive
focus - making accessibility testing frustrating or impossible without
DevTools gymnastics. I often run into this when testing keyboard
navigation, and I wanted something quicker. Introducing 'Force Focus':
force show keyboard focus for accessibility testing of websites with
some oomph…"
https://moritzglantz.de/blog/posts/force-show-focus-bookmarklet-for-accessibility-testing/


+07: TYPOGRAPHY.

Font Comparison and Review: Atkinson Hyperlegible Mono
By anthes.is.
"Recently, I modified anthes.is to use my own subsetted versions of
Atkinson Hyperlegible Next and Atkinson Hyperlegible Mono. Following
the principle of eating your own dog food, I also switched to Atkinson
Hyperlegible Mono in my terminal. After a month of daily use, I can
now assess this font's practical advantages and compare it to
established programming fonts like JetBrains Mono and Fira Code…"
https://www.anthes.is/font-comparison-review-atkinson-hyperlegible-mono.html


+08: USABILITY.

Nobody Waits for Your Fancy Animations Anymore (And They Never Really Did)
By Simon Sterne.
"Everyone's obsessed with animations and parallax effects in 2025-but
guess what? Nobody's watching. Users don't wait. It's time we stop
designing for Dribbble clout and start designing for real people…"
https://webdesignerdepot.com/nobody-waits-for-your-fancy-animations-anymore-and-they-never-really-did/

The 3 I's of Microcopy: Inform, Influence, and Interact
By Taylor Dykes, Kate Moran and Anna Kaley.
"Microcopy can have three different purposes: informing users,
influencing them, and supporting their interaction…"
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/3-is-of-microcopy/

Is the Floppy Disk Dead?
By Kate Kaplan.
"The floppy disk still signals 'save' to most users. But is it still
the best way to show 'save'? Maybe not."
https://www.nngroup.com/videos/is-the-floppy-disk-dead/

Phone Number UX: Always Explain Why the 'Phone Field' Is Required (39% Don't)
By Edward Scott.
"Users are often reluctant to provide their phone number during
checkout due to privacy concerns, fearing marketing calls or misuse of
their data…"
https://baymard.com/blog/explain-phone-number-field

Always Explain Industry-Specific Filters (Video)
By Christian Holst.
"if users don't understand the terms used in filters it can be as
damaging as not
having the right filters in the first place…"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=230zuzq2GT4


+09: WEBWASTE & SUSTAINABILITY.

Best Practice Guidelines for Web Eco-Design
By Green IT Collective.
"…we have compiled a set of best practices for the eco-design of
connected digital services (websites, APIs, SaaS business software
packages, etc.) from functional design to hosting, in a framework of
over 115 best practices…"
https://rweb.greenit.fr/en


+10: XML.

Implementing Accessible SVG Elements
By Team A11Y Collective.
"Master SVG accessibility: Learn techniques for ARIA roles, testing,
and creating inclusive graphics that work for everyone."
https://www.a11y-collective.com/blog/svg-accessibility/


[Section one ends.]


++ SECTION TWO:

+11: 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.


+ SUBSCRIPTION INFO.

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As a navigation aid for screen readers we do our best to conform to
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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.]