Web Design Update: September 9, 2020

[Laura Carlson]

+++ WEB DESIGN UPDATE.
- Volume 19, Issue 11, September 9, 2020.

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

++ISSUE 11 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: MISCELLANEOUS.
08: TOOLS.
09: USABILITY.

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

[Contents ends.]


++ SECTION ONE: New references.

+01: ACCESSIBILITY.

WCAG 2.1 Is the Current Standard, Not WCAG 2.0 - and WCAG 2.2 Is Coming
By Adrian Roselli.
"…If your software development life cycle is under 3 years (I really
hope so) then you have no excuse for not integrating WCAG 2.1 Success
Criteria into your projects, even if you are still struggling to sort
them out. If the third-party tools (libraries, frameworks, resets,
etc.) on which you rely are not honoring WCAG 2.1 then you should file
bugs or, better yet, find new tools. You are the one at risk, not
them…"
https://adrianroselli.com/2020/09/wcag-2-1-is-the-current-standard-not-wcag-2-0-and-wcag-2-2-is-coming.html

When There Is No Content Between Headings
By Hidde de Vries.
"For accessibility purposes, you could think of headings as a table of
contents. But what if there are headings without contents…"
https://hiddedevries.nl/en/blog/2020-09-05-when-there-is-no-content-between-headings

Make Accessibility Great Again
By Joe Clark.
"Accessibility for people with disabilities is the only non-partisan
issue. Like everything they touch, it's been systematically ruined by
Silicon Valley progressives. You can put a stop to that, not least by
taking the Neutrality Pledge for Accessibility Workers…"
https://joeclark.org/maga/

Websites Become New Focus of Disability Rights in Age of COVID-19
By Katie Lauer.
"…as COVID-19 pushes more businesses, communication and emergency
services online, accessibility law experts say the sooner websites
comply with disability guidelines - such as providing audio
transcripts, writing alternative photo texts and fixing broken links -
the better…"
https://sanjosespotlight.com/websites-become-new-focus-of-disability-rights-in-age-of-covid-19/


+02: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS.

Designing With Reduced Motion For Motion Sensitivities
By Val Head.
"Thanks to the wide support of the prefers-reduced-motion-media
feature, we now have more advanced ways to design motion that can be
creative and innovative while also being safer for those with motion
sensitivities. This article is all about the how and why of making
that happen."
https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2020/09/design-reduced-motion-sensitivities/

Styling Complex Labels
By Danielle Romo.
"Sometimes labels for form fields are short and to the point. But
other times, it's helpful to provide users with more detailed
information…"
https://cloudfour.com/thinks/styling-complex-labels/


+03: EVALUATION & TESTING.

What Do You Gain from Larger-Sample Usability Tests?
By Jeff Sauro and Jim Lewis.
"…It's easy to see common problems with a small sample size, but
you'll need a larger sample size to detect uncommon issues. To assess
performance, use task metrics such as completion rate and perceived
ease. Both of these measures work well on both prototypes and fully
functioning products and can be compared to historical benchmarks or
conventions.…"
https://measuringu.com/larger-sample-usability-tests/

Leveraging Virtual Reality for UX Research
By Kelly Franznick.
"…Using VR prototyping for UX research can let you test much earlier
in the design process and, thus, have even more impact on the overall
development of the product. Prototyping in VR lets you test entire,
high-fidelity product ecosystems-long before you'd need to make a
significant investment in product development…"
https://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2020/09/leveraging-virtual-reality-for-ux-research.php

The Practice Spotting Tool for Meaning Makers
By Daniel Szuc and Josephine Wong.
"…What if you could have a tool that let you look more broadly and
deeply into what was happening in the interactions and relationships
between the people, time, and places across different moments in
varied environments?…"
https://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2020/09/the-practice-spotting-tool-for-meaning-makers-1.php


+04: EVENTS.

21st Century Design with Don Norman
September 15, 2020.
Online
https://www.interaction-design.org/master-classes/21st-century-design-with-don-norman

PDF Document Remediation
September 17, 2020.
Online
https://knowbility.org/services/online-training/pdf-document-remediation/

Accessibility for UX & Visual Designers
September 23 and 24, 2020.
Online
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/accessibility-for-ux-visual-designers-remote-2-half-days-sept-2020-registration-107672864436

A11y Talks (September 2020): Screen Readers and CSS: Are We Going Out
of Style (and into Content)?
September 24, 2020.
Online.
https://groups.drupal.org/node/536083

UXPA International 2020: At Home
Online.
October 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29, 2020.
https://uxpa.org/at-home/

Web Unleashed
October 5-7, 2020.
Online
https://fitc.ca/event/webu20/

User Research Fundamentals
Starts October 6, 2020.
Online
https://www.userfocus.co.uk/training/user-research-bootcamp.html

Connect.Tech Conference
October 14, 2020.
Online
http://connect.tech/


+05: HTML.

Beyond Media Queries: Using Newer HTML & CSS Features for Responsive Designs
By David Atanda.
"…media queries become more of a complement when used with these
features rather than the full approach. Let's see how that works…"
https://css-tricks.com/beyond-media-queries-using-newer-html-css-features-for-responsive-designs/


+06: JAVASCRIPT.

Checking if a Value is an Array with Vanilla JS
By Chris Ferdinandi.
"Today, we're going to learn how to check if an item is an array with
vanilla JS. Let's dig in…"
https://gomakethings.com/checking-if-a-value-is-an-array-with-vanilla-js/

How to Replace All Instances of a String with Another with Vanilla JS
By Chris Ferdinandi.
"…Today, we're going to learn about an easy way to replace all
instances of one string inside another…"
https://gomakethings.com/how-to-replace-all-instances-of-a-string-with-another-with-vanilla-js/

You Really Don't Need All That JavaScript, I Promise (Video)
By Stuart Langridge.
"This presentation was recorded at GOTO Chicago 2020…"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1L2WgXu2JY


+07: MISCELLANEOUS.

Calculating the Pollution Cost of Website Analytics (Part 4)
By Gerry McGovern.
"If 50 million websites are actively using Google Analytics, then
according to my calculations this could be resulting in 100 million kg
of CO2 pollution a year…"
https://gerrymcgovern.com/calculating-the-pollution-cost-of-website-analytics-part-4/

What is the Value of Browser Diversity?
By Dave Rupert.
"…If we do see a major reduction in browser diversity, I think we lose
the intentional slowness and the cooperation mechanisms we have in
place. Who knows what will happen, but my hope is that just like iron
can sharpen iron, maybe chromium can sharpen chromium."
https://daverupert.com/2020/09/the-value-of-browser-diversity/


+08: TOOLS.

Parsel
By Lea Verou.
"A tiny, permissive CSS selector parser…Parse & traverse CSS
selectors, Calculate specificity, Only 2KB and no dependencies,
Supports the entire Selectors 4 syntax, Permissive enough to work with
a lot of potential future syntax…" (Reminds me of the old Selectoracle
tool.)
https://projects.verou.me/parsel/


+09: USABILITY.

Three Myths About Calculating the ROI of UX
By Kate Moran.
"Many teams overthink return-on-investment calculations for UX work.
Treat these calculations as a way to estimate the strategic value of
design."
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/three-myths-roi-ux/

Similarity Principle in Visual Design
By Aurora Harley.
"Design elements that appear similar in some way - sharing the same
color, shape, or size - are perceived as related, while elements that
appear dissimilar are perceived as belonging to separate groups."
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/gestalt-similarity/

Are Face Emoji Ratings Better Than Numbered Scales?
by Jim Lewis and Jeff Sauro.
"…These results support the use of either format, standard or emoji,
in UX research. Because there doesn't appear to be any particular
advantage in using face emoji scales, UX researchers should feel
comfortable with standard linear numeric rating scales…"
https://measuringu.com/numbers-versus-face-emojis/

Mobile Is Now Everything
By Steven Hoober.
"…Everyone must be able to use every system. Whether you're making
typical user-interface design decisions or accommodating a temporary
or permanent disability, keeping this in mind is crucial to your
planning, design choices, and overall approach to solving problems…"
https://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2020/09/mobile-is-now-everything-1.php

Nearly Half of Companies Start Most UX Design Work from Scratch
By Maria Taylor.
"…Many organizations reinvent the wheel with every design initiative
[because] they lack reusable artifacts and repeatable processes…"
https://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2020/09/nearly-half-of-companies-start-most-ux-design-work-from-scratch.php

Engaged: Designing for Behavior Change
By Amy Bucher.
"In this chapter, you'll learn how to structure [users' meaningful
choices on their behavior-change journey] so that it's easier for
people to select good options that ultimately support their goals…"
https://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2020/09/engaged-designing-for-behavior-change-1.php

Complex Apps 101 (Video)
By Kate Kaplan.
"3 tips for designing applications for experts or specialized user
groups doing complex domain-specific tasks (often with nonlinear
workflows)"
https://www.nngroup.com/videos/complex-app-101/

UX Must Revolutionize Education (Video)
By Jakob Nielsen.
"Jakob Nielsen discusses how to use UX to improve education, including
UX professionals, but more important for life-long learners.'
https://www.nngroup.com/videos/ux-must-revolutionize-education/


[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

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.]