25 articles
Web accessibility is about universal access. It is the idea that any user should be able to access all content on the Web, regardless of platform, user agent, or physical disability. This is not some lofty philosophical ideal. It is just plain good business. As with usability, accessibility is not a binary thing. While accessibility […]
9:00 – Zeldman – Intro, overview, formalities. We are in the middle of a revolution in information transfer; the first since the advent of movable type (Gutenburg’s, not Six Apart’s); the first revolution in the way information is transmitted in 500 years. We are here today to rethink what we do and understand its importance. […]
How many of you are reading this in an RSS aggregator of some sort? Come on, raise your hands. Yah, me to. But that’s cause we’re all geeks, right? I’m willing to wager that you have a blog with an RSS feed as well, right? I thought so. I was pondering recently how well RSS […]
I was recently asked why exactly it is that one should not use a frameset for a Web site. A frames based page is something I’ve always sort of recognized as a bad thing, but have never had to verbalize or support objectively before; until now.
An interesting survey was done at a University in Wales recently: Web site’s appearance matters (from CNN news) In a recent study at Glamorgan University Business School in Wales, test subjects rated the personal Web pages of 60 people for usability and aesthetics. Not surprisingly, male subjects tended to assign higher ratings to pages designed […]
Usability.com.au has a very good guide to making tables accessible and usable in a variety of scenarios, posted here for your (my) resource and viewing pleasure Accessible tables: the definitive guide
Steve Krug IF YOU HAVE TO GET ONE WEB DESIGN BOOK, MAKE IT THIS ONE. An amazing look at Web usability and user-centered design. I call it “the Bible”. (note, this is the second edition, which is not out yet. I have read the first edition, and I’m sure this second one is only going […]
37 Signals A must read for Web application developers. “How to improve error messages, help, forms, and other crisis points”.
The U.S. National Cancer Institute recently did a user study of screen reader users. The Communication Technologies Branch of the United States National Cancer Institute (part of National Institutes of Health and Department of Health and Human Services) has been conducting usability testing with people with disabilities, specifically blind and lowvision users, to * understand […]
A nice list of 18 or so common Web development mistakes. (plus some user submitted ones). If you are a Web developer, read this list. If you make these mistakes, LEARN HOW TO FIX THEM! Part of being a professional is keeping your skillset and knowledge base up-to-date.
There was an interesting article in Wired News yesterday: Changing the Face of Web Surfing. Though I like the title “renegade redesign” better. Nutshell: Web designers (like me) who care about the fact that everyone should be able to see a Web site, are creating accessible versions of web sites they use that aren’t currently […]
Several ways to make clean looking, accessible, semantically meaningful forms.