In this week’s web design and development roundup, you’ll learn how to design a better “Back” button, find an interactive guide to color and contrast, discover a free online version of Microsoft Office, and more.
If you’re new to my blog, each Friday I publish a post highlighting my favorite user experience, accessibility, WordPress, CSS, and HTML posts I’ve read in the past week.
Hope you find the resources helpful in your work or projects!
Want more resources like these on a daily basis? Follow me @redcrew on Twitter.
Tweet of the Week
When speakers ask me which topic they should pitch, I always advise them to prioritise the topic they’ll enjoy working on the most.
— Areej (@areej_abuali) August 18, 2022
YOU are the speaker
YOU are the one who’s going to put time and energy in prepping & presenting this talk
Pick a topic that you’ll enjoy working on!
User Experience
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Who hasn’t been in the situation when the browser “Back” button didn’t work as expected. Or didn’t work at all. In designing a better “Back” button, Vitaly Friedman explains how we can better align users’ expectations with “Back” button behavior.
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No money for user research testing?
Pro tip: If you don’t have access to in-person users for research, or you don’t utilize website surveys for feedback, talk to your customer service folks.
— Erin Schroeder (@erinbschroeder) August 17, 2022
Ask them what questions, complaints, and concerns they’ve fielded. They’re an incredible wealth of information. #UXResearch -
I know many people have no plans to attend in-person events this year, which is why I’m glad to share this list of 22 upcoming UX conferences in 2022. Many conferences on the list are online or hybrid.
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If you conduct UX workshops, you’ll be interested in Matt Brown’s best practices for building a participant list for UX workshops. Key points: keep group size manageable and prioritize diversity.
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Worth bookmarking! A Miro Board with a collection of resources, activities, blog posts, videos, and templates centered around the North Star Framework: a framework that takes a strategy and makes it actionable for teams.
Accessibility
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Join Dallas FreeCodeCamp on August 25 for their virtual meetup when Ben Myers presents Introduction to Accessibility. The event is free, but pre-registration is required.
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Thanks to Nate Baldwin for his helpful interactive guide to color and contrast, where you can explore and learn about the theory, science, and perception of color and contrast. Baldwin highlights physiology of the eye, visual impairments, contrast and visual acuity, and more.
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What this week’s U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rule making hearing aids available without a prescription means to a mother who fought the FDA for hearing aid availability for 25 years.
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I agree with my friend Nic Steenhout. Makes no sense to me why a podcast about accessibility wouldn’t have a transcript.
There’s something really disturbing about podcasts that talk about accessibility that don’t provide transcripts.
— Nicolas Steenhout (@vavroom) August 18, 2022
It’s… You know… Like… I dunno… What’s the word I’m looking for???
Oh, yeah. It’s HYPOCRITICAL. That’s what it is. And exclusionary. #a11y #podcast -
Have a question about accessibility you want answered? Register for this month’s Ask me anything Q&A with Johnathan Hassell on August 25th. Register and submit your question.
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Learn what the Web Accessibility Initiative at the World Wide Web Consortium (WAI at W3C) is working in this month in their Accessibility Activities and Publications, August 2022. I wish more people knew about the resources WAI offers.
WordPress
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The newly designed WordPress.org home and download page was published this week, matching the look of the recently updated News page. What do you think of the design?
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My friend Claire Brotherton takes a closer look at the Print My Blog WordPress plugin , which you can use to print, create PDFs and eBooks of your blog.
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I updated my online resources for learning WordPress post this week, the third revision since I first published it in 2014. Added to the list: the Learn WordPress resource on WordPress.org, which finally has transcripts and captions for their videos.
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If you’re ready to get hands-on with block themes to customize a WordPress site, check out these 21 block themes for Full Site Editing.
CSS and HTML
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In the first of a two-part series, Temani Afif walks you through CSS Grid and Custom Shapes, Part 1 to create grids of images for any shape you’d like.
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Every week, I discover another impressive work created with only HTML and CSS. Check out this stapler created with HTML and CSS using only one div by Kassandra Sanchez.
See the Pen Single Div Stapler by Kass (@kassandrasanch) on CodePen.
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Did you know a single selector can contain any number of
:is()pseudo-classes? Learn how the CSS:is,:where, and:haspseudo-class selectors work in Craig Buckler’s latest SitePoint post. -
If you want to improve loading performance, use fetchpriority=high to load your LCP hero image sooner, says Addy Osmani. Check out the Frequent Asked Questions to learn the difference between Priority Hints and Preload.
What I Found Interesting
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Everyone using the Chrome browser will want to make sure you update it now: there’s an actively exploited zero-day vulnerability.
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Did you know there’s a free online version of Microsoft Office? I didn’t until Jennie Martin told me. Thank you, Jennie!
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The saga of the Steller’s Sea Eagle continues, as Nick Lund explains in betting on the most famous bird in America. I didn’t go chasing the bird in Maine earlier this year, but I know two of my fellow birders from Michigan did.
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