In this week’s web design and development news roundup, you’ll find experts discussing the reasons for creating low-fidelity or high-fidelity prototypes, find out why WordPress 5.5 is breaking sites, discover how a just in case CSS mindset can solve design problems, 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
A 5-step process for nearly anything:
(1) Explore widely. Find out what is possible.
(2) Test cheaply. Run small, quick experiments. Sample things.
(3) Edit ruthlessly. Focus on the best. Cut everything else.
(4) Repeat what works. Don’t quit on a good idea.
(5) Return to 1.
— James Clear (@JamesClear) August 19, 2020
User Experience
- In the first post of a three-part series on conversational experiences, Josh Soldiers focuses on the research and define phase. My key takeaways: it’s crucial to understand the difference between chatbots and voice as well as define outcomes for each stage of the customer journey.
- In episode 243, UX Podcast chats with Caroline Jarrett about answering surveys and forms. Learn about the beginnings of surveys and the four steps involved in answering a question.
- Another outcome from user research,
Sometimes you don’t need user research to tell you what needs fixing; you need it to motivate others and get those things fixed.
— Kim Goodwin (@kimgoodwin) August 20, 2020
- A panel of UX experts continue their conversation about creating low-fidelity or high-fidelity prototypes, discussing the importance of the state of the product-development cycle (PDLC).
Craft as high a fidelity artifact as necessary to answer key questiona…
Accessibility
- Wondering what steps you can take to create a more accessible website? Holly Tuke shares 5 annoying features she faces daily as a blind person.
- Similar to a competitive analysis, when you conduct an accessibility assessment on a large site, you need to choose representative sample pages. It’s not economically feasible to assess every page.
- Planning for accessibility from the start of a project means accessible UX principles will guide everything you do.
If you invest in putting the right kind of plan in place, there is a financial cost upfront, but what you get back is all that person’s salaried time.
- Do you work in digital accessiblity? Or do you want to? Fill out the Digital Accessibility Mentorship Survey (Google Form) to help gauge the level of interest in a new professional mentoring program of the Accessibility Eldering Project.
- Just say no.
You’re building a site. You’re pondering adding a carousel.
Then you remember to go check out https://t.co/l8DTaGOlAB#a11y
— Nicolas Steenhout (@vavroom) August 18, 2020
WordPress
- Last week’s release of WordPress 5.5 didn’t go as well as expected for many WordPress users. Find out why WordPress 5.5 is breaking sites and how you can resolve the issues.
- Should you enable WordPress automatic plugin and theme updates? It’s not a simple question to answer. It depends. My friend Claire Brotherton explains what you need to consider and offers advice.
- When you or your designer/developer is troubleshooting your website, they need info about the backend infrastructure. Here’s how to find the PHP version of your WordPress website, as well as the theme and plugins installed on your site.
- We’ve all been there, locked ourselves out of our sites. I admit it, I’ve done it frequently. And I’ve used four of the five solutions for accessing a locked out WordPress admin screen.
CSS and HTML
- With the layoffs at Mozilla earlier this month, I have to say I’m worried what the future might be for the Firefox browser. I’m not alone, is Firefox an endangered internet species?
- What an elegant way to use the adjacent sibling combinator! Normally I would add default margin to a button, but Ahmad Shadeed’s just in case mindset CSS is a much better solution.
- Another reason to use the browser’s native user interface,
“When you replace the browser’s built-in UI with custom bespoke code, you increase the fragility of your site, make it less accessible and performant, and increase your code maintenance costs.”@AaronGustafson #AEAOT #InclusiveDesign
— zeldman (@zeldman) August 17, 2020
- I always look forward to the monthly roundup of new tools for designers, and Web Designer Depot’s August 2020 collection of exciting new tools for designers is outstanding. One of the tools I’m looking forward to using is Device Shots: generate high resolution device mockups.
What I Found Interesting
- Do you remember the last time you received a spam message from an SEO agency, promising to improve your website. My friend James Cooper receives them regularly, and has fun responding back to them. Here’s his latest: SEO Email: Digital Media Fox.
- I’ve wondered this for years: does a robin hear a worm? Now I know.
- Do you have a sidebar on your blog? It’s time to say goodbye to sidebars, says David Risley. You get better conversions without them.
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Did I miss some resources you found this week? I’d love to see them! Post them in the comments below.
