In this week’s web design and development news roundup, you’ll learn why the best user experience is forgettable, find a new automated accessibility testing tool, discover some cool CSS for your next project, 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
Reflecting that I’ve literally never worked with a user researcher who wasn’t brilliant at their job. Is this a coincidence or are all user researchers inherently excellent people?
— Amy Hupe (@Amy_Hupe) February 1, 2021
User Experience
- When it comes to digital payments, the best UX is forgettable. Parking apps can make life easier, especially when they’re designed to provide multiple paths for payment.
- This two-minute diary studies video from Nielsen Norman Group provides helpful info about logs (diary studies), when to use them, and the type of research questions they can answer.
- In We Value Your Privacy (At About $0.50): Dark Patterns in UI Copy, Graeme Fulton shares deceptive content methods websites use to trick users. First I’ve heard the “humbug headers” phrase: using friendly headings to deflect negative things.
- Are you interested in becoming a UX mentor? Or are you looking for a mentor? The User Experience Professionals Association (UXPA) is accepting applications for their 2021 mentorship program. Applications must be submitted by February 19, 2021.
Accessibility
- For anyone who plans online events, you’ll appreciate this amazing online guide for how to make your virtual events accessible from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Get tips for producers and speakers, learn how to meet regulations, and find handy checklists. Hat tip to my friend Sarah Bourne.
- Always remember accessibility is about people.
Accessibility is a human issue, don’t rush headlong into the technology. Once people have connected with stories that they can relate to you can move into the details & take action. #AXSChat #A11y
Alt = A white humanoid robot. pic.twitter.com/Go0YtnvAx5
— Neil Milliken (@NeilMilliken) February 4, 2021
- In her latest post, Evinced is Pushing the Limits of Automated Accessibility Testing, accessibility expert Marcy Sutton announced she is consulting with Evinced, a startup using computer vision and artificial intelligence to evaluate web pages with their testing tools suite.
I thought they were quite ambitious to tackle problems in an already-crowded space but their revolutionary approach to analyzing webpages filled a gap for me immediately…
- As he explains in Why Brands Must Make Accessibility the Cultural Default, Andrew Kirkpatrick, director of accessibility at Adobe, says organizations and businesses need to better understand the reasons why accessibility matters.
- Make accessibility a priority from the start for your project. In this week’s Press this Podcast episode, host David Vogelpohl talks with Nick Croft as they discuss why installing plugins isn’t a fix for accessibility.
WordPress
- Launched this month, the new WP Briefing podcast is for WordPress users, builders, and contributors to
- Join the Philadelphia WordPress Group on February 18, 2021 when Cami Kaos will present Content Creation: I can do that. Once an avid blogger, Cami will discuss delving back into creating content, what blocks you from writing content, and how to keep creating.
- You can expect a new redesign soon for the WordPress block manager, according to WP Tavern. One feature under discussion for the redesign: showing the number of instances where a block is used on a site.
- The WordPress 5.6.1 maintenance version was released this week, fixing 20 bugs as well as seven issues for the block editor. If your site supports automatic background updates, the update has likely already been completed.
CSS and HTML
- Discover how you can create image markup to make an image fluid (matching the width of its container).
- Happy 7th anniversary of International Box-sizing Awareness Day! Declared on February 1, 2014 by Chris Coyier, it’s the day to celebrate an easier way to build CSS layouts.
- Lots of cool CSS to consider for your next project in Andy Bell’s the present and future of CSS are bright. I’m loving the
scroll-margin-topCSS property. - What a beautiful sunrise!
See the Pen
Sunrise over still lake by Paulina Hetman (@pehaa)
on CodePen. - In Authentication, Jeremy Keith explains how using values for the input element’s autocomplete attribute can improve usability for people.
What I Found Interesting
- Announced this week, the new Wikipedia universal code of conduct was created by more than 1,500 volunteers from 19 different Wikipedia projects from five continents and 30 languages.
- I’m thankful for Google Meet’s latest feature, a green room where you can preview your audio and video settings before joining a meeting.
- Whoa. iPhone 12 devices could disable pacemakers or implanted cardiac defribrillators, due to batteries inside the iPhone.
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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.
