In this week’s web design and development news roundup, you’ll learn about getting UX writing right in your microcopy, find out what to expect in WordPress 5.5, discover how to add a backdrop filter effect with CSS, 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
Asking what makes someone successful is like asking which ingredient makes a recipe taste good.
It’s not any single ingredient. It is the combination of many ingredients in the right proportions and in the right order—and the absence of anything that would ruin the mixture.
— James Clear (@JamesClear) July 12, 2020
User Experience
- Write concisely and use the active voice, says Kristin Savage in getting UX writing right with microcopy. One of my favorite tips from her post: read your writing out loud to make sure it’s understandable.
- UX needs to be involved from the start to do the user research.
Bad product leadership: Here is something we want you to design.
Good product leadership: We believe there is a problem with X, so we want you to figure out how to address it.
Great product leadership: Help us understand what our customer’s problems are & how to address them.
— Nick Finck (@nickf) July 13, 2020
- Why do I love the example of GoDaddy’s home page in 4 ways to achieve simplicity in your designs? Because I lived through the changes. And I know many GoDaddy users appreciate the updated (and more usable) design.
- I remember learning about satisficing—settling for a good-enough choice—in my first user experience class. Which is common in users’ behavior when viewing search engine results pages (SERP), as Feifei Liu explains in love-at-first-sight gaze pattern on search-results pages.
Accessibility
- Looking for recommendations to improve accessibility on your website? Brad Henry offers 10 website accessibility quick tips for content, design, and development you can make part of your workflow today.
- Accessibility is the role of everyone in an organization.
Can I retire now and refer everyone to @Microsoft CEO @satyanadella who just told the world “accessibility isn’t something you do on the side. A full system change is needed and is one of the most empowering, energizing thing for a company.” @jennylayfluffy #DisabilityAdvantage
— Lainey Feingold (@LFLegal) July 15, 2020
- If you’re publishing on social media, you want to make sure everyone can access and understand the content in your posts. The UK Government Communication Service has a helpful online site for planning, creating and publishing accessible social media campaigns.
- Adobe has made their Inclusive Design Workshop available for download. You’ll find content for a full-day workshop on inclusive design, including workbook modules and exercises. Slides haven’t been posted yet.
WordPress
- The second beta version of WordPress 5.5 is available for download and testing. WordPress 5.5 is scheduled for release on August 11, 2020.
- Wondering how to edit WordPress source code, but worried you might break your site? This 11-minute video from WPBuffs is for you, walking you through the steps to edit your HTML, CSS, JavaScript or PHP files.
- One of the features I’m looking forward to in the upcoming WordPress 5.5 version is default lazy load images,
a feature that was originally scheduled for WordPress 5.4. Learn what else you can expect in WordPress 5.5, along with screenshots. - If you’ve been debating what platform to build your blog on, Devin Partida’s post on why you should choose WordPress over Squarespace for your blog has solid reasons why WordPress is the best choice.
CSS and HTML
- Do you know the difference between a type selector and a universal selector in CSS? How about a pseudo class vs. a pseudo element? Check out CSS Vocabulary, an online resource that explains CSS code terms.
- CodePen has come out with a new way to start a new pen, by typing in pen.new in the browser address bar. Cool!
- This is an interesting effect: create a backdrop filter effect with CSS. Read the comments for tips on making it cross-browser compatible.
- EmailComb is a helpful free tool for removing unused CSS from your email templates.
What I Found Interesting
- Interesting updates and functionality in the big Gmail redesign with side-by-side Google Docs, Chat, and Meet calling has me excited about trying it out!
- I’ve been following Problogger for years, and always find helpful information in Darren’s posts. This week’s post is no exception, with 9 ways to grow your blog faster. I’ve been following tip 3 for years. Which one is your favorite?
- Given the hacks that happened to several well-known Twitter accounts this week, you might have missed Twitter’s new feature of accessing direct messages within your timeline. The new feature has been rolled out to Twitter on the web, but I haven’t seen it yet. Have you?
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Did I miss some news you found this week? Post them in the comments below.
