In this week’s web design and development resources roundup, you’ll learn how rapid usability testing is changing UX research, find the first beta version of WordPress 6.1, discover a podcast discussing modern CSS for HTML email, 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
Is your child texting about wildlife? ⚠️📱
— U.S. Fish and Wildlife (@USFWS) September 20, 2022
LOL: lots of lamprey
BRB: beavers really build
IMO: I miss owls
NSFW: not safe from weasels
GG: gigantic gar
FTW: for the whales
IRL: I respect lynx
User Experience
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When you conduct rapid usability testing, you’ll find product teams have fewer roadblocks and produce a better final product, says Owen Fay as he explains how rapid usability testing is changing UX research.
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Did you know the phrase “human-centered design” originated in 1987 with Mike Cooley, an Irish engineer in the architecture field? Ankitha Gattupalli discusses the similarities between human-centered design processes in architecture and user experience in what architects can learn from UX designers.
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Understand the people that use your products and services.
The people that will use your solutions are not average. They’re people with lived experiences, not flat personas defined only by demographics. Understanding them, in both their differences and their similarities is how you create the next-level solutions you want to make.
— Indi Young (she/her) (@indiyoung) September 22, 2022 -
Academics from the University of Washington Tacoma are researching the UX industry to inform their teaching. Their short online survey for UX professionals, students, and teachers wants to know what you hope to learn about UX. (Google form, anonymous survey)
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Broken forms, whether they’re digital or paper, are a huge cost to organizations. And let’s not forget the frustration, anger, and costs to the people who have to use bad forms. Failing to fix forms is costing you money. Don’t make excuses, says Caroline Jarrett. Fix the forms.
Accessibility
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The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) published their course list of digital accessibility education, training, and certification. More courses will be added in coming weeks.
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Make it simple.
As much as I want everyone to understand all of #Accessibility, the best thing to do is simplify it. Make it easy for devs, scrum masters, PO to consume. Create internal standards, training and documentation that are your own and fit #A11y to what is best for them to consume!
— Mark Steadman (@Steady5063) September 20, 2022 -
Now rolling out to all users, Twitter’s new opt-in feature reminds you to add alternative text to images before you publish. I was one of the 10% of Twitter users who tested the alt text reminder feature when it rolled out in July 2022.
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Reminder for folks conducting user research with disabled users:
I’ve been conducting usability tests with disabled users for 15 or so years. I always learn something new.
— Nicolas Steenhout (@vavroom) September 22, 2022
Today’s tidbit: If you ask for a mobile number on a form, specify what you will use it for. Some people have different numbers for voice and for text.#a11y #accessibility -
When it comes to choosing between a grid or a table to display data, Kim Wee recommends you ask yourself two questions. And don’t forget to test the accessibility of the page.
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For people with visual disabilities accessing websites, avoid making assumptions about what kind of assistive technology they use. And consider how color, resizing, reflow, labels, and structure may impact a user with limited, low, or no vision trying to use your website.
WordPress
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Can you help? The first beta version of WordPress 6.1 is available for download and testing.
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A favorite custom post plugin among WordPress users, Pods 2.9.4 maintenance update has been released with a new block, five new features, two enhancements, and 21 bug fixes.
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Did you know Jetpack Boost defers render-blocking resources in WordPress automatically? Or that Jetpack CDN compresses images as you upload them? Learn how to improve Core Web Vitals on WordPress sites.
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The end of an era. David Vogelpohl says farewell as host of Press This as he transfers the reins to new host Dr. Popular.
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What popular and well-known companies and organizations use WordPress? The New York Times, TechCrunch, and the Rolling Stones to name a few. Find out which brands and celebrities use WordPress for their sites.
CSS and HTML
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Preethi explains how to build a checkerboard background using CSS, but with rounded corners and hover styles. Check the comments for some different approaches.
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As a former HTML email designer, I was fascinated with Vitaly Friedman’s conversation with Rémi Parmentier in the latest Smashing Podcast episode, discussing whether we can finally use modern CSS for HTML email.
So you need to have a more extended view and be really humble and realize that you won’t be able to code for everyone, but you need to do it as good as you can, get close to this.
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In his latest The History of the Web post, Jay Hoffman discusses paywalls at publications and how major publications progressed over the years to a metered paywall.
What I Found Interesting
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Imagine making a journey of more than 7,000 miles by flapping night and day, without stopping to eat, drink or rest. That’s what the Bar-tailed Godwit does in its long nonstop migration journey.
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Happy birthday to the first emoticon, which turns 40 years old. Can you remember the first time you used an emoticon?
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I’ve done my share of foraging pears in the city, how about you? Have you discovered a world of free vegetables and fruits in your neighborhood or town?
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