Alan Dalton uses this, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, to look back at where we’ve come from, to evaluate where we are, and to look forward to what’s coming next in the future of accessibility guidelines.
Ian Lloyd looks at how DOM Scripting can help out with an uncomfortable accessibility issue. Form field labels can be tricky to implement in some cases, but with a little ingenuity Ian demonstrates how a balance can be struck.
Laura Kalbag stamps the snow off the boots of web accessibility, making positive cases for its foundational place in our work. Accessibility is like the washing up after dinner on Christmas Day: you could leave it to someone else, but it won’t be done right.
Eric Eggert celebrates the simplicity of making websites accessible and, when accessibility is as fundamental to a project as performance and code quality, how it can improve the experience for all users. The web, like a gleeful cheer of “Merry Christmas” at yuletide, is for everyone.
Ann McMeekin decks the halls with some practical CSS techniques that can help in making your site design as accessible to as many different users as possible. ‘Tis the season of good will to all men (and women), after all. Fa-la-la.
Patrick H. Lauke returns our focus to accessibility, and in particular to styling sites to be usable by visitors browsing with something other than a mouse. All this, whilst still maintaining aesthetic appeal.
Amy Hupe prepares a four bird roast of tasty treats so we can learn how the needs of many different types of users can be served through careful implementation of components within a design system.
Peter-Paul Koch continues our focus on JavaScript and Accessibility by demonstrating how fall-back HTML elements can be convincingly hidden when their functionality is to be replaced by Ajax. A viable alternative to what could be considered to be flashing your underwear at your users. No one wants that.
Mike Davies kicks off a mini-series on Accessibility and JavaScript by considering a number of techniques for hiding links, yet keeping them accessible. And when I say hiding links, I don’t mean hiding your links to seedy underworld of organised crime, no sir. Moving swiftly along…
Geri Coady extends goodwill to all with some insights about colour and how it impacts everyone using our sites and apps. Full of practical tips and tools, this gift keeps on giving.
Geri Coady bends low the Christmas tree branches with bright and contrasting baubles. This isn’t some gaudy seasonal distraction, though. It’s responsible accessibility advice you can work with throughout the year.
Charlie Perrins reminds us of a fundamental requirement of our work: accessibility; and that there’s more to accessible interfaces than screen readers. Want to unplug at Christmas? Start with your mouse and don’t look back.
Sibylle Weber finds ways to make our workflows more collaborative, and advocates more positively asserting the benefits of responsive design to the people who matter: colleagues and clients.
Derek Featherstone considers the difference between decorative and informational graphics and how each is best approached, particularly with regard to accessibility. Make sure you know what you’re doing next time you decide to deck the halls.
Mark Mitchell casts coarse salt upon the pale icy sheen of recent web design aesthetics to sound a warning that we may be on thin ice. The tension between low contrast tastes and high contrast needs is a story as old as the <font> tag, and yet it bears frequent retelling. For snow has fallen snow on snow.
Bruce Lawson takes us a little further down the rabbit hole of HTML5. This week we’ve seen a glimpse of some of the great stuff coming, but how much of it can we start using right away? Luckily we have Bruce on hand to explain.
Kimberly Blessing takes a look at some different methods for marking up the progress meters commonly found on site checkouts. Particularly looking with respect to semantics and accessibility, Kimberly presents a neat solution of her own. Check it out. (sorry!)
Julie Grundy kicks off this, our fifteenth year, by diving headlong into the snowy issue of customising form inputs. Nothing makes a more special gift at Christmas that something you’ve designed and customised yourself. But can it be done while staying accessible to every user?
Jina Anne lets the Christmas spirit of generosity and goodwill flow freely into open source projects in need of good design. It’s work free of charge, perhaps, but not for nothing.
Brian Suda ponders some techniques for maintaining correct color contrast whilst still offering your users the ability to customise their own color scheme. So put your slippers on, kick back with a sherry and let the algorithms do the work.
Amy Kapernick sings us through numerous ways of improving the robustness and reliability of our front end code with a comprehensive rundown of ideas, tools, and resources. The girls and boys won’t get any toys until all the tests are passing.
Jason Santa Maria continues our mini series looking at colour as he trips the light fantastic with your corporate brand guidelines. When is a colour not a colour? Read on and find out why old Saint Nic’s collars don’t match his cuffs.
Sally Jenkinson asserts that responsive design isn’t just about displaying content on multiple devices – we can also respond to users’ contextual needs to enhance experiences. When the snow lies deep and crisp and even, you’re gonna need a bigger boot.
Drew McLellan talks us through how to get going with some quick and easy Ajax using the freely available Prototype JavaScript library.