Reading Time: 3 minutes TL;DR Should we redesign our keyboard human-computer (HCI) interactions? Yes. Calculating the key problem I was writing an advert for 2 items and wondered, where’s the multiplication symbol is on my Mac and Windows keyboard? Any keyboard? How do I write this math operator in my electronic documents for screen readers to announce correctly? I […]
Reading Time: 4 minutes Bulleted lists break up dense blocks of content. They make scanning for discrete content and reading easier for visual readers. A Bronze content user experience (UX) elevates to Golden. Meanwhile, people using a screen reader hear more meta-information. Depending on mode and setting, each list and bullet announces. The UX remains Bronze or lower. With […]
Reading Time: 7 minutes Labelling is a positive strategy. A good label makes a complex concept understandable, actionable, and memorable. These benefits apply negatively when labels stigmatise, discriminate, or cause offense. Simple Labels (and Math) In the June 2021 News, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recognised that regional labels applied to Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) variants stigmatised the areas […]
Reading Time: 2 minutes According to a Google search for, “happiest language in the world” the happiest language is Spanish. Chinese is the least happy. Could this help explain why developers, designers and writers working in English are among the most miserable b’stards online? Example The following is a random example from the Tesco.com homepage that offers just two […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes I often write articles around writing for digital and cognition and I have yet to list my working strategies. We like writing strategies. They are many and easy to find for good and bad. I only want to list my own although clearly I apply Pyramid Writing. Every designer knows how to write copy right? […]
Reading Time: 5 minutes In this post I: Revisit the misunderstanding between the alternative text attribute (alt) and its value. Consider the editorial intention of images that convey emotion and ask, should I add a new branch to my Alternative Text Shrubbery? Why this topic? Alternative text attributes are the simplest accessibility recommendation to apply (Sydik, 2007), and a […]
Reading Time: 2 minutes Listen to or watch any smartphone review this year and there’s an energetic reference to the camera’s zoom. “7 to 12x”. X? What’s Zoom then? Zoom is the change of a camera lens’ focal length. We zoom in to make the subject appear bigger in the frame and zoom out to; well, you get the […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes Marc Marc posted a poll on the WCAG A11y Professionals Facebook page to gauge opinion of frameworks v. native JS and CSS. I added the following sermon from my pulpit as the topic resonates with this week’s, Taking Control of Agile UX presentation by Jared Spool of Center Centre. Jared restated my belief that our […]
Reading Time: 4 minutes When we write web content in valid vanilla HTML, the Internet is a far more inclusive product. Only the skill of our writers could change that. In this article I argue to drop Markdown as your primary writing medium and write to, or into HTML. Comments are open 🙂 Digital Writing Digital writing is different […]
Reading Time: 4 minutes The Internet is a dirty place. Surely respectable enterprises should help make it safe? Dark patterns like this from Microsoft fail to install any confidence that an honest Internet is likely. Naive? Given our industry’s call for user-centric design, the abuse of our users with crass engineering and misleading “dark” advertising patterns is surely wrong? […]
Reading Time: 5 minutes 3D UI effects are easily implemented using the latest CSS. They can add animated interest and glamour to the visual design, and give kudos to eager YouTube jockeys looking for love. How do we turn the animated ones off? Few online tutes, examples, and other self-promoting demonstrations give a clue to a11y or inclusivity. The […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes Why? Static wireframes are not prototypes. I expect to use this technique when demonstrating inclusive and accessible UX or UI design strategies. These include relative units, fluid responsiveness, and server responses that static wireframes or [insert ‘prototyping’ software of choice] click-through output can only fail to convey. Starting Out It’s been a while since I […]
Reading Time: 11 minutes ☰ Navigate this post: Introduction My Initial Thinking Adrian Replies The Missing Je Ne Sais Pas More Thinking Required Use Cases Solutions That Fail Summary Reference this Post Introduction I happened upon and was impressed by Adrian Roselli’s post, “Dialog Focus in Screen Readers”. His testing set me a line of thought current to my […]
Reading Time: 8 minutes Note. This post is a work in progress. A decade ago we got excited by two new HTML tags; the details and its nested summary. We all watched the demonstrations and immediately thought, “accordions” are finally available out the box! Why not: the accordion was already a pervasive UI pattern? The Vanilla “Details” and “Summary” […]
Reading Time: < 1 minute Hoorah for Monica Dinculescu (‘Meownica‘) of Google calling out developers who don’t “bake-in” accessibility to their apps like blueberries in a muffin recipe: “If you don’t want to make accessible apps, then you are a terrible person and you shouldn’t be making apps for anybody. You should be doing something else.” Dinculescu (2016) The following […]
Reading Time: 9 minutes ☰ Navigate this post: Why must images be inclusive And not only accessible? The problem Why image a11y fails The rotten Alt Decision Tree Analysis Pruning the Alt Decision Tree Cutting out the technical Shaking the ‘Tree Asking what stays? My Alt Decision Shrub Tra-daa, the problem solved!? Reference this post References Why is alternative […]
Reading Time: 2 minutes The boy has bought a suspension lowering kit. Its instructions are a link to a YouTube video. That’s cool, and also a little impractical when your hands are full and covered in grease? How does this relate to user experience (UX)? Well, the suppliers thought of their inexpert persona needing orienting to the task and […]
Reading Time: 4 minutes The following code snippet caught my attention when following posts by Chris Coyier and Eric Bailey diminishing objections to the abbreviation of accessibility to “a11y”. Abbreviation <abbr>a11y</abbr> There is no title=”” attribute within the abbr element. I was groomed to always include it. The Correct HTML? A little research including the WHATWG Living Standard (September, […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes Our visual designer plans a section with a heading and four numbered areas to describe four steps or areas to explore in our product. You know the thing. In this scenario: The code strategy is not specified. The developers use some CMS or framework or other, which makes their lives easy and adds weight to […]
Reading Time: 5 minutes Our latest submission covered information architecture and content as a part of Module 3, the psychology of UX. My preliminary research was included as an Appendix and is included here for (my) future reference. Research: content and information ”…You need to have a good understanding of the content before you even think of tackling the […]