I love this post so much. The tab example is pretty much identical to the approach I’ve been using for a while now.
By making our selectors tied to proper semantic choices, we limit the likelihood that poor decisions will be made in HTML and covered up by CSS and JavaScript (which also introduce additional dependencies we aren’t guaranteed will make it to our users).
Read it. Ruminate on it. Implement it.
There’s a ton of great info in this article, but this one little bit is definitely worth calling out:
Android app developers know that there are over 24,000 devices in the marketplace that can potentially run their app. The number of end users that can be reached is staggering and that sheer volume of individuals means that app developers tailor their build for the majority of users and not the minority. iOS developers don’t have the same level of device fragmentation but there are over 1.5 billion apps in the App Store and (again) millions of end users to think about.
Now consider that this is focused purely on platform-specific apps and not products delivered on the Web. We should do everything in our power to deliver positive experiences to our users while simultaneously recognizing that it is impossible to deliver the same experience to each of them.
A funny love letter (of sorts) to Microsoft from SitePoint’s Managing Editor.
This looks like an excellent talk from Zach Leatherman. It’s packed with useful recommendations. I hope the video’s posted soon!
An excellent overview of some significant upgrades to NPR.org along with some advice to web developers.
No one was more deserving of this award than Molly. No one.
Thank you for all you have done for the Web Mols! And, especially, thank you for all you have done for me.
Accessibility is an afterthought in much of our industry. In order to change that, education needs to change and code schools need to change. Karl nails it in this post:
While Hacker You should be applauded for their regular lunch-and-learns, I think that all computer schools should include accessibility embedded in core curriculum. It will create an alumni population better prepared to create interfaces that are universally usable. Their alumni will be differentiated by their ability to consider the user’s needs. After all, if you’re not developing for the user, who are you developing for?
Time to stop blurring sensitive client information in your slide decks and articles. Cover it in a black box instead.
Did you know the ARIA role attribute allows for multiple values? It’s how role supports fault tolerance: the first value (of the space separated list) is applied, but if the assistive technology in use doesn’t understand it, the second value will be tried, etc. until a usable alternative is found. It works a lot like font stacks.
Jens Oliver Meiert on why we should continue to tidy up to and improve on our creations rather than letting them site once we’ve launched them. I’ve never been once for maintenance contracts with clients, but I also believe that sites that aren’t tended to every now and again can become overgrown or, worse, wither and die.