Archived posts, September 2009

(Almost) never add a reset button to a form

Think carefully before adding a reset button to a form. Is being able to reset the form so valuable that it is worth the risk of losing the data you have entered? Probably not.

Posted on September 1, 2009 in Quick Tips, Usability

HTML 5 and the summary attribute

The current HTML 5 Working Draft lists the summary attribute as an obsolete but conforming feature and tells authors to provide table information to all users.

Posted on September 7, 2009 in Accessibility, HTML 5

Accessible colour combinations

If you had to pick a limited number of accessible colour combinations that you could let people choose from by means of a style switcher, what would they be, and why?

Posted on September 10, 2009 in Accessibility

Opera adds support for the longdesc attribute

Very few visual browsers support the longdesc attribute, but now there are at least two: iCab and Opera.

Posted on September 14, 2009 in Accessibility, Browsers

Användbarhetsboken – a free online book on usability

If you can read Swedish, here’s an opportunity to read a good book on usability for free.

Posted on September 16, 2009 in Accessibility, Usability

Write HTML and CSS quicker with with Zen Coding

The Zen Coding plugin, available for TextMate and several other editors, speeds up your HTML and CSS coding.

Posted on September 21, 2009 in Coding, Productivity

Java is not JavaScript

Java and JavaScript are not the same thing, and they are not related.

Posted on September 23, 2009 in JavaScript

Readable – another way of improving readability on the Web

The Readable bookmarklet, especially in combination with the Better Web Readability CSS framework, makes websites easier to scan and read.

Posted on September 25, 2009 in Accessibility, Typography, Usability

Skip links need to be at least temporarily visible

When you add skip links to a site, do not hide them completely from sighted users.

Posted on September 29, 2009 in Accessibility, Quick Tips, Usability

WebAIM screen reader user follow-up survey

Screen reader users are encouraged to participate in WebAIM’s updated screen reader user survey, intended to help accessible web developers make informed decisions.

Posted on September 30, 2009 in Accessibility