Usability
Anything that isn't usable is pretty useless, so avoid creating websites without considering usability.
Page zoom does not mean the end of flexibility
The fact that most browsers now default to zooming the entire page instead of just changing text size does not take away the need for flexibility in web design.
Do not remove the outline from links and form controls
Do not use CSS to remove the visual outline most browsers put on elements that have keyboard focus, and do not use JavaScript to immediately remove focus.
Don’t forget keyboard navigation
Remember that many people do not use a mouse to interact with the web, so you have to make sure that the sites or applications you build work independent of input device.
Let your links look like links
Don’t make your users waste their time by hiding links. If you can’t stand the look of blue and underlined links, there are other ways of making them obvious. But do not rely on colour alone.
Do not create empty links
Always make sure that any links you create have actual text content, or they will be unusable to some of your visitors.
Accessibility is more than “possible to access”
Making web sites and web applications accessible is more than making them possible to access - it also means making them usable.
Don’t duplicate link text in the title attribute
Repeating a link’s text in its title attribute serves no purpose for the end user. All it does is add noise and increase page size.
IE 8 still does not resize text sized in pixels
Internet Explorer’s text resizing behaviour is different from that of other browsers since IE does not allow the end user to (easily) resize text whose size has been specified in pixels.
Sign the petition to save the Swedish National Guidelines for Public Sector Websites
There is still no official word on what will happen to the Swedish National Guidelines for Public Sector Websites, so Jens Wedin has created a petition to save the guidelines. Please sign it.
Reveal new window links and links to non-HTML files with a user stylesheet
By telling your browser to apply a user stylesheet you can highlight links that open in a new window or point to non-HTML documents, making them less obtrusive.
Swedish National Guidelines for Public Sector Websites in danger?
Verva, the agency responsible for the Swedish National Guidelines for Public Sector Websites, is being closed down, and it is unclear what will happen to the guidelines.
Make Safari open targeted links in new tabs instead of new windows
How to use Terminal.app to tell Safari to open links that normally open in a new window to open in a new tab instead.
Quick Tips for web developers and web designers
By starting a new category of posts that focus on quick and simple tips related to front-end web development I hope to help people avoid making some mistakes that I see repeatedly.
Make HTML messages readable in Apple Mail
Two tips that make HTML email messages easier to read in Apple Mail. One makes Mail prefer Plain Text by default, the other sets the minimum font size used to display HTML email.
Remember to specify a background colour
There is no guarantee that web browsers always use a white background, so if your design needs a white background, remember to specify it in your CSS.
Designing Web Navigation (Book review)
Learn the fundamentals of navigation design and design better navigation systems for large and small sites as well as for web based applications.
Specify a maximum width for em-based layouts
When creating layouts with an em-based width, specify a maximum width to avoid horizontal scrolling for users who increase text size.
Make sure your website works with or without www
Make sure your website is available whether or not the visitor has typed www in front of your domain name.
Does advanced search sound too advanced?
Should advanced search be called something else to sound more friendly and inviting, and would it make more people to use it when they need to?
Common usability problems
A number of too common usability problems encountered on the Web.
