More Web Mastering Articles
The order of link pseudo-classes matters
(456 Berea Street)Common knowledge to most who have been working with CSS for a few years, but perhaps not something that relative newcomers have come across yet: the order in which you define the different link states affects the end result.
I prefer the following order: :link, :visited, :hover, :focus, :active.
Eric Meyer explains why the order matters and why he also prefers defining the states...
More from The order of link pseudo-classes matters
Original
Dyslexia and accessibility
(456 Berea Street)One large group of people with special needs that is often overlooked � even by those who make an effort to build accessible websites � is dyslexics.
A good way to learn more about dyslexia, how it can make it hard to use the web, and what you as a designer can do about it is to read Mel Pedley�s article series on designing for dyslexics:
Designing for Dyslexics: Part 1 of 3...
More from Dyslexia and accessibility
Original
Remember to specify a background colour
(456 Berea Street)Jeffrey Zeldman recently posted Is your (website�s) underwear showing?, which is a reminder about one of my pet peeves � websites that don�t specify a background colour but have a design that relies on all browsers having a white background. When the browser background is set to something other than white, some sites look really� interesting :-).
This has been happening since forever....
More from Remember to specify a background colour
Original
Writing good alt text
(456 Berea Street)I do quite a bit of quality assurance work, specifically looking at the accessibility and web standards use of websites. In many cases I make remarks about the use of alternative text for images and other graphic elements.
It is, not surprisingly, common for alternative text to be completely absent, but it is probably even more common to see inappropriate use of the alt attribute. In...
More from Writing good alt text
Original
arguments: A JavaScript Oddity
(SitePoint » JavaScript & CSS)arguments is the name of a local, array-like object available inside every function. It’s quirky, often ignored, but the source of much programming wizardry; all the major JavaScript libraries tap into the power of the arguments object. It’s something every JavaScript programmer should become familiar with. Inside any function you can access it through the variable: [...]
More from arguments: A JavaScript Oddity
Original
Find nasty JavaScript with the Obtrusive JavaScript Checker
(456 Berea Street)When reviewing websites to find areas that may be improved, one of the things I look for is whether any JavaScript has been implemented in an unobtrusive way or not.
I normally do that by turning JavaScript on and off, and viewing the source code. It can be a bit tedious. But now there is a quicker way to find obtrusive JavaScript: Robert Nyman�s Obtrusive JavaScript Checker.
The...
More from Find nasty JavaScript with the Obtrusive JavaScript Checker
Original
Going from WCAG 1.0 to WCAG 2.0
(456 Berea Street)The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 is currently in W3C Proposed Recommendation status and may be advanced to W3C Recommendation status before the end of this year. To prepare for this it�s time to start reading up on WCAG 2.0 if you haven�t already.
A good start may be the Overview of WCAG 2.0 Documents compiled by the W3C WAI. The WCAG 2 FAQ and How to Meet WCAG 2.0...
More from Going from WCAG 1.0 to WCAG 2.0
Original
Character encoding
(456 Berea Street)Character encoding can be wickedly difficult to get right, especially when you want to start using UTF-8. It seems there is always at least one part of the chain from your brain to the end user�s browser that has problems with UTF-8.
Two articles that try explain character encoding are The Definitive Guide to Web Character Encoding and UTF-8: The Secret of Character Encoding. I won�t...
More from Character encoding
Original
Reading up on WAI-ARIA
(456 Berea Street)One of the more problematic areas of web accessibility is how to handle the custom widgets and dynamic changes to content used in most web applications and on many content-based websites.
Using JavaScript to add custom behaviour and update content can cause problems for people who rely on assistive technology (AT) such as screen readers. The problems often consist of the AT not being...
More from Reading up on WAI-ARIA
Original
More Web Mastering Articles