Designing for the 21st Century Conference puts its Gems Online

"Web Accessibility and Design: A Failure of the Imagination" by Bob Regan of Macromedia is just one of the many useful and varied conference papers collected together as the proceedings of "Designing for the 21st Century III" and now online. The conference itself took place in December last year in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. But the website is a good compensation for missing it; a study in information sharing, with everything circulated on the CD at the conference available to read swiftly after the event.

It would be enhanced if there was just a little more detail about each paper and case study in the index, but when you see the sheer number of entries, you may forgive the webmaster.

So, back to Regan's paper... It's a good read. He is looking at why accessibility is so often neglected. 'In order to understand why there are so few sites that illustrate great design and great accessibility, web design needs to be understood as a practice of individuals. Sites are built by people, not principles or standards. To state the case in a rather simple way, designers are trained to value the visual presentation. Accessibility advocates are taught to value adherence to standards. Compromising on either front means relinquishing control. In general, this is not something that comes easily within either community of experts.'

And there are many other papers of interest delivered in the plenaries, as well as case studies and a whole list of reported projects.

Associated Link: Web Accessibility and Design: A Failure of the Imagination

The Difference Between Usability and User Experience
Source: CMS Wire, 22 March 2010
 
Never hurts to be reminded: semantics, or genuine conceptual distinction?

Use Your Users’ Language - And Use It Well!
Source: Multilingual Search, 20 March 2010
 
British English is very different from (US ) American English and Australian English. It is so very important to use your users’ language.

Cyber-criminals don't need Technical Skills
Source: SFGate, 19 March 2010
 
The unexpected downside of great usability.

Advice on Designing Mobile Sites and Apps
Source: Poynter Online, 18 March 2010
 
Series of useful tips from a recent panel discussion.

Website Usability and Conversion
Source: UsabilityBlog, 17 March 2010
 
Useful presentation on the relationship between website usability and conversion.

Tips for Usability Testing with Children
Source: Econsultancy, 16 March 2010
 
Not even chocolate will help you here.

The Hygiene Factor of Usability
Source: inspireUX, 15 March 2010
 
Is it true that usability can no longer take us 'beyond lack of dissatisfaction'?

The Business Benefits of building Accessible websites
Source: Econsultancy, 13 March 2010
 
There’s a good business case for making your website more accessible to the UK’s disabled community.

Internet access is 'a fundamental right'
Source: BBC, 12 March 2010
 
Almost four in five people around the world believe that access to the internet is a fundamental right, a poll for the BBC World Service suggests.

The Net generation, Unplugged
Source: The Economist, 11 March 2010
 
Is it really helpful to talk about a new generation of "digital natives" who have grown up with the internet?