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

Six Metrics for Managing UI Design
Source: Russell Wilson, 28 August 2008
 
A proposal of six metrics to be used for managing a user interface design department.

Don't Judge a Form by its Cover
Source: Formulate Information Design, 27 August 2008
 
The saying "don't judge a book by its cover" reminds us that looks are deceptive. It turns out that this idiom applies to forms too.

Beijing Olympics - special State of the eNation report
Source: www.abilitynet.org.uk, 26 August 2008
 
In this special report AbilityNet asked disabled users to try out the Beijing Olympics website in our interaction lab.

It's Who You Know (Or Don't)
Source: Stanford Magazine, 23 August 2008
 
Online social networks are powerful and ineffectual all at once.

Winning Considerations for Interactive Content
Source: UXMatters, 22 August 2008
 
Rich options for interactively presenting content also come with a challenge.

Microsoft sees end of Windows era
Source: BBC, 20 August 2008
 
Microsoft has kicked off a research project to create software that will take over when it retires Windows.

News you can Use
Source: Gerry McGovern, 18 August 2008
 
When the homepage is dominated by news you are not necessarily communicating more.

Feeling Through your Computer
Source: Discoveries and Breakthroughs Inside Science, 16 August 2008
 
A newly designed device lets computer users feel the texture and movement of what they are seeing in front of them.

User interviews - A basic Introduction
Source: Webcredible, 15 August 2008
 
It's surprising how few people have a real understanding of who's using their site.

Helping Visitors find Information
Source: UN, 13 August 2008
 
A new report outlines the key findings from surveys that explored factors which influence the quality of online experience.