Chapter 3 - Big Concepts Flashcards
Why study the big concepts?
They form the ideas and concerns that inform our decisions & contribute to the contemporary web design environment - The heart of the matter is that we never know exactly how the pages we create will be viewed - there’re so many variables (screen-size, methodology, browser version, internet speed, etc.) - The BIG CONCEPTS, primarily are reactions to and methods for coping with the inescapable element of the unknown
List the BIG CONCEPTS to keep in mind as a web designer?
Multitude of devices Web Standards Progressive Enhancements Responsive Web Design Accessibility Site Performance
Discuss “Multitude of Devices”
The challenges involved here includes screen-size (main concern used to be having to deal w/ varying internet browsers) but with the introduction of the iphone & android phones in 2007 - things changed totally w/ regards to the way we did web surfing. In addition, there are also new considerations posed on the network the user was using i.e. 3G or EDGE network. Also, users maybe sitting or walking around; so, now designers have to keep all these things in mind when designing for the web
Why should you stick with web standards?
b/c web standards is your primary tool for ensuring your site is as consistent as possible. Sticking w/ web standards is your primary tool for ensuring your site is as consistent as possible on all standards-compliant browsers (99% of all browsers). It also helps make your content forward-compatible as web technologies and browser capabilities evolve.
What are some of the considerations a web designer should make when sticking with web standards?
A good start is to follow the html, css, and javascript standards as documented by the W3C
What is Progressive Enhancement?
A strategy for coping w/ unknown browser capabilities - there are a wide range of browser capabilities (from basic html to the bells & whistles, to javascript/no javascript, etc.). When designing w/ progressive enhancement, you start with a baseline experience that makes the content or functionality available to even the most basic browsers or assistive devices and then layer on more advanced features for the browsers that can handle them - PE informs all aspects of page design and production, including HTML, CSS and Javascript
What is graceful degradation?
the flip-side of progressive enhancement - an older approach in which you design the fully enhanced experience first, then create a series of fallbacks for non-supporting browsers.
How does Progressive Enhancement impact Authoring Strategy?
A properly marked-up html document ensures that your website will be usable on the widest range of browsing capabilities - A clean html document with its elements accurately and thoroughly described are the foundation for accessibility
How does Progressive Enhancement impact Styling Strategy?
You can create layers of experiences simply by taking advantage of the way browsers parse style sheet rules - style the baseline experience first, then add improvements once the minimum requirements are met
How does Progressive Enhancement impact Scripting strategy
Javascript is the scripting language that makes web pages interactive & dynamic (updating on the fly or in response to user input) - The first rule in PE is to make sure basic functionality such as linking from page-to-page or accomplishing essential tasks like data submission via forms is intact even when Javascript is off… the goal is to always ensure the baseline (meat & potatoes) experience is available with or without Javascript activated.
What is Responsive Web Design?
A strategy for dealing with unknown screen size. A strategy for providing custom layouts to devices based on the size of the viewport. The trick to responsive web design is serving a single html doc to all devices, but applying different style sheets based on the screen size in order to provide the most optimized layout for that device.
Some problems are better addressed by using server to detect the device and it’s capabilities and then make decisions on what to send back but using PE, you can deliver a baseline experience for the most basic browsers & devices. For some sights, it might be prudent to build a separate mobile site with a customized interface and feature set that takes advantage of phone capabilities like geolocation
Discuss Accessbility
People access the web in many different ways
Screen readers, braille output, magnifiers, joysticks, etc.
web designers must build webpages in a way that creates as few barriers as possible to getting to information regardless of the user’s ability & device used to access the web
Discuss some of the techniques/strategies developed to provide better accessibility
Although, originally intended for users with disabilities such as poor vision or limited mobility, they also benefit users with handheld devices, slow modem connections, or images/javascript turned off - Accessible sites are also more effectively indexed by search engines such as Google
Discuss the 4 categories of disabilities that affect how people interact with their computers & information on them
Vision Impairment: may use an assistive device such as a screen reader, braille display, or screen magnifier
Mobility Impairment: users w/ limited or no use of their hands may use special devices such as modified mice & keyboards, foot pedals, or joysticks
Auditory Impairment: Users w/ limited or no hearing will miss out on audio aspects of multimedia, so it is necessary to provide alternatives
Cognitive Impairment: Memory, reading comprehension, problem solving & attention limitations problems users will benefit when sites are designed simply & clearly
Discuss the efforts the W3C started to address the need to make the web usable for everyone
Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)… www.w3.org/WAI - an excellent starting point for learning about web accessibility
WAI-ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications), which addresses the accessibility of web applications that include dynamically generated content, scripting, and advanced interface elements that are particulary confounding to assistive devices…. www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria/roles#role_definitions
