Usability (5 articles)
Create a stylish accessible form
There are a stack of different ways to lay out a form, but honestly sometimes I’m undecided on which way is better. Some say there’s nothing wrong with using a table to position your form elements, but I reckon that makes it semantically meaningless. Forms have admittedly always been a field (bad pun, sorry) of HTML that I've not paid as much attention to as I should have, but I ...
Read full article | 13 comments , most recent by A Novice
Don't use target=_blank
Despite what you may have heard from your boss who doubles as a 'usability expert', people actually like to have control over their browser. One of the most infuriating ways to annoy web surfers (me included) is to make decisions for us, and if you're forcing external links into new windows or tabs, then you're doing it very very wrong. The thing is, I know how to use my browser, and so do othe...
Read full article | 20 comments , most recent by That Web Guy
A dark code view theme for Dreamweaver
I don't know about you, but sometimes I tire of looking at a bright white code view all the time. Dreamweaver has a great coding environment but the default colour scheme isn't always suitable, especially when your coding in the dark. Luckily you can change the default code view colour scheme, although it's a bit time consuming and there is a lot of trial and error. But if you're feeling partic...
Read full article | 54 comments , most recent by That Web Guy
Considerate Accessibility
When I got my first web development job more than 10 years ago I had only a vague clue what the term 'accessibility' meant, and no clue what it meant to develop for it. Like many other web developers these days we know what's technically required to achieve an accessible web site, but there are some other things to consider post launch. If you're going to hand a CMS controlled site over to your...
Read full article | 8 comments , most recent by Teegee
Boycot the underline
To many people the humble underline has been used as a form of emphasis, and while once upon a time it was OK, the advent of the web browser has made this practice a usability no-no. When we're online, the underline is indicative of a link, a way to communicate to the user that this is something that is actionable - in this case being to reveal more information. How the information is revealed ...
Read full article | 8 comments , most recent by Jeff Chapman