Code as Craft—Life as Agency (15)
Articles and books on web development (with a focus on HTML/CSS optimization and maintainability), engineering management, and practical philosophy.
On Updating a Book (Webdesign mit CSS, 2nd Edition)
I’m still working on the second edition of Webdesign mit CSS. And I can say: I like this work, though updating a book is more challenging than starting from scratch. It looks like less work at first, but that work is different.
#25 · · development, css, design
Revitalizing SUS, the System Usability Scale
About 20 years ago, John Brooke published the concept of a “System Usability Scale,” a “reliable, low-cost usability scale that can be used for global assessments of systems usability.” SUS is based on a Likert-scale questionnaire…
.htaccess: 7 Useful Ingredients (Plus Bonus)
This article features useful directives for .htaccess configuration files, based on my experience with a number of lightweight projects. It’s a pretty simple collection and you may be aware of some of these things…
#23 · · development
The Problem With Link Blogs (Plus Five Link Blogs That Rock)
Link blogs suck because they don’t provide content. With few exceptions, link blogs suck because they jump on the back of people who actually create content. Link blogs nonetheless play an important role in the hypertext ecosystem…
#22 · · misc
25 Excellent Usability/UX Articles and Resources
Today I thought I’d share some of the most valuable usability and user experience articles and resources I know, in a somewhat wild mix. Since there’s presumably enough to read and talk about later, please welcome a few great articles and research papers…
#21 · · design, usability, development
Photos Make Websites More Credible
An important finding of Stanford University’s work regarding web credibility is that photos can make websites more credible. A study by B.J. Fogg et al. showed how “a photograph of an author had significant effects on how people perceived [credibility]”…
#20 · · design, photography
CSS Practice: Namespaces in Complex Projects
Working in complex projects or in projects that don’t provide a good overview of forthcoming page types and elements may require a defensive strategy for writing CSS. Such a defensive strategy rests on certain safety measures to ensure better maintainability…
#19 · · development, css, maintainability
Why I Love DreamHost
No kidding. Unconditional love. Almost.
#18 · · development
“Valid CSS” and Similar Claims Are Unprofessional
You know them. “Valid CSS” here, “Valid HTML” there, complemented by a “WAI AA” button. When these website claims hold true, that’s a great thing. Unfortunately, these conformance and quality claims have no place on professional websites.
#17 · · development, css, conformance
Hire Only Web Designers With a Website
…is a good rule of thumb when you need a web designer or developer. Though it’s not necessarily the most important criterion, the benefits are obvious. Web designers who also own websites are more likely to be close to the medium…
#16 · · design, development
HTML: Semantics of “title” Element Content
I already proposed this in October 2005 but see the need to bring it up again: It would be useful to allow other elements within the title of an HTML document. Why? You otherwise cannot mark abbreviations and other flow content elements, which means their meaning gets lost…
#15 · · development, html, semantics
Print Style Sheets: The Basics (for No Excuses)
There are no excuses for not having at least a simple print style sheet. If you’re already on the web standards track, things are simple.
#14 · · development, css
Weird Weekend Without Happy End: Eggebek, Flensburg, Denmark, Bremen
To be a bit more transparent to my valued readers: a brief account of a not quite optimal weekend of mine.
#13 · · misc
Word Division: On “word-break,” Soft Hyphens, and Zero-Width Spaces
Word breaks and hyphenation are sometimes a problem when it comes to little available space but long words: The longer the word and the less space available, the more a layout is at risk. English appears to be less affected than other languages, but…
#12 · · development, html, css
Why “Conditional Comments” Are Bad, Repeat: Bad
“Conditional Comments” are inadvisable to use. They contradict the goal of separating structure from presentation, and because of that they will hurt you one day.
#11 · · development, html, css, maintainability
QA: On Errors, and Why Paying for Errors Pays Off
A pseudo-scientific approach to improve websites and services, and that is applicable almost anywhere.
#10 · · development, quality, design
1 + 1 = 3: Explaining Busyness and Background Noise on Websites
“1 + 1 = 3 (or more)” is an important design effect described by Josef Albers and Edward Tufte. It means that two elements in close proximity cause a visible interaction…
#9 · · design
Web Design: 15 Important Research Findings You Should Know
A small selection of research findings related to web design, usability, and accessibility, most of them obtained from Human Factors International. With some of them being known, others may add to the understanding of our profession.
#8 · · design, development
Internet Explorer Filter or Hack Using Character Escapes
Searching for a valid and “safe” way to circumnavigate an ugly layout problem in Internet Explorer I discovered the following filter that does not work in [IE ≤6].
#7 · · development, css
Evangelists, Focus on Standard Ad Code
On the quality of online ad code, and what we could do.
#6 · · development, quality
“nofollow” Still Considered Harmful
Well, nofollow is crap.
#5 · · development, html
Usability Conventions: Basics and Examples
For web design there are not just technical conventions (and standards), but also conventions for usability and user-friendliness.
Eye Conditions and Accessible Web Design
Accessibility is not only about blindness (and not only about eyesight).
#3 · · development, accessibility
Elements, Tags, and Attributes
“Tag” is a frequently used term in web development when it comes to HTML/XHTML elements. Unfortunately, it’s not only used incorrectly by outsiders and beginners.
#2 · · development, html
Jens Meiert Declares His Love to CSS…
#1 · · interviews, development, css