Human analogies and UI: the literal approach
Designers generally accept the HCI suggestion that human analogies can be useful in creating effective UI solutions. This is especially important when looking at graphical data overviews, or ‘dashboards’. Using a human analogy in UI design is to cross the bridge between two and three dimensions. We only need to look at icons to see how [...] More about Human analogies and UI: the literal approach
Languages and the public sector
I was asked earlier whether public bodies had a legal duty to publish content in foreign languages. Consult a specialist in Public or Administrative Law for a better opinion, but as far as I’m aware, apart from Welsh authorities whose requirement is statutory, public bodies govern communications policies by way of a publication scheme under the [...] More about Languages and the public sector
WCAG 2.0: clear as mud?
Joe Clark reports that WCAG 2.0, the product of five years’ hard labour by the WAI is a poor effort. The new raft of guidelines, set to become a standard shortly, closes none of the loopholes afforded by its predecessors whilst maintaining the infuriating trend of being unintelligible to most of its audience. Whilst much of the [...] More about WCAG 2.0: clear as mud?
Smart clients dress in grey
I’ve been working on several .NET Smart Clients recently. A Smart Client is a hybrid application in that the user runs it from the desktop, but its data is provided by a Web Service. I tend to avoid the dull marketing speak that Microsoft churns out. This kind of output is often a gloopy porridge with just [...] More about Smart clients dress in grey
About time for accessibility
At last, a bit of consistency on site accessibility could be coming our way, reports the BBC today. The British Standards Institute has released guidelines in the form of a Publicly Available Specification (PAS) in a valiant attempt to clear up the grand fog that is accessibility for websites. Details are minimal without shelling out of course, [...] More about About time for accessibility
Alternative to the PIE clearfix hack
Update 21/02/2007: Getting this problem? PIE Clearfix works fine in IE7 like this: .clearfix:after {content: "."; display: block; height: 0; clear: both; visibility: hidden;} .clearfix {display: inline-block;} /* Hides from IE-mac \*/ * html .clearfix {height: 1%;} .clearfix {display: block;} /* End hide from IE-mac */ Now simply add: class="clearfix" … to the outer div. For the sake of neat markup, you could also just incorporate [...] More about Alternative to the PIE clearfix hack
Graphic Designers are not Web Designers
This item is a follow-on really from a statement I made in my previous article about User Experience 2005: how we are web designers rather than artists. J recently pointed out to me a website she’s been looking at called Heavy Backpack. It’s billed by its makers as a “Creative Catalogue” - in other words a [...] More about Graphic Designers are not Web Designers
Web Standards
I’m currently two-thirds through Jeffrey Zeldman’s “Designing with Web Standards”. It was published only a couple of years ago (a long time in Web world, of course) and it’s interesting to trace the arc of developments since then. Whilst much of the methodology described in the book is becoming increasingly normal nowadays, I certainly wasn’t aware of [...] More about Web Standards
Solution to nested DIV float problems
This item is now out of date. See the updated version. I recently discovered a CSS hack that has come in very handy indeed since. The problem arises in both Firefox and IE (though the solution is different for each) when we try to wrap a div around one or more divs with float. You want your wrapper [...] More about Solution to nested DIV float problems
Am I a DIV or what?
Little by little, I’m being dragged into the 21st century (no coincidence that my boss’ name is Little) of CSS. Bronwen Hodgkinson’s beautiful “Kelmscott” design at csszengarden.com I’ve been doing CSS layouts for a while now, but on densely packed eCommerce sites, it’s never easy, particularly when you’re up against an audience used to three column layouts [...] More about Am I a DIV or what?
