Christian Heilmann 👀

This is a really good article about common techniques of browsing the web with only a keyboard. I consider this a prereq for anyone working in the accessibility field. Martin does a beautiful job keeping the concepts simple and straightforward. #Accessibility #Keyboard https://lnkd.in/eQGKbADX

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Exciting to learn a new European Accessibility Act (EAA) is enforced. It is crucial for those designing products for EU market! US has Americans with Disability Act (ADA) UK has Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) Australia has Disability Services and Inclusion (DSI).Act EU now has European Accessibiliy Act (EAA) #accessibility #disabilityact

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The Importance of good visual elements and text hierarchy: I noticed that the current pop-up warning notification on the Barclays bank app (Left) looked outdated and lacked visual hierarchy, making it less effective as it looks too "texty" and doesn't communicate it's purpose - to warn users against an issue. Being a victim of one of these fishy bank transfers as well as understanding the importance of effectively communicating and hopefully stopping users from falling into scam attacks, I thought of ways to communicate this better using visual elements while maintaining a good text hierarchy. Inspired by Apple's sleek and intuitive design philosophy, I took on the challenge to revamp it. Here's a brief overview of what I did: 🔹 Visual Hierarchy: I created a clear visual hierarchy to prioritize information and guide the user's attention effectively. 🔹 Visual Elements: Added modern visual elements and icons to enhance understanding and aesthetics. 🔹 User Experience: Focused on making the notification not just more appealing, but also more intuitive and user-centric. The goal was to blend functionality with a clean, modern look, just as Apple would. The result is a notification that not only looks great but also communicates effectively and enhances the overall user experience. Check out the before and after images to see the transformation! *This is not a redesign, just my observation* #UIUX #Design #Redesign #UserExperience #BarclaysApp #AppleInspiration #VisualHierarchy #ProductDesign #DesignThinking #UXDesign

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Neurodiversity is an important component of building accessible ecosystems. I was fascinated by this article from Stephanie Walter, which helped me to refresh and recognise some important elements for A11y based on their cognitive abilities. https://lnkd.in/duEwJrVV #accessibility #uxexperience #frontenddevelopment

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Some updates to my #FeatureFlags demo app (https://lnkd.in/eQd23gfU) - I've added an "Explain" view that outlines why a particular variant was chosen (based on the current context and rules). This is a companion piece to my feature flags book (read it at https://lnkd.in/ehxiy6bY).

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interesting study of the common user patterns for scanning content https://lnkd.in/dBmTf2dA

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The New European Accessibility Act (EAA), And What It Means For You. Useful pointers for small and large companies to comply with a new EU directive ↓ ✅ EEA is a new EU directive to standardize accessibility. ✅ It mandates accessibility for most “essential” products. ✅ It includes digital products, banking, transportation, eCommerce. ✅ Applies to all private companies that sell to EU customers. ✅ If you operate in EU, your products must meet EAA’s requirements. ✅ There are exceptions for small businesses with <10 employees. ✅ EEA doesn’t reference WCAG, but implies WCAG 2.2 AA compliance. ⏰ The deadline to comply with EAA is 28 June 2025. As Craig Abbott writes, the European Accessibility Act is probably one of the most ambitious directives in accessibility regulation. It’s extensive and universally applicable. It covers a lot of ground to help everyone get a better, more accessible digital experience. It’s not quite clear how exactly the new directive will be enforced and what penalties are to be expected. But it’s probably a good time for companies to launch an accessibility effort to explore just what exactly needs to be done to improve accessibility ahead of the deadline. While on it, perhaps we could also run a round of accessibility testing with actual people. Automated tools are helpful, but accessibility isn’t a checklist, and compliance doesn’t guarantee a good experience. Bring in a wide range of users on board, and you’ll be surprised how quickly you’ll discover actual UX challenges that actual people experience every day. Useful resources: European Accessibility Act: What You Need To Know, by Craig Abbott https://lnkd.in/ezu9Vyh9 European Accessibility Act: Everything You Need To Know, by SiteImprove https://lnkd.in/eGH4EUvA What's New In WCAG 2.2?, by Hidde de Vries https://lnkd.in/eksTz2cH How To Make A Strong Case For Accessibility ↳ https://lnkd.in/ehGivAdY, by 🦞 🦞 Todd Libby ↳ https://lnkd.in/e2E74Pjv, by Vitaly Friedman Why Accessibility Overlays Are Not A Good Idea ↳ https://lnkd.in/eb6MX3Uh, by Ruben Ferreira Duarte ↳ https://lnkd.in/eVebvgC2, by Vitaly Friedman Accessibility For Designers: Getting Started, by Stéphanie Walter https://lnkd.in/ecG5qASY #ux #design #accessibility

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Design Systems are not just for large corporates. That is, if you take a lean approach. The state of the Web is such that you can do without an over-complexified, all-encompassing set of framework-specific components that completely alienate you from the web's native capacities. Get re-acquainted with the Web. You'll be surprised how much faster and lighter your sites or PWAs can become. You'll be even more surprised about the speed your team can develop with all the intuitive building blocks and the freedom from unneeded abstractions. Here are my 5 priorities for a lean, purely standards-based Design System. #designsystem #puremanifesto #webstandards #webcomponents #webdevelopment #storybook

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I’m in the middle of a design/UX audit. It’s for a large internal case working system with lots of issues, big and small. Some to do with flow. Some to do with layout. Some to do with content. Some to do with accessibility. All sorts. Here’s 3 things I’ve noticed: (1) Many issues are repeated across huge parts of the system. (2) Some of the solutions I have in mind would solve multiple problems in one go. (3) For many of the issues, it would be far quicker to just fix them rather than documenting them, explaining them, getting them prioritised etc

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Serious? I gave a talk on Empirical Software Design & Tidy First yesterday. I got a question about how Rich Hickey advocates doing some "serious" design first. I'm afraid I interrupted the questioner. There's nothing inherently serious about speculative design. Empirical Design is serious--you're making design decisions in context. You're making decisions in the flow of features. You can't afford to break the current behavior. Serious! But I'm sorry I interrupted the questioner.

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Explore the Neurodiversity Design System (NDS), a comprehensive framework that integrates neurodiversity principles with user experience design, specifically tailored for Learning Management Systems. Learn how to create accessible learning interfaces that promote success and inclusivity for all users. #Accessibility #A11Y #DigitalInclusion #WebDesign #ContentCreators #WebDeveloper #UXDesign  #ProjectManager

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"Our documentation is great!" said no one ever. It is always interesting to talk to folks about this problem. It'ss a problem that can be hard to grasp, measure, and even harder to solve. That is; unless you think about it in a different way. A little bit of simplification, structure, and even some AI might do the trick. I also found a new AI tool, Unblocked, while at LambdaConf this week. I am excited to start experimenting with Unblocked and think it could be a game changer when it comes to managing documents across an organization. Check out my latest article where I talk about #knowledgemanagment. Dennis Pilarinos Daniel Horton

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Tooltips and Toggle Tips experiment I recently developed a tooltip web component using data-attributes to enhance testing capabilities and ensure accessibility. Additionally, I created a toggle tip component as part of this experiment. This project is a deep dive into making these components as accessible as possible. While these are not yet production-ready, they are useful for testing purposes—unless you like them, then feel free to use. 😁 Customisable tooltip web component (POC) https://lnkd.in/gBevSzzg Customised toggle tip web component (POC) https://lnkd.in/gvhYsPVe #WebDevelopment #Accessibility #WebComponents #Innovation #Testing

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Can UX change people's lives? Read about my dad's frustration 👇 I am back at my family home in Italy, and my dad kept saying he couldn’t buy online tickets with Trenitalia. He was fed up with it and gave up. I decided to help him, and not surprisingly, he could do everything. The problem was the checkout flow, which was an absolute nightmare! He kept clicking on ‘Confirma’ to get to the next step and nothing happened. He couldn’t see he needed to tick a tiny checkbox at the bottom of the page. Has this been user tested? Think about the UX proximity law! Why don’t you have the error state close to the users action? It should be either by the confirm button or even better by the card selection to state that the selection requires accept T&Cs. Definitely not after the ‘voglio la fattura’ which it means I required a tax receipt. #ux #checkout #uxui #usertesting

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In 2009, Aza Raskin wrote about browsers helping you log in to web apps https://lnkd.in/eBD534Xb In 2011, I blogged about it in https://lnkd.in/ecQwwG39 (it was actually my second blogpost ever) and acknowledged that: > The hard part would be to get both FireFox and Chrome to say “Yes, let’s fix this blatant UX caveat.” Fast forward another 13 years, this dream is actually coming true thanks to FedCM! <3 Read all about it here on the IndieWeb Wiki: https://lnkd.in/eHP-bnBV You can self-host your own identity provider, register it in Chrome Canary, and then use it at websites, blogs, unhosted apps, solid apps, etc that accept self-hosted identities. This is so amazing... Thanks Sam Goto, Tim Cappali, Aaron Parecki, Jan Schill, Theo and many others for making this happen!

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Lucy Woodcock spends much of her time at work 'doing' diverse usability testing. She has recently blogged "#UserTesting Unveiled: A Step-by-Step Exploration" and aims to demystify the process. Here are #KeyTakeaways from her blog: 1. Importance of #InclusiveDesign and #Accessibility: Inclusive design and accessibility are crucial factors in shaping user experiences. User testing with people with disabilities can help reach a broader audience and cater to diverse needs. 2. Meticulous Planning: User testing begins with meticulous planning, including setting dates, arranging calls, and recruiting diverse participants. A clear research plan aligned with client objectives ensures a valuable and inclusive testing project. 3. Remote Usability Testing: Remote usability testing provides flexibility for testers and clients alike. It gives clients the opportunity to observe sessions first-hand, turning the testing day into a collaborative experience. 4. Analysis of Results: Analysis of user testing results is a crucial part of the process, highlighting key issues and forming recommendations. Different tools and methods may be used for analysis, but the goal remains insightful insights and recommendations. 5. Comprehensive User Testing Report: The user testing report is the end deliverable for clients, containing evidenced insights and relevant recommendations closely linked to client objectives. A clear, justified, and measurable report increases implementation and improves accessibility. 6. Continuous Improvement: A #retrospective allows the team to review successes and identify areas for improvement, ensuring #adaptability to evolving client needs and making each project a stepping stone to future success. 7. Enquiring about User Testing Service: User testing services with companies like Accessible Me Ltd, eLaHub Ltd, or AbilityNet ensure you asking the right people the right questions at the right time and making the best use of their feedback. 8. Self-Conducting User Testing: Learning how to conduct user testing can provide reassurance in making accessibility improvements and focusing resources in the right areas. Like AbilityNet, Accessible Me Ltd offers training courses (both online and offline) for those interested in starting their own #AccessibilityTesting. Accessible Me Ltd's focus is in the #eLearning, #LearningAndDevelopment, and #BrandMarketing areas; helping to make learning accessible to everyone. These takeaways highlight the importance of meticulous planning, remote usability testing, thorough analysis, and continuous improvement in creating inclusive and accessible user experiences through user testing.

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As of today, I've been blogging for 20 years. Over this long period of time, blogging has evolved quite a bit and so has my own publication: what started as an informal blog with short "thought of the day"-style of posts has become a "newsletter" with much more elaborate content. Read on for a recap of the history of my own blog, some reflections on how and why the content has had to change, and my impressions so far with the Substack experiment I've been running. https://lnkd.in/gyvVKE2M

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