I started this post way back in March after reading Brad Frosts’ bit on carousels. Then I let it sit unfinished. With the buzz around ShouldIUseACarousel.com this week, I figured I’d finish it up. The data is old, although I offer updated numbers at the bottom. The Process I looked…
For those of us who put together print styles for our sites, we’ve probably tossed around the idea of embedding QR codes so that users can quickly get back to a page they have printed. In the hardcopy version of my article for .net Magazine, “Make your website printable with…
We should be familiar with anti-patterns in user interface design — counter-intuitive or ineffective user interface techniques. Dark patterns are user interface design patterns that intentionally try to steer users into taking actions that are in the best interest of the site owner, not the user. Sadly, users encounter these…
Typography on the web has come a long way from the days of a handful of web-safe fonts, six sizes, and little other control. With the ability to embed custom typefaces in web pages and exert a great deal of control via CSS, it was a matter of time before…
I have been working on a slow and plodding redesign of my personal site and am playing around with some navigation ideas. I wanted to create a JavaScript-free and image-free radial menu, an idea I toyed with a couple years ago and abandoned due to the lack of CSS support…
StatCounter released data on Wednesday showing that the screen resolution of 1,366 x 768 has surpassed 1,024 x 768 as the most common screen resolution. If you’ve paid attention to the drive for widescreen displays on newer machines, this may not come as much of a surprise to you. I…
TL;DR The iPad 3 retina display means a lot of apps and web sites are going to feel pressure for sharper (bigger) images. Knowing if you need to scale your images, the impact on end users and some ways to mitigate that impact is the right way to approach this.…
As of March 18, 2011 Netscape Navigator version 2.01 has turned 16 years old. Back when it was released in 1996 it was the bees knees. It introduced JavaScript (originally LiveScript), Java support, plug-ins, an email client, auto-dithering, and Live3D. It also provided support for font color, div, wrap, sup,…
The graphic above (and its lengthy alt) is a parody based on a rather neat utility called the HTML5 Please API. You can drop the code onto your cutting edge demo site and it will indicate to a user what browsers support the features within. The code stays current by…
Last night I had the pleasure of moderating a panel discussion for the Buffalo chapter of Social Media Club. The panel consisted of a food blogger, a restaurant review site owner, a restaurant / cooking school owner, and a local food writer / reviewer / event planner. As I asked…
I have admittedly not taken the time to attend An Event Apart any of the times it’s been held, but I do tend to follow the #aea hashtag on Twitter so I can glean at least a little wisdom from the discomfort of my own desk as I wade through…
When the guy who coined the term “Responsive Web Design,” has written a book about it, and is well regarded throughout the industry is asked to name his 20 favorite responsive sites, you should expect top-notch examples of sites that use CSS to respond to nearly any medium. Except that…