15 Great Tools & Resources for Designers & Agencies in 2024

Posted · Category: Design, Tools It’s 2024 and the number of web design resources and tools on the market seems overwhelming. That’s good news since you need the right tools and resources to come up with competitive designs. The bad news is, rather than sifting through thousands of products to get the ones that best… Continue reading 15 Great Tools & Resources for Designers & Agencies in 2024

5 Hidden Risks of Your Inaccessible Website

Governments around the world mandate an accessible web experience for regulated industries, and you can be fined heavily for non-compliance. In the United States, the Department of Justice has the authority to seek civil penalties for a first violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) at $96,384 and up to $192,768 for each subsequent… Continue reading 5 Hidden Risks of Your Inaccessible Website

Google Maps: a refreshing turn in the right direction

Finally! Google Maps gets a much-needed makeover… and we’re here for it. Sometimes, a reroute is all it takes to rediscover the joy of the journey — Google Maps’ latest update is a testament to that. What’s New Since My Last Rant A few months back, I ripped into some serious user experience flaws in Google Maps. Google Maps: about that… Continue reading Google Maps: a refreshing turn in the right direction

Three very good standardized UX surveys for industrial use

Pros and cons of the questionnaires SUS, PSSUQ, and ISO 9241–110 plus three more openly available, science-grounded, business-driven UX surveys (all including question sources) User Research Methods User research is one of the most important, if not the most important element of user experience (UX) and design. In this area exist many methods and materials, grounded in… Continue reading Three very good standardized UX surveys for industrial use

Enhancing Accessibility with AI and ML

There has been a lot of buzz recently about Artificial Intelligence, with some people speculating that we are approaching the long-awaited AI revolution. This hype has been chiefly generated by recent advanced algorithms powering ChatGPT and other language-related models. While I believe that these models are still a far cry from general AI (AI which… Continue reading Enhancing Accessibility with AI and ML

How to Edit Audio & Sound in Audacity Software (Complete Guide)

Welcome to our guide on Audacity editing! This is your one-stop resource, whether you’re a novice or an intermediate user in audio editing. Audacity is a free, open-source software loved by podcasters, musicians, and video editors. It’s packed with features for all from sound manipulation to video audio enhancement. Audacity Application Screenshot for Audacity editing… Continue reading How to Edit Audio & Sound in Audacity Software (Complete Guide)

How Serious Is Your Design Practice About Learning?

Today I’m sharing a strategic approach that enables your design practice to learn more from the accessibility-related data you already have. I will again skip the “how to” article formula and dry laundry lists of tactical “do this/don’t do that” mechanics. Instead, I’ll focus on helping you think about WHY you should do things differently… Continue reading How Serious Is Your Design Practice About Learning?

The Dangers of Deceptive Design Patterns (And How to Avoid Them)

UX By Louise North Today As web designers, our role in crafting user-friendly digital landscapes is critical. We are tasked with creating user experiences that make visitors feel comfortable and respected. This, in turn, creates benefits for our clients by improving repeat visits and achieves the site’s ultimate aims, whether that is sales revenue or… Continue reading The Dangers of Deceptive Design Patterns (And How to Avoid Them)

Almost Ready! WCAG 2.2 is one small step away from being officially done!

A new version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) is almost ready. WCAG 2.2 should be finalized in August 2023. This is a minor version update. If you are already familiar with WCAG 2.0 and/or 2.1, you probably have a number of questions. And we’ve got up-to-date answers! Why isn’t WCAG 2.2 ready yet?… Continue reading Almost Ready! WCAG 2.2 is one small step away from being officially done!

An Introductory Guide to Understanding Cognitive Disabilities

“For most people, technology makes things easier. But for people with disabilities, technology makes things possible” – Mary Pat Radabaugh By Glenda Sims and Jennie Delisi Think about the last time you hit “Snooze” on your phone’s alarm. Do you even remember pressing the button? Chances are you successfully went back to sleep for another… Continue reading An Introductory Guide to Understanding Cognitive Disabilities

Facilitating effective ideation meetings

[unable to retrieve full-text content] Designing engaging and productive gatherings Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash In today’s hybrid work landscape, meetings have become abundant, but unfortunately, many of them still suffer from inefficiency and ineffectiveness. Specifically, meetings aimed at generating ideas to address various challenges related to people, processes, or products encounter recurring issues. The lack… Continue reading Facilitating effective ideation meetings

3 Essential Design Trends, June 2023

That’s a big part of the reason so many designers are stripping down menus to more minimal styles. (Plus, it can create a cleaner, more sleek overall design.) Here’s what’s trending in design this month – and it is all about navigation. 1. Pop-Out Navigation There’s an obvious connection to mobile-friendliness here – website designs that use… Continue reading 3 Essential Design Trends, June 2023

5 book recommendations to help drive accessibility adoption and strategy

These books helped us help our coaching crews, and they may help you and yours Deque offers a unique accessibility coaching service. We embed coaches in the software development lifecycle (SDLC) across whole teams as well as side-by-side with specific roles. Coaches support teams in incorporating accessibility practices into their design/build/test processes. A coach’s responsibilities… Continue reading 5 book recommendations to help drive accessibility adoption and strategy

Are we there yet? WCAG 2.2 is at the Candidate Recommendation v3

If you’re a regular reader of the Deque blog, you may be asking yourself, haven’t I read this already? Well my friend, you may have. In September 2022, WCAG 2.2 reached the Candidate Recommendation (CR) stage for the first time. Then on January 25, 2023, WCAG 2.2 entered a second round of CR. And, you… Continue reading Are we there yet? WCAG 2.2 is at the Candidate Recommendation v3

The Power of Place in Photography

Place in photography is everything to the photographer, as it helps him capture and investigate various concepts such as culture and identity, traditions, and environmental challenges. But also, place plays a more significant role in the photograph’s appearance and can give you a bad day at the office if not controlled. Although place can add… Continue reading The Power of Place in Photography

Character creation UX

A guide to CCIs in game design. Walking dressed cyberpunk in a cyberpunk city by Paola Ascanio via MidJourney Character creation is an essential aspect of most video games, allowing players to customize their avatars and immerse themselves in the game world. As a user experience (UX) designer, your role in game design is to create… Continue reading Character creation UX

The age of Agile must end

30 years ago the technology industry attempted to import Lean practices — it failed. Instead of “continuous improvement,” progress halted. Agile is incompatible with UX research, design, and scalable development. It always will be. It’s time to create a new operational standard. Changing of the guards. Photo by Micah Kunkle on Unsplash As startups refocus on “operational efficiency,”… Continue reading The age of Agile must end

The role of grid systems in graphic design

Grid System: Vertical and horizontal lines grid. What is a grid system? The vertical and horizontal axes are divided in proportion to the coordinate system. In graphic design, the grid is used to control the font and image position layout design matrix, which has an important role in Mesh design, in different periods and geographical, people have… Continue reading The role of grid systems in graphic design

5 Web Design Trends You Need to Be Aware of in 2023

Posted · Category: Best Collections, Design The beginning of a new year is typically a time when we plan to find ways to make life a little better. The same applies to web designers who look for new and better ways to make their designs more engaging and productive. In this post we will look… Continue reading 5 Web Design Trends You Need to Be Aware of in 2023

40 Best New Fonts of 2022

Choosing the right typefaces for your website can elevate a design from dour to delightful. The right typeface gives personality to your brand voice and can make sure your content gets read. And so, every month, we put together a roundup of the best new fonts for web designers. In this roundup of the year,… Continue reading 40 Best New Fonts of 2022

How to Change the Color of Clothing in Photoshop

If you want to learn how to change the color of clothes in Photoshop, in this tutorial I’ll show you a very simple method that works for all colors—even for changing a black shirt into a white shirt! What You’ll Learn in This Photoshop Tutorial How to change the color of clothes in Photoshop … Continue reading How to Change the Color of Clothing in Photoshop

4g CO2 per email—really?

Disentangling a well-known “fact” about emails. There’s a lot of “received wisdom” kicking about on the internet — ideas and “facts” which are essentially presented without question on the basis of “ he said it, so it must be true”. This afflicts many fields, and sustainability is no exception. One common example is that “sending an email generates… Continue reading 4g CO2 per email—really?

Measuring Empathy for Accessibility

After my previous blog on the Two Pillars of Accessibility, I was asked on LinkedIn from a peer in the accessibility field how a program could measure and report the empathy pillar of an accessibility program i.e. how much does your company care about accessibility. Measuring the impact of accessibility is relatively easy — you can track… Continue reading Measuring Empathy for Accessibility