Participatory design is an approach to design that attempts to actively involve end users in the design process to help ensure that the product designed meets their needs and is usable. This approach is focused on process and is not a design style. For some, this approach has a political dimension of user empowerment and democratisation. For others, it is seen as a way of abrogating design responsibility and innovation by designers.
#20856
Accessible Design for Users With Disabilities
Making the Web more accessible for users with various disabilities is to a great extent a matter of using HTML the way it was intended: to encode meaning rather than appearance. As long as a page is coded for meaning, it is possible for alternative browsers to present that meaning in ways that are optimized for the abilities of individual users and thus facilitate the use of the Web by disabled users.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (1996). Design>Web Design>Accessibility
#26154
Accessible Graphs and Charts Online
Most government web writers are knowledgeable about alt-text by now... or at least semi-knowledgeable. But sometimes, alt-text is not enough.
McAlpine, Rachel. Quality Web Content (2004). Design>Accessibility>Web Design>Charts and Graphs
#22211
Accessible Information Architecture: Participatory Curricular Design 
This presentation describes the process of engaged negotiation that re-engineered an inappropriate course design to one that met student needs.
Salvo, Michael J. CPTSC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Education>Information Design>Participatory Design
#22957
An Accessible Method of Hiding HTML Content
Though somewhat rare, there are occasions when the accessibility needs of screen reader users appear to be at odds with the needs of visual users. This kind of conflict occurs when Web developers put form elements inside of a data table matrix, when they want to use images as headings instead of text, and in other situations. Adding extra text helps screen reader users, but can complicate the visual layout, thus reducing understandability. One solution is to use CSS to hide the text from sighted users in a way that is still accessible to screen readers. The details of this technique are discussed, along with the technical reasoning behind it.
Bohman, Paul. WebAIM (2002). Design>Web Design>Accessibility
#23086
Accessibility is not an especially familiar concept in the computing world. Most of us encounter the idea of accessibility often enough by way of special vehicle parking spaces, ramps, braille signage, beeping crosswalks, and so on. Improving accessibility is more than a courtesy, it is an accepted and vital goal of any advanced society.
Johnson, Duff. PlanetPDF. Design>Document Design>Accessibility>Adobe Acrobat
#22776
How can I generate a Table Header Cell Element (TH) field automatically with Acrobat?
PDFzone (2004). Design>Information Design>Accessibility>Adobe Acrobat
#25503
Sometimes we have to use pop-ups — so we might as well do them right. This article will show you how to make them more accessible and reliable while simplifying their implementation.
Chassot, Caio. List Apart, A (2004). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>CSS
#26648
There is no question that the vast majority of tables on the Web are layout tables, used to structure the visual appearance of the page. Often the structure of tables is remarkably complex, with tables nested in tables as much as seven deep.
Thatcher, Jim. JimThatcher.com (2005). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>HTML
#22965
Accessible Taxes? A Blind Consumer's Experience with the US Tax System
One of the most common, and least enjoyable, experiences of citizens of the United States is that of filing income tax forms. This year, Sachin Pavithran, who is blind, attempted to complete the forms and file them without assistance from sighted friends. Find out whether he was successful or not.
Bohman, Paul, Shane Anderson and Sachin Pavithran. WebAIM (2004). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Government
#28701
Accessible Web 2.0 Applications with WAI-ARIA
Our web applications can suffer from inaccessibility problems due to inherent markup limitations. Martin Kliehm helps us sort through the WAI specs for Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA) to increase usability.
Kliehm, Martin. List Apart, A (2007). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Ajax
#23004
We encourage developers of web pages to consider the full spectrum of visitors to their sites. Listed below are some resources that may be helpful in creating pages that are accessible to everyone, including those who have disabilities.
University of Washington-Seattle (2001). Design>Web Design>Accessibility
#22948
Accessible Web Text - Sizing Up the Issues
Explores the issues surrounding text size; explain what all the fuss is about; and suggest some useful approaches you can adopt to ensure the text on your web pages will be readable to your visitors.
Byrne, Jim. MCU (2003). Design>Web Design>Accessibility
#21746
Accessible Web Typography: An Introduction for Web Designers
Text is your flexible friend; it can be transformed into audio or braille; used to describe non-text elements; and be presented visually in an infinite number of sizes.
Byrne, Jim. Scotconnect.com (2003). Design>Typography>Web Design
#20001
Accessible directory of links and resources to help policymakers and web designers make informed decisions about Web accessibility.
Ogston, Matthew. AccessibleNet (2003). Design>Accessibility>Web Design
#23172
AccessiBlog was a weblog of articles and sites dealing with the topic of Web accessibility (though it is no longer updated).
Clark, Joe. AccessiBlog (2003). Resources>Web Design>Accessibility>Blogs
#27162
Accessing Form Elements Array with JavaScript
This article shows how you can access an array of HTML form elements using JavaScript.
DevBay (2005). Design>Web Design>DHTML
#19633
Accesskeys: Unlocking Hidden Navigation
Your favorite applications have shortcut keys. So can your site, thanks to the XHTML accesskey attribute. Accesskeys make sites more accessible for people who cannot use a mouse. Unfortunately, almost no designer uses accesskeys, because, unless they View Source, most visitors can’t tell that you’ve put these nifty navigational shortcuts to work on your site. Stuart Robertson unlocks the secret of providing visible accesskey shortcuts.
Robertson, Stuart. List Apart, A (2003). Design>Web Design>Information Design
#30382
Accommodating Active Learners in Software Documentation Decisions 
Recent research focusing on a minimalist approach to computer software documentation has explored ways to design computer software tutorials and workbooks for users with an active learning style. The principles of minimalism and active learning styles, however, are less frequently applied to traditional reference manuals. This paper reviews several elements of minimalism and suggests ways to apply strategies for active learners to traditional reference manuals.
Smart, Karl L. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Documentation>Instructional Design>Software
#11798
An estimated nine to twelve percent of the male population suffers from some form of color vision deficiency, commonly called 'color blindness.' It is important for computer interface designers to take into account and eliminate, if possible, any potential confusions that can arise because of color vision deficiencies. There are two major types of color blindness. The most prevalent causes are confusion between red and green. This type affects approximately eight to ten percent of the male population. In another type, an additional one to two Percent of men suffer from a deficiency in perceiving blue/yellow differences. Less than one percent of women suffer from any form of color blindness. To understand color blindness better, it is helpful to be familiar with the ways in which colors differ from each other. One standard way to discuss color is to divide it into hue, saturation and brightness (HSB).
Hoffman, Paul. STC Usability SIG (1999). Design>Accessibility>Human Computer Interaction>Color
#22949
Accountability of Accessibility and Usability
Focus on your users, all of them. Learn from mistakes currently made on the Web. If a user can't fill out a form, they can't buy anything from your site. People turned away by unusable sites will probably try a competitor's site. Don't be the site that turned people away. Make your Web site as usable and accessible as possible. It's the business savvy thing to do. It's the right thing to do. If you don't, someone just might force you legally to do it or threaten to sue.
Pavka, Anitra. Digital Web Magazine (2002). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Usability
#25769
Accurate Image Manipulation for Desktop Publishing
Devoted to the best possible quality in the desktop publishing workflow. This calls for accurate calibration and correct choice for the working space.
#26168
Achieving High Visibility on the Global Web - How to Prepare Your Web Site for Translation
Is there a demand for your products or services outside of your domestic market? If so, how are you marketing to this group of potential customers? How do you overcome language and cultural barriers? Web Localization, which is the process of translating your web site into your customers' languages and adapting to local markets, is an essential step toward establishing a market presence.
Iler, Huiping. WTB Language Group (2005). Articles>Web Design>Localization
#29734
Achieving Minimalism through Interactive Multimedia
Use interactive multimedia with text-based online documentation to achieve the minimalist model pioneered by instructional design guru John Carroll. Non-linear modules of 'real' tasks help users get started fast, and quickly learn from any errors.
De Yoreo, Dave and Ben Kauffman. STC Proceedings (2004). Design>Multimedia>Interaction Design>Minimalism
#29154
Achieving Objectivity Through Genred Activity: A Case Study 
Finding itself at the center of highly publicized legal and political deliberations over fairness in testing, personnel credibility, and legal liability, the training department at a North American transit authority adopted a genre system that enabled the production of objective evidence of job competence, which was then used to make objective decisions about who passed and failed various training programs. The ongoing genre-structured activity of the department involved not only the regularization of organizational texts but also the regularization of social interaction mediated by those texts, which, while producing the types of interpretively stable documents required for successful public deliberation, led to a shift in authority and social relations within the department that instigated considerable resentment and loss of morale among many veteran instructors.
Little, Joseph. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2007). Articles>Writing>Instructional Design>Genre
#19901
Achieving Success with Intranet-Based Online Documentation
To key to achieving a successful online documentation implementation on the intranet is to understand that the resulting system is indeed a 'system.' The need for well-written, formatted and structured documents is necessary but the interactive framework in which those documents exist is equally important. It is crucial to understand the role of each individual involved in the system from Reader to Author and I.T. provider.
Frost, Edward D.J. STC Proceedings (2001). Design>Documentation>Intranets>Web Design
