Dispatches From The Internets

Dynamic shortcuts questions

You may or may not be aware, but the Shortcuts feature for PWAs has begun rolling out in Chromium-based browsers and implementation is underway in other browsers as well. The first version of Shortcuts provides you with the ability to define a small set of links in your Manifest. Rayan Kanso and I are currently working on a proposal for Shortcuts v2 which will introduce a JavaScript API for managing these links and we’d love your input too.

Hammer and nails

Love this analogy from Stuart: Front-end frameworks are essentially compilers that you require your users to run on their own machines to access your project!

Old joke: someone walks into a cheap-looking hotel and asks for a room. You’ll have to make your own bed, says the receptionist. The visitor agrees, and is told: you’ll find a hammer and nails behind the door.

Web Sites as ‘Public Accommodation’ under a Pandemic

This is incredibly important:

As movie theaters, restaurant ordering, college courses, and more move to online-first delivery, the notion of a corresponding brick-and-mortar venue falls away. If the current pandemic physical distancing measures stretch into the next year as many think, then this blip becomes the de facto new normal.

What’s in a name?

This is a fan-friggin’—tastic deep dive into accessible names, why they matter, and how to define them. Consider it a must-read!

Progressive Enhancement Just Works

In a recent blog post, Manuel Matuzović offered a great case study covering how he built Front-end Bookmarks. In the course of developing it, Manuel found that following the progressive enhancement philosophy in his development made it easy to support older/less feature rich browsers and devices: > To my surprise, I only had to reduce some paddings and font sizes to make it look nice. I didn’t have to change much because I follow the Progressive Enhancement principle when I build websites.

‘The stakes feel higher but, with good practice, it need not be scary’ – NHS design lead on responding to coronavirus

Some awesome advice in this piece from Dean Vipond. My favorite recommendation (naturally):

This isn’t the time to get precious about your favourite design and development tools. Use progressive enhancement as your philosophy. Your service might have to be accessed on old devices in hospitals with outdated tech or unsupported operating systems. HTML+CSS is your best bet to ensure that the service can be accessed in unlikely scenarios you’ve never even considered. Do you want to take that risk at a time like this? Nope, me neither.

Blind Users Struggle with State Coronavirus Websites

I wish I could say this came as a surprise, but having worked with state agencies in the past, it does not surprise me at all. That said, this kind of thing should never happen.

Forty-one of the 50 state pages we surveyed contained low-contrast text, which can be challenging for users with low vision, including seniors, who are at higher risk in the outbreak.