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Does the HTML markup of your website has an accessibility function in the form of “Skip to Content”? If yes, then you would notice that it is located at the topmost of the markup. This is as such in order to make it the first focus when using keyboard to navigate.
Now you may ask, “Shouldn’t the document title be at the topmost of the document?”
Not when you put this accessibility function into the context of its intended use. The user, upon arriving at your website might have come from a link or have typed a URL into the web browser. That could’ve acted as the document title that ensures the user where s/he is.
The second part of this context is the user being able to go directly to the content – skipping every element that isn’t part of his or her purpose for visiting the website.
See the Pen Skip to Content by Brian Dys Sahagun (@BrianSahagun) on CodePen.
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As UI designers, it’s easy to jump into sketching UIs through wire frames. Afterall, UIs are commonly visual. But taking a careful step of planning before sketching is a rewarding way of ensuring that the information embedded into the UI is well-thought of.
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Awhile ago, I received a surprise in my email – that I passed the ToT post exam.
The little sacrifice of waking up early in the mornin, driving 46km to the venue, simultaneously participating in the discussion and working remotely – paid off.
I am now qualified as a lab assistant during the Web Development Training.
Branching out from HopScotch, I am reformulating mostly the front-end of the theme. Here comes Applicator – which I plan to submit to WordPress Free Themes.
The basic HTML skeleton are based on WordPress Twentyfifteen and HTML5 Boilerplate / Mobile. Basically the content of <head> are snippets from these awesome frameworks.
Currently, I am building components one by one – starting from the Masthead constructor.
Files
- header.php
- functions.php
- > functions
- initial
- setup.php
- aside.php
- hooks.php
- markup
- html-class.php
- primary-navigation.php
- style and scripts
- styles.php
- scripts.php
- initial
Components of Masthead Constructor
- Web Product Name
- Primary Menu
Accessibility Features
- Accessible Names
- Sub-Navigation Toggle Action
Generic Components
- comp – Component
- notice – Message
- accessible_name – Labels for Accessibility
- axn – Actions
Classes
- State – the state of the UI
Folders
- functions – Functions
- js – JavaScripts
- css – Stylesheets
- img – Images
Notes
- Always escape text strings (e.g., <?php _e( ‘Label’, ‘domain’ ); ?>)
JavaScript Detection and Class Names
If JavaScript is supported/enabled by the browser, there are two classes added in <html>:
- js
Found in functions > setup.php. It replaces the default “no-js” class name that is added by default in <html>
JavaScripts
- html5.js
HTML5 Shiv – for IE 8 and below
Located in js > html5.js - plugins.js
To avoid console errors in browsers without a console
Located in js > plugins.js - skip-link-focus-fix.js
Makes “skip to content” link work correctly in IE9, Chrome, and Opera for better accessibility
Located in js > skip-link-focus-fix.js
Source: Twenty Fifteen WordPress Theme
CSS Layers
- HTML5 Boilerplate
normalize.css
main.css
Coming straight from H5BP, these stylesheets modify the default browser stylesheet for the better. It is considered “default CSS on steroids”. - Usability
usability.css
It adds usability to Active Elements and other elements that can be interacted with. - Layout
layout.css
Anything visual concerning spacings and dimensions goes here. - Typography
typography.css
Dealing with the CSS font properties. But if there’s a usability issue with the default font-size of an element, it goes to Usability. - Color
color.css
A touch of color for usability and visual design.
Structure
- Constructors
- Masthead
- Content
- Colophon
- Sub-Constructors
- Navigation
- Aside
Image Assets
- Vector Assets
located in img > vector-assets.php
called from header.php
Contains SVG markup of basic utility icons to enable color customization
Functions
HTML Class
Adds classes into <html>
- html
simply adds the class “html” so that CSS doesn’t need to use the element selector - masthead-aside–active / masthead-aside–inactive
class if Masthead Aside is active or inactive - view–front / view–inner
class if on the front page or inner page - browser–chrome / browser–gecko / browser–safari / browser–opera / browser–lynx / browser–ns4 / browser–ie / browser–unlisted
class depending on the browser user agent - device–mobile / device–not-mobile
based on wp_is_mobile() - theme–parent / theme–child
class if using a parent or child theme
There’s an old writing adage that advises writers, whenever possible, to “show, don’t tell” when bringing characters to life. The goal is to reveal the story through the character’s own experiences instead of the author’s.
Since day 1, I drive all the way from Cavite to UP, Diliman. It’s a 46km-drive and given the traffic condition in Manila, it takes me almost 3 hours each way, every day.
It’s like going to work and to school at the same time – I have my laptop for work and I participate in discussions and exercises.
With a little bit of effort, I am hoping to be an accredited contributor to the design and development of GWT. Eventually, with more training, I could go into training and assisting government branches that need help transitioning their websites to GWT.
Act now
While being stuck in traffic, I realized something. We, as the people, tend to complain about subpar quality of services the government provides for us. In some areas, we are sure that we deserve better. In some, we know that we can do better. In general, we exactly know how to solve all the problems our city is facing.
But what are we doing exactly aside from paying our taxes? Our professions are devoted to the private sector – I know, it puts more food on the table but we’ve got to do something towards a direct solution to the same problems that are bugging us.
This is my own way of contributing towards a direct solution to the problems that we are facing when accessing government websites. Now I can complain all I want and shut myself up.