Weekly Round-up ~ Oct 23, 09 Edition

Every Friday, we recap our articles and round up other useful articles we read during the week on web design, development and Gov2.0. We hope you find them helpful. If you have article links you’d like to share, please post in the comment section.

ClearType☆Press

• Helpful Resources

  This article contains a lot of our favorite blog and resource sites on web design, development and social media. We will eventually create a Resource page and keep updating the links.

• What You Need to Know About Page Fold

  “Put everything above the fold, because users don’t scroll.” As web designers we probably were told this at least once by clients or managers. In this article we take a look at the no scroll myth, and how to design the homepage intro area appropriately.

From Elsewhere

• After Firefox 3.6 – New Font Control Features for Designers

  Some great font control features in Firefox 3.7.

• 10 Incredible JQuery Navigation Menus

  JQuery makes front-end a lot easier these days. If you happen to use JQuery on your site already, these are some great plug-ins to spice up the navigation menu.

• 10 secrets to staying informed about web design

  I’m a firm believer in reading design and development blogs to stay sharp. However it can get overwhelming sometimes. Paul Boag shares some great tips on how to read efficiently.

• Patterns for the Color Blind

  A great site for references when designing an accessible website.

• The Mystery of the CSS Float Property

  When switching to a table-less layout, using DIVs can be a bit intimidating. This article explains the Float attribute in great details.

• W3C’s New Accessibility Page

  W3C just redesigned their site, finally! Check out the new accessibility page.

• The Myth of Usability Testing

  While I think the title of the latest ALA article is somewhat misleading, there are is good information to digest. P.S. usability testing definitely serves its purpose, when conducted properly.

• Treating User Myopia

  Jeff Atwood shows an example of how users don’t see instructions designers put on the web. I do agree with him that users do read very little instructions. The key is to place the instructions at the right place.

• OpenInternet.gov

  If you’re interested in the topic of Net Neutrality, definitely check out the Open Internet site by FCC. Chairman Genachowski held an open commission meeting this week. Recorded live blogging and video available here.

• GovGuru.com

  This is a newly launched site that helps people to access government sites easier.

• The Future of HTML5 by Bruce Lawson

  Bruce’s presentation slides and examples of HTML5 elements can be found at carsonified.com