You can provide access to people with visual impairments without involving them in the product development lifecycle, by formally adopting web accessibility standards… but does that mean the end product is usable? In this article, Uri Paz explains how a site complying with accessibility guidelines may still present usability issues when testing with real users. Find out how weaving accessibility best practices with usability testing, can help as many people as possible to fully use your site.
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Let’s welcome December with some new wallpapers! Designed by artists and designers from across the globe, they are available with and without a calendar for the month. All images can be clicked on and lead to the preview of the wallpaper. We respect and carefully consider the ideas and motivation behind each and every artist’s work. This is why we give all artists the full freedom to explore their creativity and express emotions and experience through their works. This is also why the themes of the wallpapers weren’t anyhow influenced by us but rather designed from scratch by the artists themselves.
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Reactive variables work with GraphQL Apollo and offer you the same functionality with Redux or Context API without the complexity or extra layers that come with these other tools. A reactive variable in GraphQL Apollo is easy to use and doesn’t have as much setup process compared to Redux. In this article, Daniel Don will look at how to set up reactive variables, how the GraphQL cache polices come into place in defining read and writes to the cache, and provide the ability for developers to add types that exist on the client-side alone so that we can structure queries for client-side variables same way we can for remote GraphQL data.
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Copy docs is a framework that allows product designers and writers to manage their in-product copy in a smart way. In this article, Valeriia Panina shares her experience in how the copy docs technique turned out to be a game changer for her workflow. The copy docs technique was a game changer for Valeriia’s workflow and she’d be happy if it boosts yours, too!
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In the product-focused world of development, it can be easy to forget the joy of making for the sake of making. By dropping the ‘Why’ and ‘How’, and focusing instead on the ‘What’ of weird, wonderful ideas, you can nurture a totally different side to your skill sets. You can read the docs, you can follow the tutorials, but wouldn’t you be more motivated by trying to make something unique, something no one else has seen before? Here’s how having fun can supercharge your learning. Throw a record on, pick a mood, and let’s get to it.
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The Vue Testing library can help you to test your applications by mirroring the way that a user would interact with them. Here’s everything you need to know if you want to get started right away. In this article, Kelvin Omereshone will look at testing Vue applications using the Vue Testing Library — a lightweight library that emphasizes testing your front-end application from the user’s perspective.
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In JavaScript, there are two main ways to handle asynchronous code: then/catch (ES6) and async/await (ES7). These syntaxes give us the same underlying functionality, but they affect readability and scope in different ways. In this article, Bret Cameron will show you how one syntax lends itself to maintainable code, while the other puts us on the road to callback hell!
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With so much going on, it’s nice to have an overview of what’s new at Smashing — all in one place. Read on to find out what’s been keeping the team busy alongside some inspiring community resources that have made it to the top list of our newsletters!
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In a React component, useState and useReducer can cause your component to re-render each time there is a call to the update functions. In this article, you will find out how to use the useRef() hook to keep track of variables without causing re-renders, and how to enforce the re-rendering of React Components.
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Working with native HTML Form Controls has been such a pain point for web developers, from styling to extending them, the limitations are so great that countless dev hours have been spent recreating them. But why are form controls so difficult to work with?
In this article, Stephanie dives into the past by going back to the beginning of HTML and tracing the evolution of form controls through to the present and the current state of working with them. She shares her thoughts and takes a glimpse at what the future holds for working with these essential pieces of the web.
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