Insights on design, technology and artificial intelligence.https://www.belownil.comenhttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/wcag-3-0-proposed-scoring-model-changes-in-accessibility-evaluationhttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/wcag-3-0-proposed-scoring-model-changes-in-accessibility-evaluationWCAG is evolving. Since 1999, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) have defined accessibility through a binary model: a success criterion is either passed or failed. But real user experience is rarely that simple. WCAG 3.0 rethinks this model — prioritising usability over compliance and shifting the focus from the mere presence of features to the quality of access. Could this be the beginning of a new era in accessibility?Wed, 29 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTaccessibilityhttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/beyond-the-hype-what-ai-can-actually-bring-to-product-designhttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/beyond-the-hype-what-ai-can-actually-bring-to-product-designArtificial intelligence (AI) tools are improving rapidly, but it is still unclear how to integrate them into a real product design workflow. We look at four key stages — from analysis and ideation to prototyping and visual design — and use real examples to show where AI fits, and where it does not.Tue, 21 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTaidesignhttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/how-to-reduce-your-websites-environmental-impacthttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/how-to-reduce-your-websites-environmental-impactAs responsible digital professionals, we are becoming increasingly aware of the environmental impact of our work and need to find effective, pragmatic ways to reduce it. We introduce a new decarbonisation method that will help reduce your website’s environmental impact while benefiting people, profit, purpose, performance, and the planet.Fri, 17 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTperformancehttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/designing-for-neurodiversityhttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/designing-for-neurodiversityDesigning for neurodiversity means recognising that people are not edge cases, but individuals with different ways of thinking and navigating the web. So how can we create more inclusive experiences that work better for everyone?Tue, 07 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTaccessibilitydesignhttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/what-does-it-really-mean-for-a-website-to-be-keyboard-accessiblehttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/what-does-it-really-mean-for-a-website-to-be-keyboard-accessibleKeyboard navigation is a vital part of accessible web design, and a detailed approach is essential. By prioritising keyboard navigation, you prioritise the user experience of a diverse audience, expanding your reach while creating a more inclusive online environment.Wed, 01 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTaccessibilityhttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/inclusive-dark-mode-accessible-dark-themes-for-all-usershttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/inclusive-dark-mode-accessible-dark-themes-for-all-usersDark mode is not just a fashionable aesthetic. It is a gateway to more inclusive digital experiences, but only when designed thoughtfully. While its sleek look and reduced eye strain appeal to many, poorly implemented dark themes can exclude users with visual impairments by causing readability issues such as blurred text or overly harsh contrast. Learn how to create dark modes that do more than look good — they work for everyone, from light-sensitive users to machine learning algorithms. Understand why customisation and adaptability can turn dark mode from a design trend into a universally empowering tool.Fri, 26 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMTaccessibilitydesignhttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/graceful-degradation-in-accessible-interface-designhttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/graceful-degradation-in-accessible-interface-designFew things frustrate users more than an unresponsive website. Unfortunately, it is also an all-too-common scenario. Many websites and apps depend on so many elements that any one of many possible errors can bring the whole system down. Although these cases may be common, they can be avoided by applying graceful degradation.Mon, 15 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMTaccessibilitydevelopmenthttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/how-bottom-up-design-improves-website-accessibilityhttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/how-bottom-up-design-improves-website-accessibilityThe importance of accessible website design cannot be overstated. At the same time, a bottom-up philosophy is highly important in modern website creation. A detail-oriented approach makes it easier to serve a more diverse audience on multiple fronts. By taking advantage of this opportunity, you will not only reach new niches but also make the internet a fairer place.Wed, 10 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMTaccessibilitydesignhttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/lets-clarify-the-minimum-wcag-compliant-size-for-interactive-elementshttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/lets-clarify-the-minimum-wcag-compliant-size-for-interactive-elementsWCAG provides guidance on making interactive elements more accessible by specifying minimum size requirements. In fact, these requirements are described in two success criteria: 2.5.5 and 2.5.8. Even so, WCAG requirements can be difficult to implement because of many misconceptions. In this article, Eric Bailey discusses the nuances of interactive element sizes and explains how to create accessible interactive experiences using WCAG-compliant target sizes.Fri, 05 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMTaccessibilitydesignhttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/a-practical-guide-to-designing-for-people-with-color-blindnesshttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/a-practical-guide-to-designing-for-people-with-color-blindnessColor accessibility is more than checking boxes. Even with good contrast, some color palettes can make interfaces difficult to use. Here are some practical guidelines for ensuring more inclusive design for people with color blindness. Part of the upcoming “Smart Interface Design Patterns” series.Tue, 26 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTaccessibilitydesignhttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/mobile-accessibility-barriers-for-assistive-technology-usershttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/mobile-accessibility-barriers-for-assistive-technology-usersAccessibility is more than just product usability. It can significantly affect the quality of life of people with disabilities. Kate Kalcevich shares lessons learned from assistive technology users about the challenges and barriers they face on mobile devices.Wed, 20 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTaccessibilityhttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/how-accessibility-standards-can-inspire-better-visual-design-for-chartshttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/how-accessibility-standards-can-inspire-better-visual-design-for-chartsAccessibility in data visualizations involves much more than web standards, especially if you are trying to create a genuinely useful experience. Over the past three years, Kent’s working group at Google has explored methods for creating useful and accessible visualizations that go well beyond simple compliance. In discussions with designers across the industry, two specific requirements kept coming up: accessible chart colors and dual encoding, meaning not relying on color alone to communicate information. This article focuses on WCAG 2.1 standards and covers many methods for using accessibility standards to create better, more accessible visual design.Fri, 15 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTaccessibilitydesignhttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/practical-guide-to-designing-for-childrenhttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/practical-guide-to-designing-for-childrenHow to design for children aged 3 to 12, with insights into user behavior, parent expectations, and practical UX guidelines.Tue, 05 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTdesignaccessibilityhttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/guide-to-designing-for-older-adultshttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/guide-to-designing-for-older-adultsThere are one billion people in the world aged 60 or older, so inclusion matters more than ever. Learn how to design digital experiences that give older adults a sense of autonomy and competence while improving usability for everyone. An upcoming part of “Smart Interface Design Patterns.”Wed, 30 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMTaccessibilitydesignhttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/from-prompt-to-partner-building-a-custom-ai-assistanthttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/from-prompt-to-partner-building-a-custom-ai-assistantWhat if your best AI prompts did not disappear into your messy chat history, but came back tomorrow as a reliable assistant? In this article, you will learn how to turn one-off “aha” prompts into reusable assistants tailored to your audience, grounded in your knowledge, and consistent every time — saving you and your team the time spent rewriting the same 448-word prompt. No coding, just design — and by the end, you will have a custom AI assistant that can extend your team.Tue, 22 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMTaihttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/from-data-to-decisions-ux-strategies-for-real-time-dashboardshttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/from-data-to-decisions-ux-strategies-for-real-time-dashboardsReal-time dashboards are decision-making assistants, not passive displays. In fields like fleet management, healthcare, and operations, the cost of delay or error is high. Karan Rawal explores strategic UX patterns that shorten decision time, reduce cognitive load, and make real-time systems trustworthy.Thu, 17 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMTdesignhttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/helpers-for-preparing-for-a-ux-job-interviewhttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/helpers-for-preparing-for-a-ux-job-interviewInterview topics. Smart questions. A compelling story. This guide will help you prepare for a UX job interview. And remember: no act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.Wed, 09 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMTdesignprocesshttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/integrating-css-cascade-layers-into-an-existing-projecthttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/integrating-css-cascade-layers-into-an-existing-projectThe idea is to share a detailed, unfiltered overview of how to integrate CSS Cascade Layers into an existing legacy codebase. In practice, that means refactoring existing CSS with cascade layers without breaking anything.Tue, 01 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMTdevelopmenthttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/css-intelligence-speculations-on-the-future-of-a-smarter-languagehttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/css-intelligence-speculations-on-the-future-of-a-smarter-languageCSS has evolved from a purely presentational language into one with growing logical capabilities thanks to features like container queries, relational pseudo-classes, and the if() function. Is it still just for styling, or is it becoming something more? Gabriel Shoyombo explores how smart CSS has become over the years, where it is heading, what problems it solves, whether it is becoming too complex, and how developers are responding to this shift.Mon, 23 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMTdevelopmenthttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/decoding-the-svg-path-element-curve-and-arc-commandshttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/decoding-the-svg-path-element-curve-and-arc-commandsContinuing her mission to teach you how to code vectors by hand, Myriam Frisano’s second deep dive into the path element explores the most complex aspects of SVG’s most powerful element. She will help you understand the basic rules and features behind how curves and arcs are constructed. By the end of this article, your toolkit will be ready for all types of drawing-with-code tasks — even when some lines twist and turn.Thu, 19 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMTdevelopmenthttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/the-power-of-the-intl-api-a-complete-guide-to-built-in-browser-internationalizationhttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/the-power-of-the-intl-api-a-complete-guide-to-built-in-browser-internationalizationInternationalization is not just translation. It is formatting dates, pluralizing words, sorting names, and much more — all according to specific locales. Instead of relying on heavy third-party libraries, modern JavaScript offers the Intl API: a powerful, built-in way to handle i18n. A quiet reminder that the web is truly global.Tue, 10 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMTdevelopmenthttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/managing-javascript-event-listeners-with-parametershttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/managing-javascript-event-listeners-with-parametersEvent listeners are essential for interactivity in JavaScript, but they can quietly cause memory leaks if not removed properly. And what if your event listener needs parameters? That is where things get interesting. Amejimaobari Ollornwi shares which JavaScript features make it possible to manage parameters with event handlers and are well supported.Tue, 03 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMTdevelopmenthttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/building-a-moving-highlight-navigation-bar-with-javascript-and-csshttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/building-a-moving-highlight-navigation-bar-with-javascript-and-cssIn this tutorial, Blake Lundquist walks us through two ways to create a “moving highlight” navigation pattern using only vanilla JavaScript and CSS. The first method uses getBoundingClientRect to explicitly animate a border between navbar items when they are clicked. The second method achieves the same functionality using the new View Transition API.Thu, 29 May 2025 00:00:00 GMTdevelopmenthttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/how-to-fix-largest-contentful-paint-lcp-issues-using-subpart-analysishttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/how-to-fix-largest-contentful-paint-lcp-issues-using-subpart-analysisStruggling to improve a slow Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)? Google’s recently introduced LCP subparts help pinpoint where page-loading delays come from. Now available in the Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX), this data gives real visitor insights into how to speed up your site and improve rankings. Matt Zeunert explains in detail what LCP subparts are, what they mean for your site speed, and how you can measure them.Mon, 19 May 2025 00:00:00 GMTperformancehttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/time-to-first-byte-more-than-server-response-timehttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/time-to-first-byte-more-than-server-response-timeWeb performance optimization means looking deeper than surface-level metrics. Time to First Byte (TTFB) is crucial, but improving it takes more than simply adjusting server response time. Matt Zeunert explains in detail what TTFB is, what causes a poor score, and why reducing server response time alone is not enough for optimization and often will not be the most impactful change you can make to your website.Thu, 15 May 2025 00:00:00 GMTperformancehttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/tight-mode-why-browsers-show-different-performance-resultshttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/tight-mode-why-browsers-show-different-performance-resultsWe know browsers do all sorts of things under the hood. One of those things is how they not only fetch resources, such as images and scripts, from the server, but also how they prioritize those resources. Chrome and Safari have implemented “Tight” mode, which limits which resources are loaded and in what order, but each browser handles it drastically differently. Since there is very little information about “Tight” mode, this article attempts to explain at a high level what it is, what triggers it, and how it is treated differently across major browsers.Fri, 09 May 2025 00:00:00 GMTperformancehttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/fewer-ideas-an-unconventional-approach-to-creativityhttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/fewer-ideas-an-unconventional-approach-to-creativityRemember your last team brainstorm, where you had to generate a long list of brilliant ideas? How many of those ideas actually took hold? Did leadership act on any of them? In this article, Eric Olive questions the value of exercises like brainstorming and explores more effective methods for encouraging creativity in order to improve design and user experience.Thu, 01 May 2025 00:00:00 GMTprocessdesignhttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/how-to-launch-large-complex-projectshttps://www.belownil.com/en/blog/how-to-launch-large-complex-projectsWhen was the last time your project ended smoothly — without delays, surprises, or last-minute compromises? In reality, most UX projects go off course as timelines slip, budgets stretch, and features change. How can we better navigate the chaos? An upcoming part of our series “How to Measure UX and Design Impact.”Tue, 22 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMTprocess