You, a doorway to the W3C, and your valid, user-centered design full of intrigue, aesthetic appeal, and inspiration. All potentially part of wthremix: an independent contest challenging creative types to redesign the W3C’s recently revamped homepage. Think you can muster up a better first impression and access point for everything the W3C offers and represents? Here’s your chance to prove it.

Via Clagnut a few days ago, Richard Rutter summarized some interesting observations and conclusions on the “Upgrade now!” message often seen in the unstyled version of CSS-based designs. Contrary to the current snafu with browser detection scripts over at HotBot, Wired News relies on support of specific CSS methods to hide or display any messages regarding browser capability. View Wired News in a browser such as Netscape 4.x and — as of December 18, 2002 — you’ll see this message at the top of the front door: continued

Since MTM/SF in October, Tantek and I have been batting around the idea of holding an informal discussion about style, blogs, workarounds, etc. at a local cafe here in San Francisco. Preferably with free wifi. And space to flip our laptops around to show cool experiments we’re working on. Or projects by others that have provided inspiration. If you live in the City or the general Bay Area, or even happen to be in town visiting, you’re welcome to join us in the discussion or even just partake in a warm latte in a friendly neighborhood. continued

I’m in Washington D.C. this week, spending time with a few good friends. Since everyone is still working, today is my opportunity to tour around independently and see some sights. I haven’t been here since my eighth grade class trip, so I’m looking forward to a quick whirlwind tour of our nation’s capital. To take maximum advantage of one short day, we decided the best approach would be to focus my time around the National Mall, allowing me to pop in and out of the many Smithsonian museums. continued

Anitra Pavka wrote an article for Digital Web a little over a week ago. Accountability of Accessibility and Usability digs into some of the reasons Southwest Airlines was brought to court over their alleged inaccessibility. Anitra explores some basic ways to prevent such lawsuits, and touches on two sides of the debate over whether the ADA covers websites as public spaces.

I just arrived in Miami for the AIGA‘s Interaction Only Conference. A balmy 85 degrees with lots of humidity took my breath away as I stepped out of the airport. I’m excited be here, and am looking forward to hearing some of the speakers lined up (Hillman Curtis, Brian Collins, Paula Thornton …) who will be speaking about the design process, business approaches, and usability techniques. Also looking forward to meeting some others in the field of experience design.

I’ve never been to Miami before, so I also can’t wait to explore the city a little. I’m intoxicated by the total surrounding of Art Deco and post-modern architecture here. Even the run-down apartment buildings I saw in the cab ride from the airport over to Miami Beach have lovely symmetrical flourishes and decorations adorning their facades. And the neon is more prevalent here than a row of Victorians in San Francisco.

It’s late, and I still need to get out and find something to eat. South Beach is just a few blocks away, and there’s bound to be some good Cuban food to sample somewhere.

Last night, I received an email message from a gentleman named Mark. The subject was: appreciate your blog and designs. I’ve received quite a few messages like this recently. But there was something about Mark’s message that had a different gravity to it. The last words of his message read: By the way, I am blind … continued

I’ve been thinking a lot about type on the Web lately. Not type that a designer sets in Photoshop and turns into an image. But type which can be selected, searched, indexed, and resized by the browser. Type marked up with tags like <p>, <h2>, or <cite>, etc. continued

I just returned home from Meet The Makers, a one-day gig here in San Francisco for (in the words of the organizers) creative people in a technical world. The small crowd included creative/design directors, web/interaction designers, IAs, founders, CTOs, Principals, and CEOs. Lots of people who make the Web happen. continued

Last week’s redesign of Wired News included significant visual changes to the interface. The push toward XHMTL and CSS is certainly a big deal. But as a designer, I also love delving into visual details, especially as they impact the user experience. In addition to the usability testing we conducted on WN prototypes a month or two ago, there’s another excellent mechanism for measuring and determining the experience our users have with the site. It’s called user feedback, and we get a ton of it for free via a multi-use Contact Form on the site. continued