Audio descriptions involve narrating contextual visual information in images or videos, improving user experiences, especially for those who rely on audio cues. At the core of audio description technology are two crucial components: the description and the audio. The description involves understanding and interpreting the visual content of an image or video, which includes details such as actions, settings, expressions, and any other relevant visual information. Meanwhile, the audio component converts these descriptions into spoken words that are clear, coherent, and natural-sounding. So, here ..read more

There are many rumors and misconceptions about conforming to WCAG criteria for the minimum sizing of interactive elements. I’d like to use this post to demystify what is needed for baseline compliance and to point out an approach for making successful and inclusive interactive experiences using ample target sizes. Minimum Conformant Pixel Size Getting right to it: When it comes to pure Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) conformance, the bare minimum pixel size for an interactive, non-inline element is 24×24 pixels. This is outlined in Success Criterion 2.5.8: Target Size (Minimum). S ..read more

This article is a sponsored by Penpot If you’ve been following along with our Penpot series, you’re already familiar with this exciting open-source design tool and how it is changing the game for designer-developer collaboration. Previously, we’ve explored Penpot’s Flex Layout and Grid Layout features, which bring the power of CSS directly into the hands of designers. Today, we’re diving into another crucial aspect of modern web design and development: components. This feature is a part of Penpot’s major 2.0 release, which introduces a host of new capabilities to bridge the gap between design ..read more

Conversational AI is revolutionizing information access, offering a personalized, intuitive search experience that delights users and empowers businesses. A well-designed conversational agent acts as a knowledgeable guide, understanding user intent and effortlessly navigating vast data, which leads to happier, more engaged users, fostering loyalty and trust. Meanwhile, businesses benefit from increased efficiency, reduced costs, and a stronger bottom line. On the other hand, a poorly designed system can lead to frustration, confusion, and, ultimately, abandonment. Achieving success with conver ..read more

As lavish influencer lifestyles, wealth flaunting, and hauls dominate social media feeds, we shouldn’t be surprised that excessive consumption has become the default way of living. We see closets filled to the brim with cheap, throw-away items and having the latest gadget arsenal as signifiers of an aspirational life. Consumerism, however, is more than a cultural trend; it’s the backbone of our economic system. Companies eagerly drive excessive consumption as an increase in sales is directly connected to an increase in profit. While we learned to accept this level of material consumption as no ..read more

User journey maps are a remarkably effective way to visualize the user’s experience for the entire team. Instead of pointing to documents scattered across remote fringes of Sharepoint, we bring key insights together — in one single place. Let’s explore a couple of helpful customer journey templates to get started and how companies use them in practice. This article is part of our ongoing series on UX. You might want to take a look at Smart Interface Design Patterns ? and the upcoming live UX training as well. Use code BIRDIE to save 15% off. AirBnB Customer Journey Blueprint AirBnB Custom ..read more

For many of us, July is the epitome of summer. The time for spending every free minute outside to enjoy the sun and those seemingly endless summer days, be it in a nearby park, by a lake, or on a trip exploring new places. So why not bring a bit of that summer joy to your desktop, too? For this month’s wallpapers post, artists and designers from across the globe once again tickled their creativity to capture the July feeling in a collection of desktop wallpapers. They all come in versions with and without a calendar for July 2024 and can be downloaded for free — as it has been a Smashing tradi ..read more

Throughout my UX writing career, I’ve held many different roles: a UX writer in a team of UX writers, a solo UX writer replacing someone who left, the first and only UX writer at a company, and even a teacher at a UX writing course, where I reviewed more than 100 home assignments. And oh gosh, what I’ve seen. Crafting microcopy is not everyone’s strong suit, and it doesn’t have to be. Still, if you’re a UX designer, product manager, analyst, or marketing content writer working in a small company, on an MVP, or on a new product, you might have to get by without a UX writer. So you have the extr ..read more

Whether you’ve launched a redesign of your website or rolled out a new feature in your app, that is the point where people normally move on to the next project. But, that is a mistake. It’s only once a site, app, or feature goes live that we get to see actual users interacting with it in a completely natural way. It’s only then that we know if it has succeeded or failed. Not that things are ever that black and white. Even if it does seem successful, there’s always room for improvement. This is particularly true with conversion rate optimization. Even small tweaks can lead to significant increa ..read more

Prior to the World Wide Web, the act of writing remained consistent for centuries. Words were put on paper, and occasionally, people would read them. The tools might change — quills, printing presses, typewriters, pens, what have you — and an adventurous author may perhaps throw in imagery to compliment their copy. We all know that the web shook things up. With its arrival, writing could become interactive and dynamic. As web development progressed, the creative possibilities of digital content grew — and continue to grow — exponentially. The line between web writing and web technologies is bl ..read more