12: Gillette's assistive razor, questioning #a11y practices, and Stark on the big screen

By Team Stark • Issue #12 • View online

Hey! Welcome to this week’s Stark Difference in Design. 💌

Tidbits from the web

+ How Gillette designed a razor for people who can’t shave themselves

Kudos to @Gillette on designing the first ever assistive razor specifically to alleviate the challenges of shaving someone else. A well-deserved finalist in the 2018 Innovation by Design Awards.

+ Accessibility is not a feature

I care pretty deeply about accessible design. I wouldn’t call myself an accessibility specialist, mind you, but I’ve always felt that “designing for the web” means ensuring our work is accessible as broadly as possible. Not just accessible to differently-sized screens, but for people who might not browse the web like I do.

This! Just read all of this from @beep. No synopsis can do justice to the goodness.

+ Contrast versus Readability

Contrast is merely the difference between two points on the color (HSL) spectrum. Readability is the ease with which a text can be read. Lower contrast can mean less strain on the eye…

Pulling from his own experience, Wouter Ramaker shared his questioning of whether or not we optimize for contrast or readability. And are those two concepts opposing? Go share your thoughts in the Stark community!

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Bookworms

Accessibility for Everyone by Laura Kalbag

+ Accessibility for Everyone

…understand disability and impairment challenges; get a handle on important laws and guidelines; and learn how to plan for, evaluate, and test accessible design. Leverage tools and techniques like clear copywriting, well-structured IA, meaningful HTML, and thoughtful design, to create a solid set of best practices.

This easy weekend read is an essential handbook for any designer or developer (or anyone really) that impact the output of product. One you’re sure to reference whether you’re a beginner or experienced.

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Updates on Stark:

Stark, designed and built for Adobe XD

Stark on the Adobe keynote

+ Last week, we launched Stark for Adobe XD! 🎉

Right from MAX, we pushed the button and launched Stark for Adobe XD alongside the rest of the plugin partners. The feedback has been fantastic. Please keep those feature requests and feedback rolling. We’re loving it and are already working to deliver.

Stark on the Adobe MAX keynote

+ We made our debut on the big screen 😎

We were thrilled to see Stark up on the keynote at Adobe MAX. Our team collectively agrees that we never imagined any project of ours would ever be on the Adobe keynote alongside the likes of Google, Slack, Dribbble and more.

Stark Contrast t-shirt

+ The Stark Contrast t-shirt

Swag, swag, swag…We handed out swag (#a11y postcards, stickers, and shirts) at Adobe MAX. However, we ran out of the shirts pretty quick and many folks asked for one in addition to wanting it in black (instead of white). You asked, we answered!

And we turned to the always lovely folks at Cotton Bureau. Order a shirt? Let us know! We’ll send some other goodies your way :)

+ Inclusive Color Palettes for the Web

Allison Ofisher of Pixo wrote about how she’s using Stark to create color palettes that are accessible and appealing. Because realistically, saying you can’t do so is one of the biggest misconceptions in design, and the lie we tell to escape the responsibility that comes with the work.

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Liked this newsletter? Let us know! We’re always talking shop on Twitter @getstarkco or in our community chat.

⚫️ The Stark Crew ⚪️

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By Team Stark

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