Pretty simple using a rounded rectangle and layer effects. Nothing too complex but I just saw a similar button on a different site and wanted to see if I could reproduce it.

Fonts seen in the example are Hill House and Kulminoituva.

Usability suffers when users type in passwords and the only feedback they get is a row of bullets. Typically, masking passwords doesn’t even increase security, but it does cost you business due to login failures.

I’d agree that masking does inhibit user feedback and causes some problems but it’s been around for so long that it’ll be a hard habit to break. I’d say keeping the mask with a small icon or link to show the password to the user if they want is the best option.

Our goal is to help designers understand why web standards are so important for email, while working with email client developers to ensure that emails render consistently. This is a community effort to improve the email experience for both designers and readers alike.

Just found this via http://fixoutlook.org. Nice to see someone trying to bring HTML email up to standards.

It is a tool for checking foreground and background color combinations of all DOM elements and determining if they provide sufficient contrast when viewed by someone having color deficits.

Nice little tool to ensure accessibility compliance.

(via www.zeldman.com)

Select a picture and Pictaculous will suggest some colors and swatches for you. Very nice.

In this article, we’ll take a look at the footer and see what exactly makes for a good website footer. Keep in mind that just because the footer is at the bottom of the page doesn’t mean you should slack off with good design practice.

Nice article from Smashing Magazine on creating useful footers on web sites and blogs.