It depends on ones understanding of “Web Design”. If it means “Graphic Design” for the Web, then yes, the article has not much obvious relevance.
But if “Design” means making decisions wrt. the product one is building (for the Web), like suggested in the quote:
[…] consider designing your interface such that it’s easier to use by someone who only has use of one arm.
Then “Web Design” means more than looks: the impact of all decisions on the user experience. That includes conceptual, graphic, and technological considerations. As such I found the article to be a nice compilation of the problems we cannot control, where things like SSL, DNS etc. are just the things which are most obviously broken when they do not work.
This may actually be a cultural difference. I’m from Germany. Most—if not all—people I’ve worked with understand “web design” to mean the graphical design aspect; I also think this understanding of the phrase makes more sense, though of course, that may be bias on my part. Perhaps there’s a case to be made for a distinct term to encompass the design of user experiences, something like “UX design”.
I feel like the title ought to say “Web Development” instead of “Web Design”. The article is only tangentially about web design.
It depends on ones understanding of “Web Design”. If it means “Graphic Design” for the Web, then yes, the article has not much obvious relevance.
But if “Design” means making decisions wrt. the product one is building (for the Web), like suggested in the quote:
Then “Web Design” means more than looks: the impact of all decisions on the user experience. That includes conceptual, graphic, and technological considerations. As such I found the article to be a nice compilation of the problems we cannot control, where things like SSL, DNS etc. are just the things which are most obviously broken when they do not work.
This may actually be a cultural difference. I’m from Germany. Most—if not all—people I’ve worked with understand “web design” to mean the graphical design aspect; I also think this understanding of the phrase makes more sense, though of course, that may be bias on my part. Perhaps there’s a case to be made for a distinct term to encompass the design of user experiences, something like “UX design”.