Journal

Braille Institute launch a new, free typeface promising greater legibility and readability for low vision readers.

What makes it different from traditional typography design is that it focuses on letterform distinction to increase character recognition, ultimately improving readability.

This is why, over years of building for the web, I have learned that I can significantly cut down on the entropy my future self will have to face by authoring web projects in vanilla HTML, CSS, and JS. I like to ask myself questions like:

• Could this be done with native ES modules instead of using a bundler?
• Could I do this with DOM scripting instead of using a JS framework?
• Could I author this in CSS instead of choosing a preprocessor?

In order to code modern component designs we often need to hide then reveal elements. At other times we want to provide content to one type of user but hide it from another because it’s not relevant to their mode of browsing. In all cases accessibility should be front and centre in our thoughts. Here’s my approach, heavily inspired by Scott O’Hara’s definitive guide Inclusively Hidden.

I’m currently interested in how to spend less time on social media platforms so as to be less exposed to ads, algorithms and general ill-effects. One approach I’m trialling is going back to the old school and using RSS to receive and aggregate updates from the people I follow, allowing me to read them in a central, noise-free place and not have to use social platform websites and apps.

Rachel Andrew explains how to write CSS for a nicely optimised printed page that uses a minimum of ink and paper and ensures that content is easy to read.

I’ve just read The A11Y Project’s page on alt text.

As most of us know, the HTML alt attribute is for providing “alternate text” descriptions of images to help ensure people do not miss out on information conveyed by graphics. This can help people using assistive technology such as screen readers, and in situations where images are slow or fail to load.

The article made some interesting points and even though I’ve been using the alt attribute for years I found three common cases where I could improve how I do things.

Here’s a list of factoids describing societal harms caused by technology platforms, each supported by a citation.

Under immense pressure to prioritize engagement and growth, technology platforms have created a race for human attention that’s unleashed invisible harms to society. Here are some of the costs that aren’t showing up on their balance sheets.

When advocating accessible web practices for a commercial website, the question of “what does the law require us to do?” invariably arises.

Here’s an interesting tool for creating and sharing small-ish web pages without having to build a website or organise hosting.

itty.bitty takes html (or other data), compresses it into a URL fragment, and provides a link that can be shared. When it is opened, it inflates that data on the receiver’s side.