Modern CSS
Subgrid, container queries, cascade layers, and finally getting
comfortable with logical properties instead of
left/right.
About
The short version
I'm a developer who came to the web sideways, learned the hard way on purpose, and now cares a lot more about how things feel to use than which framework is trending.
How I got here
I didn't start out wanting to be a developer. I wanted to build one specific thing, and building it meant learning enough of the web to do it. That turned out to be a good way in, because it gave every new concept a place to attach to.
My first site was a practice project, and it was genuinely bad. The
hamburger menu was a <div> that couldn't be opened
with a keyboard, the menu links all pointed at nothing, and the
"responsive" part was one media query and a prayer. The version you're
looking at now is a rebuild of that same site, with the problems
actually fixed rather than hidden.
I like the arc of that, honestly. Keeping the same site and making it better is a truer picture of how this actually works than pretending the first attempt never happened.
How I like to work
-
Understand it before I use it
If I don't know why a technique works, I don't reach for it. I still don't know why half of what I've used works, which is roughly why I'm writing a site about it.
-
Make it work, then make it work for everyone
Keyboard first, mouse second. Check the focus ring, check it with a screen reader, then check it looks right. It's the same work, done in a better order.
-
Ship something small over something big
A finished small thing teaches more than an abandoned large one. Every project on this site exists because I finished it.
-
Write it down
Notes, commit messages, this site. If I can't explain a thing simply, I haven't learned it yet.
What I'm into right now
The current rabbit holes, for anyone who wants to compare notes.
Accessibility
Screen reader testing by hand, WCAG in small doses, and unlearning the idea that ARIA is simpler than correct HTML.
Performance budgets
Learning to measure rather than guess. Turns out most of what makes a site slow is a handful of avoidable decisions.
Quick facts
Based in
Somewhere with unreliable weather and good coffee.
Currently
Open to interesting front-end work and friendly conversations about CSS.
Say hello
Next
Have a look at the work
Short list, honestly described. Including the parts that aren't finished.