Blog (page 30)

In Favour of Semantics

The true value of a website is its content. Data — until semantics and presentation turn it into information. If that value is true we can therefore infer that semantics reign supreme in front-end website production. The thing is, not all content is created equally. There needs to be a pragmatic interpretation of how content is represented. For […]

The Good, the Bad, and the Logo

Back in June 2010 I wrote about using SVG for your logo. When I realigned my website earlier this year (see: Designing a new me) I reverted back to the typical PNG and used the -webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio to provide a high-res version. Well 17 months ago I wasn’t as sharp as I am today with front-end standards and for whatever […]

Hats

Some days I wear my perfectionist hat, other days I wear my pragmatist hat. I would much prefer to wear a MailChimp chimp hat but that’s neither here nor there. * Web standards are not perfect as this month’s hilariously geeky <time> element debacle has reminded us. The practice and adoption of standards from both browsers and developers […]

Learning from the crazy ones

I’ve been reading the Steve Jobs biography and a quote in the Jony Ive chapter (half way through the book) from Jobs really stood out: “In most people’s vocabularies, design means veneer, but to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a man-made creation that ends up expressing […]

Reaction Time

Last week I wrote about device optimisation which adds a much needed bit of pragmatism to the holy grail of timeless, device-agnostic website design. I touched on a technique that I’ll expand here because it can be used more generically. If you’re going for a responsive layout with interactive elements this makes a massive difference to UX. Relative […]

The Thoughtful Touches

I just finished building a website! I’m afraid it’s not live just yet but there are a few thoughts I’d like to share, so if you can get your imagination running I promise not to waste your time! (No refunds.) It’s different than other websites I’ve built because it’s 90% photography — think fullscreen slideshows. While the […]

The JavaScript Refresh

Those of us who care a little about progressive enhancement and accessibility will be well aware of the “JavaScript refresh”. This is when the page initially renders — visible to the user — before deferred JavaScript kicks in. Think jQuery’s $(document).ready() or similar. This problem occurs from very good practices. We have to make sure pages are accessible pre-JavaScript. […]