Blog

If you’re interested in accessibility, user experience design, and/or frontend development, you’re in the right place. You can also browse by category or year.

1. Using iframes to embed arbitrary content is probably a bad idea

   Article posted 29th December 2024 in Accessibility

   The iframe element is a way to embed one website inside of another. Useful for things like maps or videos, but not so much for other content.

2. Avatars and alt text

   Article posted 19th November 2024 in Accessibility

   I really enjoyed Nicolas Steenhout’s recent article on Alt text for avatars or user photos. But there is a context where I would break his rule…

3. Upgrading from iPhone 13 mini to 16 Pro

   Article posted 14th November 2024 in Apple

   I get a new phone every 3-ish years, give mine to my wife, and now she gives hers to our daughter. I got a 16 Pro this year! Here’s the skinny.

4. Apple, you’re doing the Dynamic Island wrong

   Article posted 8th November 2024 in Apple

   I love the idea of Dynamic Island; making lemons into lemonade and all that. But, in my opinion, Apple have got the fundamentals mixed up.

5. Getting started with NVDA

   Article posted 2nd October 2024 in Accessibility

   Everyone who works in digital product development should be familiar with screen reader software. Here’s how to get started with NVDA on Windows.

6. An enhancement to accessible responsive tables

   Article posted 30th August 2024 in Accessibility, HTML and JavaScript

   I’ve written about accessible responsive tables before but something has been bugging me. So here’s another step to make those tables even better.

7. User ‘wants’ versus accessibility

   Article posted 28th July 2024 in Accessibility

   When getting to grips with accessibility, there’s often a tension between what users ask for and doing things in an accessible way.

8. WWDC 2024 roundup

   Article posted 13th June 2024 in Apple

   I got al the features I wanted from this year’s WWDC, Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference; as ever, there were also a few surprises!

9. How to browse the web with the keyboard alone

   Article posted 10th June 2024 in Accessibility

   Some people use the keyboard to get around their computer. Knowing how to do this is important for accessibility testing and to inform design.

10. All I want from WWDC 2024

    Article posted 8th June 2024 in Apple

    There are two things I’m hoping Apple announce at this year’s WWDC, and one of them is a stand-alone Passwords app.

11. Accessibility overlays are not for disabled people

    Article posted 11th May 2024 in Accessibility

    Those little accessibility widgets you see on some websites are absolutely not for who you think they are.

12. Images as the first thing in a button or link

    Article posted 23rd April 2024 in Accessibility and HTML

    If the text of an interactive element like a button or link is preceded with an accessible image, we’ve probably got an accessibility problem.

13. Alt text for CSS generated content

    Article posted 11th March 2024 in Accessibility, CSS and Development

    There’s an interesting feature in Safari 17.4 that allows content added with CSS to have ‘alt’ text. I’m not sure how I feel about this.

14. The accessibility conversations you want to be having

    Article posted 29th January 2024 in Accessibility

    In most companies, accessibility conversations centre around WCAG compliance, but that’s just the start. Thinking beyond that is where you want to be!

15. Screen reader users and the tab key

    Article posted 21st December 2023 in Accessibility

    People who use a screen reader on a laptop/desktop generally use the keyboard, but that doesn’t mean they use it like a keyboard-only user.

16. Not all screen reader users are blind

    Article posted 30th November 2023 in Accessibility

    There’s a common misconception that everyone who uses screen reader software is blind; that’s mostly the case, but not always.

17. Accessibility by degrees

    Article posted 31st October 2023 in Accessibility

    Retro-fitting accessibility is far from ideal but usually the only way digital products are able to reach all of their potential users.

18. Own your own content

    Article posted 20th September 2023

    Posting valuable content to social media or other platforms you have no control over can be risky; just look at the mess over on Twitter…

19. Mastodon and me

    Article posted 31st August 2023

    Mastodon has enjoyed a spike in popularity lately. It took me a while to wrap my head around the basic concept, but it feels like the right way to do social networking.

20. What has happened Twitter!?

    Article posted 8th August 2023

    Twitter, for all its flaws, was my social media platform of choice, but since it has been taken over it has gone from bad to worse, and I’m out.

21. Accessibility represents maturity

    Article posted 31st July 2023 in Accessibility

    Accessibility is a great measure of mature, disciplined software production, and Twitter have become a good example of the opposite.

22. WWDC 2023 roundup

    Article posted 11th June 2023 in Apple

    Around this time every year I make a pizza, close the living room door, open a cold beer, and sit down to watch WWDC (Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference). Here are my thoughts.

23. Don’t meddle with user input

    Article posted 29th May 2023 in Accessibility and Design

    Every idea comes from a good place, but some well-intended features are actually bad for usability; limiting form field input is one of those things.

24. Getting VoiceOver to shut up

    Article posted 30th April 2023 in Accessibility and Apple

    The whole point of VoiceOver is that it talks out loud, but sometimes you need it to be quiet for a moment.

25. VoiceOver’s Trackpad Commander on Mac

    Article posted 21st April 2023 in Accessibility and Apple

    Did you know there’s a way to make VoiceOver on a Mac behave like VoiceOver on an iPhone or iPad? No? Let me introduce you to Trackpad Commander!

26. The difference between Increased Contrast Mode and Windows High Contrast Mode (Forced Colours Mode)

    Article posted 27th March 2023 in Accessibility and CSS

    I’ve written about Increased Contrast Mode and Windows High Contrast Mode, but what’s the difference? And where does Forced Colours Mode come in?

27. Windows high contrast mode and focus outlines or: My focus indicators were inaccessible

    Article posted 22nd March 2023 in Accessibility, CSS and Development

    In order to make my website’s keyboard focus outlines pretty in Safari, I inadvertently broke things for people who use Windows High Contrast Mode.

28. If you’re going to do a job, do it properly

    Article posted 17th February 2023 in Accessibility

    I often hear the phrase “forward fix” used when referring to accessibility. It sounds fancy, but what it really means is “We’ll come back to the accessibility bit later”.

29. Buttons, links, and focus

    Article posted 16th February 2023 in Accessibility and Design

    Knowing when to use a button or link is important, and there’s some great guidance out there. Here’s another way to work out when to use which.

30. If you need a link, don’t use a button

    Article posted 23rd January 2023 in Accessibility, Design and Development

    Links sometimes need to look like buttons, but what about the other way round? Spoiler alert: it’s a terrible idea!

31. Overlapping interactive areas

    Article posted 30th December 2022 in Accessibility, Design and Development

    When an interactive element like a button, link, and form field sits on top of another interactive element, accessibility (and usability) problems arise.

32. Images, illustrations, and contrast

    Article posted 22nd December 2022 in Accessibility and Design

    ‘Alt’ text is vital for people who can’t see an image, but what about those who don’t use a screen reader but still struggle with low contrast images?

33. Which images need descriptive text?

    Article posted 30th November 2022 in Accessibility and Content

    Image alt text is extremely important to many users, but how do we know which images should be described, and which shouldn’t?

34. Buttons with icons and text

    Article posted 29th November 2022 in Accessibility and Development

    We can all agree that icon-only buttons are a bad idea, but how do we provide the most accessible experience when we pair an icon with visible text?

35. Complexity and caution

    Article posted 31st October 2022 in Accessibility and Design

    Whenever we design a non-standard but seemingly helpful behaviour, keep asking yourself if it’s the right thing to do for all users.

36. Accessibility beyond the ‘obvious’

    Article posted 27th October 2022 in Accessibility and Design

    Just as not all disabilities are visible, accessibility goes much further than the tools people use to access digital content on a practical level.

37. It’s good to make mistakes

    Article posted 20th September 2022 in Accessibility and Design

    As a designer and developer I’ve made countless mistakes, but that’s part of the reason I’m good at what I do.

38. Focus appearance explained

    Article posted 2nd September 2022 in Accessibility

    There’s some great stuff coming up in WCAG 2.2, but there’s one rule that’s particularly difficult to understand, so here it is in a bit more detail.

39. Here, here, and here

    Article posted 10th August 2022 in Accessibility, Content and Design

    Every now and again I read an article that links to multiple places, and each link is a separate word in a short phrase. I’m not a fan.

40. Abbreviations can be problematic

    Article posted 18th July 2022 in Accessibility

    We can all agree that abbreviations like acronyms usually need to be defined, but what if the HTML method we use isn’t accessible to all users?

41. Bag some AAA wins where you can

    Article posted 13th July 2022 in Accessibility

    Complying with WCAG AA is hard, and AAA seems a lot harder, but there are actually plenty of AAA rules that are relatively easy to meet.

42. Accessible animated content without the compromise

    Article posted 27th June 2022 in Accessibility, Design and Development

    Accessible animated GIFs are rubbish. Instead of compromising our animations in order to meet WCAG, we should be checking what our users prefer.

43. Accessibility doesn’t stop at WCAG compliance

    Article posted 23rd June 2022 in Accessibility

    While it’s true that WCAG represents a solid baseline, there’s a lot more we should be doing to make our work truly accessible.

44. Icon-only links fail WCAG

    Article posted 20th June 2022 in Accessibility

    Icon-only buttons don’t fail the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), even though I wish they did, but what about icon-only links?

45. What I wish was in WCAG: prohibit icon-only buttons

    Article posted 16th June 2022 in Accessibility

    The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) ensure that buttons have a programmatical accessible name, but it doesn’t have to be visible.

46. WWDC 2022 roundup

    Article posted 10th June 2022 in Apple

    The opening keynote at Apple’s WWDC is one of my favourite events of the year, and I’ve written a list of the things that got me most excited.

47. XHTML syntax is still worth using

    Article posted 11th May 2022 in Development and HTML

    A few weeks ago I read an article on CSS-Tricks about writing HTML the HTML way, not the XHTML way, and it has been bothering me a bit.

48. Booleans in ARIA

    Article posted 9th May 2022 in Development

    HTML booleans are bit quirky but, as if just to complicate things, booleans in ARIA work slightly differently. It’s worth knowing how and why.

49. Sometimes when it’s false, it’s true

    Article posted 6th May 2022 in Development and HTML

    Boolean attributes in HTML are quirky, and it’s worth knowing how they work in case you end up setting one value and getting the opposite!

50. I deleted 1Password

    Article posted 29th April 2022 in Apple

    I’ve been dragging my heels a bit as it’s such a big job, but this week I deleted 1Password.

51. HTML isn’t quite accessible out of the box

    Article posted 20th April 2022 in Accessibility

    There’s a commonly held idea that HTML is accessible out of the box, before any CSS has been applied. Unfortunately, that isn’t quite the case.

52. CSS Naked Day

    Article posted 9th April 2022 in Accessibility

    CSS Naked Day is a day when all website owners should strip their site of CSS to expose the ‘naked’ HTML underneath.

53. Upgrading from iPhone XS to 13 Mini

    Article posted 8th April 2022 in Apple

    After three and a half years using an iPhone XS, I’ve upgraded to the 13 Mini. Here’s my take on jumping to the new model.

54. If one person is remote, everyone should be remote

    Article posted 5th April 2022

    Last time I went into the office, a colleague and I found a meeting room dialled into a remote meeting together. It was a bit of a bit of a disaster.

55. WCAG AAA in language I can understand

    Article posted 23rd March 2022 in Accessibility

    A follow-up to my post on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1, level AA; this time covering the rules that make up the stricter level AAA.

56. Is ‘a11y’ exclusive?

    Article posted 16th March 2022 in Accessibility

    Is the term ‘a11y’ inherently inaccessible? Well, yes and no. It can come in very handy in some circumstances, but it should be used with care.

57. Safari 15.4

    Article posted 15th March 2022 in Accessibility, Apple, CSS and HTML

    macOS 12.3 and iOS 15.4 landed yesterday, and with them came Safari 15.4 and some exciting new features. Here are the five that stood out to me.

58. WCAG 2.2 in language I can understand

    Article posted 21st February 2022 in Accessibility

    A follow-up to my post on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1, level AA; this time explaining the nine rules coming up in WCAG 2.2.

59. Safari, focus-visible and accessibility

    Article posted 14th February 2022 in Accessibility and CSS

    Safari is the last browser to support the :focus-visible pseudo-class, and with that support comes a huge accessibility win.

60. Going all-in on iCloud Passwords

    Article posted 8th February 2022 in Apple

    1Password’s subscription push, one-size-fits-all Electron app, and Apple’s efforts with their password manager mean it’s time for a change.

61. WCAG, but in language I can understand

    Article posted 28th January 2022 in Accessibility

    An as-close-to-a-single-paragraph-as-I-can-manage summary of each rule in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, version 2.1, level AA.

62. The curse of knowledge

    Article posted 7th January 2022

    I often throw out ideas for posts on ‘the basics’; surely everyone knows that stuff already? Well, I think I’ve been doing the wrong thing!

63. Apple Watch’s default app view is bad

    Article posted 5th January 2022 in Apple and Design

    My mum and brother counted Apple Watches amongst their Chistmas presents, and the one problem they both had was the default app view.

64. Safari 15’s Tab Groups

    Article posted 30th December 2021 in Apple

    The road to Safari 15 was a bumpy old ride. Some things were announced at WWDC and then undone; others, like Safari’s Tab Groups, turned out great.

65. Design for everyone

    Article posted 9th December 2021 in Accessibility and Design

    Design is a hugely responsible role, and one responsibility is ensuring everyone can use our websites, products, services, and applications.

66. An update on Google and the open web

    Article posted 30th November 2021

    A year ago, I wrote about how Google were spoiling my Blue Beanie Day. Since then, there have been some changes; some positive, others not so much.

67. What do we do with a link or button matters

    Article posted 22nd November 2021 in Accessibility and Design

    Language is a powerful thing; if the metaphor we use to describe actions to our users is ‘click’ we tend to forget about all those who don’t.

68. If HTML and ARIA don’t allow it, it’s probably a bad idea

    Article posted 25th October 2021 in Accessibility, Design and HTML

    I like to use invalid HTML and ARIA as a design constraint; a line I can’t step across. Sounds obvious, but in practice it’s not always that simple!

69. Mac event 2021

    Article posted 19th October 2021 in Apple

    Apple had their final event of the year last night and it was especially exciting as I’m in the market for a new Mac. Here are my thoughts.

70. Face ID on the Mac won’t happen

    Article posted 11th October 2021 in Apple

    With an October Mac event looming, I got to thinking about Face ID on the Mac; I don’t think it’ll be added now, and might not ever be.

71. Always style links with a pseudo-class

    Article posted 1st October 2021 in CSS and Development

    Ever wondered why we have the :link pseudo-class as well as the a selector in CSS? Aren’t they doing the same thing? Turns out they’re not.

72. Links, missing href attributes, and over-engineered code

    Article posted 30th September 2021 in Accessibility, Development and HTML

    Links without an href attribute are ignored by browsers; making them ‘behave’ using JavaScript, CSS, and other HTML attributes is not a solution.

73. A week with iOS 15

    Article posted 29th September 2021 in Apple

    I’ve been using iOS 15 for just over a week and there are some and there are some changes that have made a big difference. Here’s a short list.

74. iOS 15, Face ID, sunglasses, and Apple Watch

    Article posted 27th September 2021 in Apple

    The latest iOS release uses Apple Watch to unlock your iPhone when you’re wearing sunglasses. This is not only very convenient, but great for security.

75. What if no-one’s listening?

    Article posted 17th September 2021

    Spending hours writing and editing a blog post only to publish and get zero feedback can be demoralising. My advice? Keep going!

76. How I approach CSS: my ABC system

    Article posted 3rd September 2021 in CSS and Development

    CSS is easy to write but can become messy and bloated over time. A solid methodology can make maintenance much more comfortable; here’s how I do it.

77. Critical CSS: what it is, why it’s useful, and how it works

    Article posted 19th August 2021 in CSS and Development

    With Critical CSS, we can give our visitors the most important styling as early as possible and the rest when it’s ready. Here’s why and how to do it.

78. Using Pandoc to convert Markdown to Jira’s Textile in Sublime Text

    Article posted 22nd July 2021 in Development, Markdown, Tools and Workflows

    It’s a real pain that Jira’s plain text input isn’t Markdown. Here’s how to I write in Markdown and export to Jira’s version of Textile.

79. Apple dials back the Safari 15 for macOS redesign

    Article posted 15th July 2021 in Apple

    The ultra-condensed tab bar in the up-coming Safari for macOS has been reverted in the betas; it’s now just an option in Safari’s Preferences.

80. Share anyway

    Article posted 9th July 2021

    One of the best things you can do is share what you know. Even if you think it has been done before or someone else is more expert, share anyway!

81. Downloading a website as HTML files

    Article posted 8th July 2021 in Development and Tools

    How do you download a website as HTML, including the CSS, JavaScript files, and image assets? Wget is the easiest way to do it; here’s what I do.

82. Text underline thickness on Chrome

    Article posted 7th July 2021 in Development

    Link underlines are thicker on Chromium-based browsers than on Safari and Firefox; so much so that they can look odd on larger text like headings.

83. Website version 6

    Article posted 6th July 2021 in Accessibility, Design and Development

    The last major version of this website was a complete behind-the-scenes rebuild. This version, on the other hand, is almost entirely visual.

84. Sass mixins for Increased Contrast Mode (and Dark Mode)

    Article posted 22nd June 2021 in CSS and Development

    When I added a high contrast version of my website I used an almost-identical Sass mixin to the one I use for Dark Mode. Here’s how it works.

85. Using the Increased Contrast Mode CSS media query

    Article posted 21st June 2021 in Accessibility, CSS, Design and Development

    Satisfying the enhanced contrast AAA WCAG rule can be limiting; luckily prefers-contrast: more allows us more freedom with our default themes.

86. Craig Federighi on, essentially, mobile first

    Article posted 17th June 2021 in Apple

    In a post-WWDC interview, Apple’s Craig Federighi explained why Shortcuts for macOS looks to be such a success; essentially as it was mobile first!

87. Styling code snippets in Keynote

    Article posted 15th June 2021 in Apple

    No sooner than I had published my story on why I like Keynote, I spotted a post in my RSS feeds on how to highlight code syntax in Keynote.

88. I’d forgotten how much I like Keynote

    Article posted 14th June 2021 in Apple and Tools

    When COVID-19 struck, Keynote became unusable for remote presentations. I used other, lesser tools for over a year before Apple released a fix.

89. WWDC 2021 roundup

    Article posted 9th June 2021 in Apple

    Just like last year, I’ve written a list of the announcements that stood out at this year’s World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC).

90. The trouble with back links

    Article posted 4th June 2021 in Development and HTML

    You’d think that adding a back link to a web page would be straightforward. Well, it turn out that it’s not! Let’s have a look at three ways to do it.

91. Fixing Safari’s HTML-only Dark Mode bug

    Article posted 3rd June 2021 in Accessibility, CSS and HTML

    A bug with link text colours in Safari’s HTML-only Dark Mode theme means we need a bit of extra code. Here’s how to patch things until it’s fixed.

92. HTML-only Dark Mode

    Article posted 2nd June 2021 in Accessibility, CSS and HTML

    When our CSS contains Dark Mode rules and the file fails to load, we’re left with plain old HTML. Luckily we can request Dark Mode in our markup!

93. Front of the frontend

    Article posted 1st June 2021 in CSS, Development and HTML

    Frontend development use to be simple. First it was just HTML, then it was HTML, CSS and some JavaScript; then it exploded.

94. Accessible responsive tables

    Article posted 28th May 2021 in Accessibility, CSS, Development and HTML

    Tables can be tricky to make work responsively; they can also be tricky to make accessible. Here’s a step by step guide to making your tables both!

95. Refining focus styles with focus-visible

    Article posted 25th May 2021 in CSS and Development

    :focus-visible triggers only on keyboard focus; not on click. This can make our interfaces cleaner, but should it replace :focus completely?

96. AVIF and WebP are not always better than PNG and JPG

    Article posted 24th May 2021 in Development and Performance

    AVIF and WebP are better image compression smaller files than PNG and JPG, but

97. Converting images to AVIF in 2021

    Article posted 18th May 2021 in Development and Performance

    AVIF is amazing, but the big downside is that it’s not an export option in any of my image software yet. Here’s what I’m doing in the meantime.

98. AVIF image compression is incredible

    Article posted 17th May 2021 in Development and Performance

    WebP images are now supported in all modern web browsers, but the emerging AVIF format promises to be even better; I’m pleased to tell you it is!

99. Using Git restore to discard changes within a file

    Article posted 11th May 2021 in Development and Git

    git restore is great, and one of its superpowers is its patch mode where we can restore parts of a file, rather than the whole file at once.

100. Undelete a file with Git

     Article posted 10th May 2021 in Development and Git

     I’ve talked about how great git restore is, but I missed a really obvious use of git restore: restoring a deleted file!

101. Be careful with strikethrough

     Article posted 20th April 2021 in Accessibility, Development and HTML

     Struck-through text isn’t read by screen readers. This is true of all text-level semantics, but it’s worth drawing attention to strikethough.

102. The difference between strikethrough and del

     Article posted 14th April 2021 in Development and HTML

     Just like <em> and <i>, and <strong> and <b>, the distinction between <s> and <del> is subtle, but it’s worth knowing.

103. Git restore to discard changes

     Article posted 13th April 2021 in Development and Git

     I no longer use git checkout to switch branches; I’ve also stopped using it to discard uncommitted changes: let me introduce git restore!

104. Using Git switch to change branches

     Article posted 12th April 2021 in Development and Git

     Since upgrading to macOS Big Sur, I’ve noticed that git switch works. But why do we need it when we’ve got git checkout?

105. Cleaner focus outlines with box-decoration-break

     Article posted 8th April 2021 in CSS

     When I changed my site’s form and button focus styles, links felt a bit left out. But discovering box-decoration-break has made things consistent.

106. Bold and italics aren’t read by screen readers

     Article posted 2nd April 2021 in Accessibility

     Emphasis and other text-level semantics are normally ignored by screen readers, so it you’re relying on them for meaning you could be in trouble.

107. Sentence case versus title case

     Article posted 31st March 2021 in Accessibility and Design

     I’m a fan of good typography, and something I come across a fair bit is whether sentence case or title case is better for headings.

108. Reset to a previous commit

     Article posted 29th March 2021 in Development and Git

     Have you ever made a bunch of commits on the wrong branch? I certainly have… Luckily, there’s an easy way to put things right.

109. My user manual

     Article posted 26th March 2021

     A couple of years ago, a colleague introduced the idea of personal user manuals. I liked the idea, and I’ve finally got round to writing my own.

110. On not setting an upstream for short-lived branches

     Article posted 17th March 2021 in Development and Git

     I only set upstream Git branches when I need to push and pull a lot, otherwise I prefer to write out my target branch manually. Here’s why…

111. Updating Netlify deployments when renaming your main Git branch

     Article posted 15th March 2021 in Development and Git

     When you rename your Git branch, you’re going to need to reconfigure any Netlify deployments that are set up to watch your old master branch.

112. Why I stopped using ASCII art

     Article posted 10th March 2021 in Accessibility

     I love those old-school ASCII art characters, but I’ve stopped using them as they’re not accessible.

113. Setting an upstream Git branch

     Article posted 26th February 2021 in Development and Git

     There’s no such thing as syncing in Git, but setting an upstream branch is about as close as it gets.

114. How to rename the ‘master’ branch on GitHub

     Article posted 25th February 2021 in Development and Git

     So renaming master to main is a good idea, but how do we do it? Fortunately, it’s really straightforward if your repository lives on GitHub.

115. Empathy, and renaming my ‘master’ branch to ‘main’

     Article posted 24th February 2021 in Development and Git

     I’ve noticed a move towards renaming the master Git branch. It’s a racially charged term and I’m very happy to switch from master to main.

116. Third party platforms, and owning your own content

     Article posted 23rd February 2021

     Facebook’s run in with the Australian government got me thinking about how important it is not to depend on third parties to publish your ideas.

117. Caching fonts on Netlify

     Article posted 22nd February 2021 in Development, Performance and Serverless

     I’m not sure what took me so long to notice, but my website’s custom font wasn’t caching. The good news is that caching is easy with Netlify.

118. Custom numeric passcodes on iPhone

     Article posted 18th February 2021 in Apple

     I’ve been keen to ditch my 6 digit iPhone unlock passcode for a while now, as even a very short alphanumeric code is so much more secure.

119. Face ID and masks

     Article posted 17th February 2021 in Apple

     Face ID is great, but now that we’re all wearing masks in public our passcodes are seeing a lot more use. Luckily, Apple have a solution in the pipeline.

120. When and how to use the section element

     Article posted 11th February 2021 in Accessibility and HTML

     So what on earth is a <section> element actually for? The answer isn’t as obvious as you might have hoped, but it’s definitely straightforward.

121. Viewing the changes in a Git stash

     Article posted 10th February 2021 in Development and Git

     Naming stashes is a good idea if some time is likely to pass between stashing and picking up the work again, but sometimes we need even more info.

122. Deleting a stash in Git

     Article posted 9th February 2021 in Development and Git

     If you stash a lot, or need to apply a stash non-destructively you might eventually want to clear things down to keep your stash list tidy.

123. Applying a Git stash non-destructively

     Article posted 8th February 2021 in Development and Git

     You’ll almost always want to delete a stash when you apply it, but if for some reason you need to keep the stash around, Git lets you do that.

124. Giving your Git stash a name

     Article posted 5th February 2021 in Development and Git

     Naming your Git stashes can be really helpful, especially if you’re stashing a lot or saving a stash to come back to another day.

125. Choosing a stash from the list

     Article posted 4th February 2021 in Development and Git

     Viewing all of a Git repository’s stashes and choosing one from the list is the next step I took in my Git stash on the command line journey.

126. Getting started with Git stash

     Article posted 3rd February 2021 in Development and Git

     I’ve put it off for the longest time, but it turns out stashing changes with Git on the command line is surprisingly easy to get the hang of.

127. Scrollbar marker colours on macOS

     Article posted 25th January 2021 in Accessibility and CSS

     The other day, I realised the scroll markers were invisible on my website in Light Mode. The fix was pretty easy once I knew what was going on.

128. Scroll-bounce page background colour

     Article posted 24th January 2021 in CSS

     In most browsers, if you scroll and hit the top or bottom of the page, there’s a bounce. Did you know you can change the colour behind your page?

129. Using VoiceOver’s rotor on macOS

     Article posted 21st January 2021 in Accessibility and Apple

     If you’re new to VoiceOver, once you’ve got the hang of the basics, the next thing to learn is the ‘rotor’; a supercharged navigation tool.

130. Getting started with VoiceOver on macOS

     Article posted 20th January 2021 in Accessibility and Apple

     Understanding how screen readers work is important for anyone who works on digital products. Here’s how to get started with VoiceOver on macOS.

131. Upgrading from a Home button to a Face ID iPhone

     Article posted 14th January 2021 in Apple

     One from the Unpublished Drafts archive: my thoughts on moving from a Home button iPhone to a Home button-less Face ID iPhone.

132. Accessible animated GIFs are pointless

     Article posted 8th January 2021 in Accessibility

     Animated GIFs are everywhere, but are they accessible to everyone? I’m afraid to say, they’re not, and we probably shouldn’t be using them.

133. An unexpected accessibility benefit of video calls

     Article posted 30th December 2020 in Accessibility

     COVID-19 changed the way we work. Now that we all work from home, remote team members report feeling more included, and I’ve noticed another benefit.

134. Voice Control for macOS commands cheatsheet

     Article posted 29th December 2020 in Accessibility and Apple

     I have a list of all the commands for Voice Control for macOS, and it comes in handy pretty much every time I do any speech recognition testing.

135. Why I prefer not to use CSS shorthand

     Article posted 23rd December 2020 in CSS

     Instead of using the padding declaration, I use the longhand padding-top, padding-right, and so on. Why? A few of good reasons: let me explain.

136. Progressively enhanced animated content

     Article posted 2nd December 2020 in Accessibility and Development

     Respecting your users’ preferences with prefers-reduced-motion is great, but what about users with older operating systems and browsers?

137. Google are spoiling my Blue Beanie Day

     Article posted 30th November 2020 in Development

     Web standards should be a done deal by now, but 8 years on from my last post on the subject, we need to be as vigilant as ever.

138. Form styling limitations are an accessibility issue

     Article posted 27th November 2020 in Accessibility, CSS and Development

     A summary of the things missing in CSS got me thinking about how lack of some form styling may have seriously damaged accessibility on the web.

139. Moving to Apple One with existing Apple subscriptions

     Article posted 19th November 2020 in Apple

     I had some questions before upgrading to Apple One, as I had existing Apple subscriptions. If you’re in the same position I was, this should help.

140. The tempertemper newsletter

     Article posted 5th November 2020

     A while ago, I realised I didn’t have a great way to get all my articles out to people who want to read them. That’s where my newsletter comes in.

141. Respecting people’s privacy

     Article posted 30th October 2020

     Collecting data, whether needed or not, is high on a lot of companies’ agendas. Me, I don’t track users and I collect the bare minimum data.

142. Accessibility issues when removing list markers

     Article posted 12th October 2020 in Accessibility, CSS and Development

     If we remove the list markers from an ordered or unordered list, we’re likely to run into some issues with VoiceOver.

143. Custom unordered list markers, done right

     Article posted 8th October 2020 in CSS and Development

     Did you know you can choose any icon you like for unordered/bulleted lists with a single line of CSS? Any Unicode character; no hacky CSS!

144. Styling list markers the right way

     Article posted 7th October 2020 in CSS and Development

     Simple list styling like changing the bullets’ colour has always felt like a hack, involving a lot of CSS. But now there’s a proper way to do it!

145. How to use the keyboard to navigate on Safari

     Article posted 6th October 2020 in Accessibility

     A great way to start accessibility testing is to navigate with the keyboard. Safari is limited by default, so here’s how get it working properly.

146. Using the keyboard to navigate on macOS

     Article posted 5th October 2020 in Accessibility

     I’ve just set up a new Mac, and keyboard navigation is pretty limited by default. Here’s how to make it much more useful.

147. Opening links in a new tab or window is better avoided

     Article posted 21st September 2020 in Design and Development

     A link to an external source opening in a new tab or window is something that appears innocuous but really isn’t as straightforward it seems.

148. First impressions of iOS 14

     Article posted 18th September 2020 in Apple

     After 24 hours using iOS 14, I’ve found some of the new features unexpectedly useful. Here are my first impressions.

149. 3D touch is gone on Apple Watch

     Article posted 17th September 2020 in Apple

     I noticed it when I went to try out the new Faces that arrived with watchOS 7: the new Apple Watch operating system has removed 3D Touch entirely!

150. Splitting a hunk in Git’s patch mode

     Article posted 15th September 2020 in Development and Git

     When you enter Git’s patch mode, the chunks of code you’re offered to stage/skip can sometimes be too big. Here’s how splitting them works.

151. Staging different parts of the same file with Git

     Article posted 14th September 2020 in Development and Git

     Since moving to command line Git, I’ve avoided patch mode; it looked too complicated. Turns out it’s really not, and very much worth learning.

152. Include a date on your blog posts

     Article posted 10th September 2020

     Aside from the article itself, the most important thing to include on every blog post you write is the date published.

153. Styling underlines with CSS

     Article posted 9th September 2020 in CSS, Design and Development

     Never mind border-bottom for making your links a bit more visually engaging, here’s how to do it properly with text-decoration.

154. Why you should (almost) always underline your links

     Article posted 3rd September 2020 in Accessibility and Design

     A link should look like the text around it, but with a couple of differences: maybe a bit of colour and (almost) always an underline.

155. Saying goodbye to UK government

     Article posted 26th August 2020

     Monday marked my last day working on the UK government’s digital services, after two and a half years. It has been an amazing experience.

156. WebKit has fixed the implicit role on footers

     Article posted 24th August 2020 in Accessibility and Development

     Last year, I wrote about implicit ARIA roles; an issue I encountered was that VoiceOver didn’t give an implicit role to footers. Well, it’s fixed!

157. iOS 14’s Back Tap; a better way to access Control Centre

     Article posted 21st August 2020 in Accessibility and Apple

     My most anticipated iOS 14 feature wasn’t mentioned at WWDC 2020, but will sort my biggest issue with iPhones X and above: Control Centre access.

158. Putting the time in up front

     Article posted 18th August 2020

     Taking time to learn or improve a skill, or set solid foundations for a project can often be the difference between it happening or not.

159. Text snippets on Apple devices

     Article posted 13th August 2020 in Apple and Workflows

     I’ve been using Apple’s built-in Text Replacement instead of TextExpander for a while now. It’s pretty basic, but it’s free and it does the job.

160. The right way to use break tags in HTML

     Article posted 28th July 2020 in Development and HTML

     Break tags are often misused. I’ll demo some markup patterns to avoid them, and reveal the one and only legitimate use case I can think of.

161. Using WebP images

     Article posted 27th July 2020 in Design and Development

     Safari will soon support the WebP image format, which purports some great advantages, but is it actually better than the formats we already use?

162. Searching for a Git commit by name with grep

     Article posted 24th July 2020 in Development and Git

     When you need to dig out a commit you made a long time ago, you’re going to need something a bit more powerful than a standard git log.

163. Using address in HTML won’t be problematic for much longer

     Article posted 22nd July 2020 in Accessibility, Development and HTML

     There’s a bug in Safari that adds an implicit role to <address> which causes problems for screen readers. The good news is, a fix is very close!

164. Using horizontal rules in HTML

     Article posted 20th July 2020 in Development and HTML

     The horizontal rule is pretty widely misunderstood and often abused. It’s not an HTML element I reach for very much, but it’s worth writing about.

165. How to change the first number of an ordered list in HTML

     Article posted 15th July 2020 in Development and HTML

     What happens when starting an ordered list at 1 doesn’t make sense? HTML has an attribute that lets you start your count at any number!

166. Reversing an ordered list in HTML

     Article posted 14th July 2020 in Development and HTML

     When the order of a list matters, you might find yourself in a situation where you need to reverse the order. Fortunately, you can do that with HTML.

167. Frontend NE draws to a close

     Article posted 13th July 2020

     Frontend NE is coming to an end, but I’ve decided to come back for one last hurrah at the postponed final meet-up, whenever that might be!

168. Self-closing elements in HTML

     Article posted 10th July 2020 in Development and HTML

     Some elements don’t look like the others; those are self-closing elements, which are just an opening tag with no content and no closing tag.

169. An introduction to HTML attributes

     Article posted 9th July 2020 in Development and HTML

     An HTML attribute lives on the opening tag of an element and gives that element powers it might not otherwise have had.

170. A handy Git shortcut to fetch and prune

     Article posted 8th July 2020 in Development and Git

     I’m still writing my Git commands long-hand. Turns out a fetch and prune can be more concise than I’ve previously suggested, all without aliases.

171. Chaining Git commands

     Article posted 7th July 2020 in Development and Git

     Writing a sequence of Git commands is really handy and much quicker than running one, waiting for it to finish, writing the next, etc. Here’s how.

172. Using image aspect ratios to avoiding janky page loading

     Article posted 6th July 2020 in Development, HTML and Performance

     Adding dimensions to images in HTML is useful again! They’re a progressive enhancement to calculate the image’s aspect ratio and prevent jank.

173. Lazy loading images without JavaScript

     Article posted 3rd July 2020 in Development, HTML and Performance

     Non-JavaScript lazy loading is a great progressive enhancement for image-heavy pages on the web. Just a simple HTML attribute and you’re away!

174. The briefest of histories of responsive images

     Article posted 1st July 2020 in Design and Development

     There are a lot of things to consider when using images on the web. But why is it so complex? And how can we tackle that complexity?

175. ‘Frontend’, ‘front‑end’ or ‘front end’?

     Article posted 30th June 2020 in Development

     As a frontend developer, something has always bothered me. How on earth do you spell ‘frontend’!? Or should that be ‘front-end’? Or ‘front end’…?

176. Pushing to a differently named branch on your remote

     Article posted 29th June 2020 in Development and Git

     When using Git, you’ll normally push work to an identically named branch on your remote, but what if you want to push to a different branch?

177. Redirect a filename in Netlify without specifying the path

     Article posted 26th June 2020 in Development and Serverless

     Redirecting a file in Netlify is easy, but what if you don’t know the path? Here’s how to redirect a particular filename, wherever that file may live.

178. When design breaks semantics

     Article posted 25th June 2020 in Accessibility, Design and Development

     Semantic HTML is great. But sometimes following the rules is tricky. Grab a cuppa and let me tell you a story about links that look like buttons.

179. How my website’s design has evolved

     Article posted 25th June 2020 in Brand and Design

     My post on portfolio redesign got me wondering how my website has evolved. I had an enjoyable look on the WayBack Machine and took some snapshots.

180. Why I haven’t ‘redesigned my portfolio’ since 2014

     Article posted 24th June 2020 in Design

     There’s a thing in the web design community where we re-do our websites every couple of years. Confession time: I haven’t redesigned mine since 2014.

181. WWDC 2020 roundup

     Article posted 23rd June 2020 in Apple

     I did it last year, so here it is again. Far from a complete list of the features Apple announced at WWDC 2020, but the ones that stood out to me.

182. Sleep on watchOS 7

     Article posted 23rd June 2020 in Apple and Design

     One of only a handful of real stand outs from the WWDC 2020 Keynote was native sleep tracking on watchOS. I’ve been waiting for this for a long time!

183. Keeping git status short

     Article posted 22nd June 2020 in Development and Git

     git status is one of the Git commands I use the most, but I’ve always thought that it overshares. Well, I’ve found a way to make it more readable!

184. Optional closing tags in HTML

     Article posted 18th June 2020 in Development

     One of the interesting things about HTML5 is its flexibility. You don’t even need a closing tag on some elements! But be careful with that.

185. The difference between elements and tags in HTML

     Article posted 15th June 2020 in Development

     People often refer to HTML ‘tags’ and ‘elements’ interchangeably. They’re related, but very much different things. Here’s the deal.

186. Why I always raise a pull request on solo projects

     Article posted 4th May 2020 in Development and Git

     The whole point of a PR is to get feedback and approval on a piece of work from someone else before it’s published. But what if it’s just you?

187. De-prioritising design

     Article posted 8th April 2020 in Design

     When a friend asked for some CSS tips for a website he works on, I noticed a design issue that actually highlights a common problem in our industry.

188. HTML is more complicated than you think

     Article posted 6th April 2020

     HTML, like CSS, is easy to learn. Trouble is, if you want to write it well, it gets difficult very quickly.

189. Using the HTML document outline

     Article posted 3rd April 2020 in Accessibility, Design and Development

     What is a document outline? Sounds complicated, but it’s really not – it’s just headings! Find out more about them and why they’re a good idea.

190. Pixels, constraints, minimalism and tempertemper

     Article posted 14th March 2020 in Brand and Design

     As a designer, I thrive on constraints; as a minimalist, I enjoy boiling something down to its essence. Happily, my brand now allows room for pixel art.

191. Even the finest of details can be important

     Article posted 28th February 2020 in Brand and Design

     Since my post on refining my brand I’ve encountered a tiny issue where, with a circular crop, the underscore is too close to the edge of the circle.

192. What watchOS 7 might have in store

     Article posted 27th February 2020 in Apple and Design

     I was pretty pleased with watchOS 6 when it landed last autumn, but a recent article got me thinking about what watchOS 7 might have in store.

193. Why is accessibility so often seen as a low priority?

     Article posted 20th February 2020 in Accessibility

     A couple of recent CSS-Tricks articles got me thinking about how website owners prioritise their legal (and moral!) obligations to their users.

194. How to rename a remote repo in Git

     Article posted 10th February 2020 in Development and Git

     Renaming a Git repository feels pretty fundamental – surely something will break? Well, worry no more – it turns out it’s a piece of cake!

195. The simplest solutions are usually the best

     Article posted 25th January 2020 in Brand and Design

     I’ve spent more than 5 years working on an icon for my brand. It has been a lot of fun and the right solution turned out to be under my nose all along!

196. How to diff branches in Git

     Article posted 11th January 2020 in Development and Git

     Turns out it’s pretty easy to look at the differences between two branches in Git. This is useful when coming back to a feature branch after a while.

197. Git rebase versus merge

     Article posted 31st December 2019 in Development and Git

     There are two ways to get a branch up to date with master before raising a PR: merge and rebase. Here are pros and cons with each.

198. Version tagging with Releases in GitHub Flow

     Article posted 27th December 2019 in Development and Git

     I’ve started using GitHub Flow for some projects and the process is much simpler than GitFlow, but one hurdle I encountered was tagging.

199. Simplifying branching and deployment with GitHub Flow

     Article posted 14th December 2019 in Development and Git

     GitFlow is great but it’s not quite right for every project. GitHub Flow is simpler and means I’ll publish a feature or fix as soon as it’s ready.

200. Why ‘tempertemper’?

     Article posted 12th December 2019 in Brand

     Over the years, I’ve often been asked where I got the name ‘tempertemper’ from. The answer is very simple.

201. Apple’s Keyboards revisited

     Article posted 21st November 2019 in Apple and Design

     Apple released a new MacBook Pro last week and the keyboard has been revised, fixing almost all the issues the current/outgoing models have.

202. The best Sublime Text theme

     Article posted 18th November 2019 in Design and Development

     Operator Mono’s fancy italics don’t work with every colour scheme, but finding one that does has lead me to my favourite Sublime Text theme.

203. Operator Mono and why I want italics in my code editor

     Article posted 17th November 2019 in Design and Development

     I’m ready to start recording for my YouTube channel and I’ve been thinking about what my coding environment looks like.

204. Ligatures in coding fonts

     Article posted 7th November 2019 in Development

     I enjoy freshening my coding environment up a wee bit every now and then, but typefaces with ligatures are a step too far.

205. If it’s not progressively enhanced, it’s not accessible

     Article posted 6th November 2019 in Accessibility

     In his latest article, Adam Silver summarises the many ways JavaScript can fail, which, to me, is an accessibility issue.

206. Which way is that arrow pointing!?

     Article posted 2nd November 2019 in Design

     To show/hide content you’ll probably use an arrow on the toggle to indicate that content will be revealed. Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it?

207. If only Apple’s Voice Memos did transcription

     Article posted 30th October 2019 in Apple

     Imagine dictating a memo and coming back to it later as text for editing into a blog post. You can do that with the new Google Pixel…

208. Stop search indexing for Netlify Deploy Previews and Branch Deploys

     Article posted 26th October 2019 in Development and Serverless

     Netlify Deploy Previews and Branch Deploys are great, but what if search engines start indexing them?

209. Setting up a staging site with Netlify

     Article posted 25th October 2019 in Development and Serverless

     Netlify Deploy Previews are great, but sometimes it’s good to have a staging site for stuff that isn’t ready to put into the live website yet.

210. Netlify Deploy Previews

     Article posted 24th October 2019 in Development and Serverless

     I’ve become a bit of an unashamed fan of Netlify recently, and Deploy Previews are something I’ve been making a quite a bit of use of.

211. Colour contrast on tempertemper.net

     Article posted 14th October 2019 in Accessibility, Brand and Design

     Colour contrast on my site now meets WCAG AAA, in light or dark mode. There have been compromises but, if it’s more useable, I’m happy to make them.

212. List-style articles

     Article posted 10th October 2019

     I’ve noticed a lot of rough outlines clogging up my drafts; rather than risking not publishing, maybe an outline-style might be the right approach sometimes?

213. Some brief thoughts on watchOS 6

     Article posted 9th October 2019 in Apple

     After using it for a couple of weeks, here’s a quick summary of my thoughts on the newest operating system for Apple Watch.

214. Routine and flexibility

     Article posted 7th October 2019

     I broke my golden rule this morning. I woke up early, made myself a tea and sat down with my laptop. But instead of writing, I did some freelance work.

215. Ditching Google Analytics in favour of Netlify Analytics

     Article posted 4th October 2019 in Development and Serverless

     Having moved my website to Netlify, I’ve been pretty excited about some of the features they offer, one in particular has been Netlify Analytics.

216. Moving to Netlify

     Article posted 3rd October 2019 in Development and Serverless

     I’ve really never enjoyed servers, and Netlify looks like an easy to use, powerful alternative for any static sites I build.

217. Adding files for a commit with asterisks

     Article posted 1st October 2019 in Development and Git

     It can be fiddly to stage files for a commit using Git on the command line. Or so I thought! I found a shortcut, so thought I’d write about it.

218. Using nvm on macOS

     Article posted 23rd September 2019 in Development

     I upgraded node on my laptop and things broke… But I found a way to change the node version, to keep projects alive until there’s time to upgrade all those packages and config.

219. SwiftUI is more than just a developer convenience

     Article posted 19th September 2019 in Apple

     Apple announced SwiftUI at this year’s WWDC; I reckon it’s more than just a developer convenience – it’s a tactical move on Apple’s part.

220. iPhone event 2019

     Article posted 18th September 2019 in Apple

     Apple’s iPhone event has just passed and it was interesting, but didn’t get me too excited. Here’s a brief list of my take-aways.

221. Why I’m not using Git aliases

     Article posted 11th September 2019 in Development and Git

     Git aliases are incredibly useful, but there are five good reasons I’ve decided not to make use of them.

222. Version control for articles and blog posts

     Article posted 6th September 2019 in Development and Git

     Git workflows like GitFlow are great, but how does publishing articles fit in when using a static site generator? Here’s how I’m doing it.

223. Years in, the accessibility learning curve continues

     Article posted 5th September 2019 in Accessibility and Development

     I’ve cared about accessibility for as long as I’ve been working in the web and, even after all these years, I still enjoy learning new things.

224. Practice makes perfect

     Article posted 30th August 2019

     I do a lot of reading on the Metro, on the way to work. A while back, I read an article that quoted something that really stuck in my head.

225. How to avoid disabled buttons

     Article posted 23rd August 2019 in Design

     Disabling a submit button can indicate that a form isn’t ready to be sent; there are various ways to design this, but should we be doing it at all?

226. Changing editor for Git on the command line

     Article posted 21st August 2019 in Development and Git

     Something that has been bugging me since moving from a GUI to command line git has been the default editor for writing commit messages.

227. Fixing your last Git commit

     Article posted 21st August 2019 in Development and Git

     Since I’ve started using Git on the command line, there’s one ‘new’ thing that I’ve used more than any other: amending my most recent commit.

228. Website version 5

     Article posted 4th August 2019 in Design and Development

     I’m already more than a dozen releases into version 5 of my website, but I’m finally ready to ‘officially’ announce it!

229. Changing your Git history

     Article posted 26th July 2019 in Development and Git

     This week I removed some files and data from my Git history. It was a bit of a learning curve, but here’s how I did it, step by step.

230. Right here, right now

     Article posted 18th July 2019

     I was reminded of a neat idea the other day: the Now page. I’d seen the idea a while ago but hadn’t had time to do anything about it.

231. Stop the ride, I want to get off

     Article posted 17th July 2019 in Design and Tools

     I never thought I’d see the day, but I’ve fallen out of love with Dropbox. Dropbox’s genius was its simplicity, which is getting buried by questionable new features and messy branding.

232. Minimalism and progressive enhancement

     Article posted 16th July 2019 in Design and Development

     I’ve been enjoying reading though Adam Silver’s articles around accessibility and inclusive design, and his take on progressive enhancement really struck a chord.

233. Refining my writing process

     Article posted 14th July 2019 in Workflows

     I’ve rebuilt this site with a static site generator and it has been great so many reasons, but there’s one I want to share ahead of the ‘official’ announcement: my writing workflow.

234. Folder sharing and the new Apple OSs

     Article posted 13th July 2019 in Apple and Workflows

     The up-coming Apple operating systems will allow folder sharing in both Files/Finder and the Notes app. This is a big step forward!

235. Design and dev should be more joined up

     Article posted 2nd July 2019 in Design and Development

     I’ve been catching up on some reading and came across this nugget in ‘The “D” in the DOM’…

236. Getting to grips with Git

     Article posted 26th June 2019 in Development and Git

     I’ve been using Git for years and it’s finally time to make a concerted effort to move away from my GUI to the command line.

237. What’s emphasis and what’s not

     Article posted 24th June 2019 in Accessibility and Development

     Semantic HTML is hard. We stopped using <i> and <b> elements in favour of <em> and <strong>, but are <i> and <b> still useful?

238. Implicit ARIA landmark roles

     Article posted 14th June 2019 in Accessibility and Development

     ARIA landmarks give a screen reader user an easy way to orient themselves on a web page. Implicit roles are also great. Except when they’re not.

239. Looks like 3D Touch is going away

     Article posted 8th June 2019 in Apple

     In spite of my recent enthusiasm for 3D Touch, there have been murmurs that it is on its way out. I think they might be right.

240. WWDC 2019 roundup

     Article posted 6th June 2019 in Apple

     I love watching the opening Keynote for WWDC. Here’s a brief overview of the things they announced this year that I’m excited about or interested in.

241. Reducing motion

     Article posted 30th May 2019 in Accessibility, Design and Development

     Accessibility is important, so I’ve taken steps to minimise animation on my site, and even removed it completely for those who ‘prefer reduce motion’.

242. Let’s make webmasters a thing again

     Article posted 21st May 2019

     We used to be webmasters. CMSs then gave our clients control of their websites, but I can’t help wondering if we had it right in the first place.

243. Face ID and sunglasses

     Article posted 21st May 2019 in Apple and Design

     Face ID worked perfectly every time until the sun started coming out. Seems its achilles heel is sunglasses, but I think I might be ok with that.

244. Settling for less

     Article posted 18th May 2019

     I take a lot of care over my articles, but that means they take a long time before I hit ‘publish’. Maybe I need to put less pressure on my writing…

245. Thoughts on 3D Touch

     Article posted 8th May 2019 in Apple and Design

     Moving from an iPhone 6 to an iPhone XS has been great, and I know it has been around for a while but one of my favourite things is 3D Touch.

246. Still a sucker for Sublime

     Article posted 1st May 2019 in Development and Tools

     Over the years I jumped from one code editor to another before settling on Sublime Text. I’ve since tried others but keep ending up back with Sublime.

247. I can’t wait for Dark Mode on iOS

     Article posted 24th April 2019 in Apple and Design

     Dark Mode on iOS looks to be right around the corner. I’m already all-in on Dark Mode on my Mac but it’s even more compelling on the iPhone.

248. Choosing Dark Mode on macOS

     Article posted 17th April 2019 in Apple and Design

     It’s nice to dust the cobwebs off with a UI overhaul every so often, so when macOS Mojave was released last year I couldn’t wait to try Dark Mode.

249. Keep on learning

     Article posted 10th April 2019

     I’ve found myself with extra time on my hands for the first time in years and I can’t wait to pick up some projects I’ve been eyeing been for a while.

250. Reading at night with a neat iPhone hack

     Article posted 20th March 2019 in Apple

     I love reading in bed each night but even my iPhone’s lowest brightness is too fierce in the dark, so here’s a neat trick to make it even dim further.

251. They’re my rules to break

     Article posted 28th January 2019

     While I’m not one to say something publicly, only to go back on it, I learned through bitter experience last year that over-committing isn’t healthy.

252. My favourite RSS app

     Article posted 25th January 2019 in Design and Tools

     I love RSS. Having used the same RSS app for years, I decided to have a look what else was out there one stood out above the rest.

253. The new MacBook keyboard

     Article posted 9th January 2019 in Apple and Design

     The new MacBook keyboard has certainly been a talking point. From the new layout to the Touch Bar and keys sticking; I both love and loathe it.

254. A New Year’s resolution for 2019

     Article posted 2nd January 2019

     2018 was a funny one. Not at all how I planned it. This year, I’m making one commitment – to write and publish a blog article each and every week.

255. Leaving the Frontend NE meet-up

     Article posted 13th December 2018

     In early 2015 Colin Oakley, Sam Beckham and I started Frontend NE. Fast-forward 4 years and it’s time for me to bow out of the meet-up.

256. Dark Mode websites on macOS Mojave

     Article posted 28th November 2018 in Design and Development

     macOS Mojave comes with a Dark Mode feature, but how do we get our websites to do the same? Turns out there’s a handy CSS media query that does the job!

257. In search of the best writing app

     Article posted 16th October 2018 in Tools

     A good writing app is an invaluable tool. I’ve found one I’m very comfortable with, and there are a few good reasons for that.

258. Safari tab icons

     Article posted 20th September 2018 in Design and Tools

     I’m a fan of small and seemingly trivial changes that make a big difference, so Safari tabs getting icons in macOS Mojave was cause for celebration.

259. Dashes, asterisks and plus signs

     Article posted 22nd August 2018 in Tools

     As a designer, I enjoy details. Markdown has lots of ways of doing the same thing and this is kind of nice, but also makes me sweat!

260. A shift in focus

     Article posted 11th November 2017

     “Change is the only constant”, said a Greek fella a few thousand years ago. Turns out this is very true. And it happens when you least need/expect it!

261. Changing the way I start a project

     Article posted 20th June 2016

     Over the years I have refined the way I plan the websites I build. I’ve moved to a more consultative approach and it has been great for my clients.

262. tempertemper’s Typefaces

     Article posted 19th June 2015 in Brand and Design

     I rebranded tempertemper last summer. Text is so important on the web that it made perfect sense to make typography one of the first things to tackle.

263. The benefits of co-working

     Article posted 4th May 2015 in Business

     I was recently part of a panel on co-working at the ITI Conference 2015, so now feels like a good time to revisit co-working and what it does for my business.

264. Controlling email

     Article posted 8th February 2015 in Business and Tools

     Constant interruptions and notifications can take over your working day. For me, the biggest culprit is email. Here’s how I keep my head above water.

265. Why I still use RSS

     Article posted 27th January 2015 in Tools

     Anyone who knows me will know I like to keep things tidy. Whether it’s my desk, the contents of my work bag or the files on my computer, everything has its place. This helps me keep in control and is why I still believe RSS has its place.

266. Switching to Gmail

     Article posted 28th January 2014 in Tools

     Having never been comfortable with Google’s business model I’ve always chosen to avoid their services where possible. However, I’ve finally made the switch to Gmail and here’s why…

267. Blue Beanie Day

     Article posted 30th November 2012 in Development

     The web is very young and is still developing—as well as growing—at a rapid pace. For a long time it was pretty fragmented; a mismatch of all sorts of different technologies being used to display a website and provide functionality.

268. My introduction to co-working

     Article posted 21st November 2012 in Business

     Co-working is a great way to escape the isolation of home-working, make business contacts and boost your creativity with a change of scenery-- read on to find out more…

269. FreeAgent

     Article posted 30th May 2012 in Business and Tools

     As a small business I have to do everything. From marketing my services to working on the projects themselves. One thing I have a kind of love-hate relationship with is invoicing, bookkeeping and accounts. Read on to find out how I’ve cured that particular headache…

270. Evernote

     Article posted 28th April 2012 in Business and Tools

     Evernote is how I stay organised and a great way to reduce clutter and save time. This article will tell you how it works and hopefully inspire you to see how it will work best for you! tempertemper Web Design wouldn’t be the same without it!

271. Dropbox – my most useful app

     Article posted 27th April 2012 in Tools

     Dropbox is by far and away the most useful application/program I use. It’s totally streamlined the way I run tempertemper, freeing me from the shackles of my desktop computer and allowing me to take my work on the road at a moment’s notice!

272. What’s RSS all about?

     Article posted 15th July 2011 in Tools

     So what’s all this talk about RSS, feeds, subscribing, etc.?