What I'm doing now

I live in Pretoria, South Africa with my wife, three kids, five dogs and three cats. Like some folks at work said, at this point the pets have us. 😃

I am also writing a book on HTML called HTML, a comprehensive guide. It is written in the open, available as open source and your feedback is welcomed and encouraged. I write the book by reading the HTML specification and other resources such as MDN Web Docs, and have a core focus on teaching you how to use HTML to make more semantic and accessible web experiences.

Work

Starting on 21 May 2024, I am a senior frontend engineer at Factorial Gmbh. More than an agency we develop customer experiences with a focus on web accessibility, the open web platform, privacy, ethical tech, and open source.

My current focus areas

For the longest time I was running around chasing my own tail trying to keep up with everything and constantly suffering from the fear of missing out (FOMO). For me, this has not been a very successful way to try and manage my time and energy. It took me some time, critical thinking and being brutally honest with myself, but in the end I do believe that focused attention will be more effective than what I have doing for the past year.

For the coming year my primary focus will be on my work at Factorial. In support of this I am refining my overall focus to the following areas:

• HTML
• CSS
• JavaScript
• Web APIs

When learning, writing about, and expanding my knowledge of these areas my focus will be on web accessibility, performance, and the effective use of web components. Unless I am guest posting, all my writing will happen on this blog. On the open source side I will be focusing on completing my book on HTML, finishing the first version of the CSS library minimalist, and iteratively improving the Developer Toolchest.

The only other project I will be spening time on will be the Ctrl+C non-profit project I am starting with some friends. All the podcasts and the Mycelium Network community will now be co-managed by all of us under the Ctrl+C non-profit. I am excited to see how the next year (starting on 23 June 2024) will play out with this renewed focus.

What I am reading

Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less

Author: Leidy Klotz

Book excerpt from Subtract

We pile on “to-dos” but don’t consider “stop-doings.” We create incentives for good behavior, but don’t get rid of obstacles to it. We collect new-and-improved ideas, but don’t prune the outdated ones. Every day, across challenges big and small, we neglect a basic way to make things better: we don’t subtract. Leidy Klotz’s pioneering research shows us what is true whether we’re building Lego models, cities, grilled-cheese sandwiches, or strategic plans: Our minds tend to add before taking away, and this is holding us back.

Interested? Learn more about Subtract.

What I am learning

• Practical accessibility course by Sara Soueidan
• Web components
• German using Duolingo

My open source projects

• Qilin

  A starter template for open source projects.

• Developer Toolchest

  Collect all your tools. Tag, filter, find, and use.

• minimalist

  Minimal pure CSS framework for web projects.

• Fiori

  A collection of commonly used components as either HTML or Web Components

• IndieCaster

  A complete website toolkit for Indie podcasters.

I also make podcasts

• The Mechanical Ink podcast

  Conversations about open source, the open web, and those who want to make the web and the world, a better place.

• Mental Health in Tech

  Honest conversations about difficult topics.

• The Mycelium Network podcast

  A podcast with and for junior web developers. Share your story, share your dreams.

What now? Go read about the origin of the /now page movement, discover some other great pages on nownownow.com, and create your own.