Robin Rendle

Here’s a neat trick from Andy Bell where he uses CSS Custom Properties to check if a particular CSS feature is supported by using JavaScript.

Basically, he's using the ability CSS has to check for browser support on a particular property, setting a custom property that returns a value of either 0 or 1 (Boolean!) and then informing the JavaScript to execute based on that value.… Read article

Toggles. Switches. Whatever you want to call them, they've been with us for some time and have been a dominant a staple for many form interfaces. They're even baked right into many CSS frameworks, including Bootstrap and Foundation.

It's easy to think of them in binary terms: on and off. Off and on. Click to change the state and call it a day, right? I mean, it's just a checkbox with a styled visual representation.… Read article

Have you ever created a well-intentioned, thoughtful design system only to watch it grow into an ever-increasing and scary codebase? I've been working in sort of the opposite direction, inheriting the scary codebase and trying to create a thoughtful system from it.

Here's Alex Sanders on the topic, explaining how his team at The Guardian has tackled the task of creating design systems while combating complexity:

Systems that try to contain complexity over long periods of time by convention

We just made a note about this article by Jeremy Wagner in our newsletter but it’s so good that I think it’s worth linking to again as Jeremy writes about how our obsession with JavaScript can lead to accessibility and performance issues:

What we tend to forget is that the environment websites and web apps occupy is one and the same. Both are subject to the same environmental pressures that the large gradient of networks and devices impose. Those constraints

Jake Archibald looks at the websites of Formula One race teams and rates their performance, carefully examining their images and digging into the waterfall of assets for each site:

Trying to use a site while on poor connectivity is massively frustrating, so anything sites can do to make it less of a problem is a huge win.

In terms of the device, if you look outside the tech bubble, a lot of users can't or don't want to pay for

Brad Frost wrote about a recent experience with a website that used <input type="number"/>:

Last week I got a call from my bank regarding a wire transfer I had just scheduled. The customer support guy had me repeat everything back to him because there seemed to be a problem with the information. “Hmmmm, everything you said is right right except the last 3 digits of the account number.”

He had me resubmit the wire transfer form. When I exited

Refactoring is one of those words that evokes fear in the eyes of many folks, from developers to product owners and everyone in between. It may as well be a four-letter word in many ways. It's also something that we talk about quite a bit around here because, like books on the topic, where to start with one, and the impact of letting technical debt pile up.

Ben Rady has thoughts on refactoring as well, but in … Read article

Here’s a wonderful post by Eric Higgins all about refactoring and technical debt. He compares giant refactoring projects to being similar to Tetris:

Similar to running a business, Tetris gets harder the longer you play. Pieces move faster and it becomes harder to keep up.

Similar to running a business, you can never win Tetris. There is no true finish line. You only control how quickly you lose.

Similar to running a business, allowing too many gaps to build up