Five Links #63
1. Exploring grid-aware websites
A great write up from Nic Chan on the world of grid-aware websites: what they are, ways to approach it and some of the current practicalities/blockers.
2. I am an AI hater
Lots of quotable elements from this piece, but the closing paragraph is particularly :chefskiss: (emphasis my own):
I became a hater by doing precisely those things AI cannot do: reading and understanding human language; thinking and reasoning about ideas; considering the meaning of my words and their context; loving people, making art, living in my body with its flaws and feelings and life. AI cannot be a hater, because AI does not feel, or know, or care. Only humans can be haters. I celebrate my humanity.
3. americabydesign.fail
“An official embarrassment of the United States government.”
4. How Mel Sumner audits
Short and snappy piece on common issues with accessibility reports and how to do better:
My primary gripes are maybe probably everyone’s gripes.
- Duplicate issues
- Nonsense reports
- Inclusion of personal preferences over WCAG Success Criterion
- Non-reproducible issues
- Lack of internal access for all employees
5. Blake Watson on switching fonts
I wrote about typeface licenses last month, and Blake’s serendipitous post highlights another issue with how some foundries require web fonts to be served: performance and FOUT (flash of unsettled text).
My first thought was, “Well, I will just buy a license to host Ringside myself and serve it directly.” I figured it would be costly, but was shocked to find that there would be an annual fee of around $2,400. I am a believer in paying for fonts, especially when it’s supporting indie designers. But I’m not about to shell out $2,000+ per year to the largest type company in the world for a font on a personal website that gets about 1,000 page views a month.
Hard relate.
What am I up to?
- I’ve updated my portfolio with a couple of recent projects.
- Unoffice Hours continue on a fortnightly schedule. The next available slot is 17 September.
- I’m offering design consultations to give feedback on design work without the commitment of a larger project. Discounted rate available until the end of this month.
- I have some limited availability for new projects from November.
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Until next time,
Dave
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