Ports and protocols were the name of the game, with swathes of the web switching to HTTPS connections. HTTP2 also started to gain adoption, and in doing so turned all we had learned about performance optimisation on its head. 24 ways saw increasing exploration of animation on the web, as well as renewed interest in accessibility, style guides and progressive enhancement.
Drew McLellan brings our 2015 calendar to a motivational close with some encouragement for the year ahead. Year’s end is a time for reflection and finding new purpose and enthusiasm for what we do. By tackling the thorniest design and development problems, we can make the greatest impact – and have the most fun. Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!
Andy Clarke encourages us to have confidence in the way we communicate with potential clients. Being open and genuine, and providing an insight into what working with you will be like can help prospective clients choose you over your competitors. So before you refresh your glass, refresh your website’s copy!
Remy Sharp picks that old chestnut – tabs – and roasts it afresh on the open fire of JavaScript to see how a fully navigable, accessible and clickable set of tabs can work. Everybody knows some scripting and some CSS can help to make your website bright. Although it’s been said many times, many ways, please be careful to do it right.
Heather Burns outlines the most important international legal issues whose effects will ripple through our work on the web in 2016 and beyond. Like the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come, these trade agreements have approached slowly, gravely, silently. Perhaps now’s the time to take action.
Rebecca Cottrell sharpens her trusty HB pencil and sketches out the steps to making a comic, before inking and colouring the whole deal with a few Photoshop tips for anyone unwilling to part with a screen over the festive season. Put that eggnog down and get drawing!
Jonathan Snook considers the problem of container (or element) queries in the context of responsive web design and looks at the approach taken by current open source JavaScript solutions. Remember, no matter what size of box your Christmas gift comes in, it’s the thought that counts.
Sally Jenkinson sets out her recipe for helpful documentation, suggesting you serve up structured, easily digestible and nutritious information for your readers. With a dusting of screencasts and GIFs, it’s a recipe for success at Christmas and beyond.
Eric Eggert celebrates the simplicity of making websites accessible and, when accessibility is as fundamental to a project as performance and code quality, how it can improve the experience for all users. The web, like a gleeful cheer of “Merry Christmas” at yuletide, is for everyone.
Paul Robert Lloyd runs his finger along the seam between interface patterns and design systems, exploring how a visual design language can underpin and inform a web style guide, with judicious use of CSS preprocessing. Like a good Christmas jumper, sometimes you need to get creative with the rules.
Rachel Andrew unwraps the new paradigms of web layout, comparing their features and showing how they can free us from grid-based, div-infested frameworks. Beautifully wrapped boxes look lovely under the Christmas tree, but we need to think and break out of them.
Meagan Fisher casts a thoughtful glance back over her work this year and considers what it means to design a product rather than a marketing experience. Pour yourself a cup of eggnog, grab a mince pie or two and gather around the fireside. Are you sitting comfortably? Good, then we shall begin.
Mark Mitchell casts coarse salt upon the pale icy sheen of recent web design aesthetics to sound a warning that we may be on thin ice. The tension between low contrast tastes and high contrast needs is a story as old as the <font> tag, and yet it bears frequent retelling. For snow has fallen snow on snow.
Ros Horner rings out a Christmas message for designers far and near of peace and goodwill to all, especially if they’re developers. With a rallying cry to take back control to see your own designs realised, young or old, merry or sober, the story is clear; as you design, so should you build.
Guy Podjarny sounds a sober warning during our festivities, and gathers some winter fuel to help secure your apps and users from the web’s occasionally cruel frost. So mark his footsteps good, my friend, and tread thou in them boldly. Thou shalt find the hacker’s rage freeze thy site less coldly.
Ethan Marcotte dashes through the wintry landscape, his sled of flexboxed content drawn faithfully by a team of well-ordered hierarchical HTML huskies. For when it comes to structure and presentation, we must take care not to put the sleigh before the hounds.
Val Head squeezes more animation into responsive design’s Christmas stocking with some strategies for getting the most out of animation at any screen size. Set your robin a-rockin’, no matter what size the dance floor.
Lara Hogan ignites a little cognac over your web performance pudding by considering ways you can keep stakeholders invested in a site’s metrics and KPIs. More than just the budget, it’s the thought you put in that counts.
Emma Jane Westby cracks open the door on Santa’s workshop to investigate what lessons can be learned about git rebase from the elves (or subordinate clauses if you will). Take what you can from their workflow, but don’t feed them too many mince pies; it’s bad for their ’elf.
Ruth John breaks out of the browser and projects a Christmas sound and light show with some JavaScript, the Web MIDI API and a portable A/V pack. Don’t make a spectacle of yourself at the party this year – take it outside!
Jack Franklin darns the holes left in our applications by exploring how our client-side JavaScript frameworks might also be run on the server to provide universal support for all types of user. How will you react when you see mommy kissing Server Claus?
Richard Rutter adapts an extract from his forthcoming book on web typography and encourages us to be brave with type choices. By allowing type to express a website’s intentions from even before the moment a visitor starts to read, we can help set the tone and our users’ expectations.
Joe Leech offers a rundown on his UX review process, sharing tips about analysing data and creating personas, and setting out findings in a form that benefits clients. From quick wins to workshops, there are gifts here everyone will be grateful for.
Elizabeth Galle extends goodwill to all customers this Christmas (and beyond) with some insights into establishing and maintaining good relationships through effective customer support.
Donovan Hutchinson stamps his snow-caked boots, unwinds his scarf and eases [See what we did there? Did you?] us into December with some tips and resources on integrating animation into our website style guides. A warm animated welcome to 24 ways 2015!
