Tag, you're it

15 June 2025

Web life

Adrian Roselli tagged me in his Tag, you're it post in March, and it's taken me until now to get to it!

Why did you start blogging in the first place?

I have no idea why I began blogging! It probably had something to do with having owned my own domain name since the late 90s but not having done anything particularly useful with it - and a blog must have seemed like a good idea at the time.

What platform are you using to manage your blog and why did you choose it?

I use Eleventy hosted on GitHub and published via Netlify. I wish I could take credit for the decision to use Eleventy (because I absolutely love it), but the credit goes to Andy Bell.

As a blind person, the design and translation of designs into code, are no longer things I'm able to do for myself. Fortunately, I've known some remarkable designers and developers who've helped me make this website real over the years. The first version was designed by Tom Waterhouse and built by Matt Lawson, two of my then colleagues at Nomensa; and the current version was designed and built by Andy - who also migrated it onto Eleventy for me.

Have you blogged on other platforms before?

WordPress. I'd already moved away from it by the time of the Atomic and WP Engine fracas thankfully.

How do you write your posts? For example, in a local editing tool, or in a panel/dashboard that’s part of your blog?

I write them in Markdown in a local text editor. I'm writing this post in Notepad on Windows 11, but for many years I used Notepad++ and EditPlus before that. I've never felt the need for anything more complicated than a text editor. I will let you into a secret though - I use Comic Sans when I'm writing. I know, I know, I can't see what I'm writing, and who the hell uses Comic Sans these days anyway? Well, me apparently. It's a habit that dates back to the 90s when I could see what I was writing and/or coding and I found it easy on the eye. Now, I suppose, it's just a little bit of me that I've carried over from the "before times".

When do you feel most inspired to write?

When I have an idea and the time to do something about it. These days that happens much less often than it used to. Looking back, I published 15 posts in the year I began blogging (2009), this post is the third one for 2025, and if 2024 was anything to go by, it could be the last for this year!

Do you publish immediately after writing, or do you let it simmer a bit as a draft?

I'm one of those people that writes and rewrites every sentence at least a dozen times, so by the time a post is written, I'm usually ready to publish it immediately. There have been exceptions, like the post about losing sight, which took a bit of courage to publish, or the polemic Nielsen needs to think again, but generally I'm a "publish and be damned" sort of a person it seems.

What are you generally interested in writing about?

I write posts for different reasons. The recipe book began as a way to share things I like to cook, but there aren't any criteria for what gets posted and what doesn't. The exception is the web standards food collection, which came about when I realised how many people in the standards space also have an interest in food and thought it'd be interesting to invite some of them to contribute a favourite recipe.

I write technology posts either when I'm curious about something and what to share what I find, or when I've answered a question for the umpteenth time and realise that posting the answer might help a lot more people who have the same question. The digital life posts are more about my personal take on things, or on topics that don't fit readily into the other categories.

Who are you writing for?

Me sometimes. Other people most of the time. If I can explain an accessibility concept or technique in a way someone understands and then uses, if someone makes and enjoys a recipe I've shared, or if someone identifies with an opinion I've offered, then I'm not sure it matters who I'm writing for.

What’s your favourite post on your blog?

I could choose so many different posts for so many different reasons, but if I have to choose one, it'd be Design like you give a damn! from 2011. It later became a talk at W3Conf in 2013, and a lightning talk at W3C TPAC in 2014.

Any future plans for your blog? Maybe a redesign, a move to another platform, or adding a new feature?

Nothing terribly exciting, no. I have the functionality in place to indicate when a post has been updated, but I have hinky feelings that it looks a bit wonky, so I really should get that sorted out before I merge the change.