🧢 Stefan's Web Weekly #16
Tags: webdev
Published: 2021-04-26 08:25:56

---
title: 🧢 Stefan's Web Weekly #16
published: true
description: Programming language design, a new CSS property to style checkboxes and inclusive language.
tags: webdev
canonical_url: https://www.stefanjudis.com/blog/web-weekly-16/
series: Web Weekly
---

## Welcome to Web Weekly 16!

Hello friends! I just came back from a 40km bike ride to visit a friend who lives at Müggelsee, Berlin. It's such a lovely area! There are places in Berlin that feel like vacation, and that's one of them. 

It was a perfect Sunday. I hope you had a great weekend yourself!

This week's Web Weekly includes...

- challenges of programming language design
- tips to make your language more inclusive
- a CSS property to style checkboxes and radio buttons

... and, as always, GitHub repositories, a new Tiny Helper and some music.

Ready? Steady. Go!

## Should there be another HTTP method?

![Enter HTTP search – A proposed new HTTP method that's intended to solve this problem.](https://images.ctfassets.net/f20lfrunubsq/75TYreF8k51uqGI2VWjL8j/e02de03bca5cd217c30043e4d098d98e/Screenshot_2021-04-15_at_21.07.14.png)

Living in a RESTful world, I regularly use the HTTP methods `GET`, `POST`, `PUT` and `DELETE`. There are more methods (`OPTIONS` anyone?), but should there be a new one – `SEARCH`? Tim Perry goes into HTTP details and explains the `SEARCH` method proposal.

👉 <a class="btn btn__small" href="https://httptoolkit.tech/blog/http-search-method/">Learn about SEARCH</a>

## "Hidden" JavaScript console methods in Chrome/Firefox

![Chrome JavaScript console showing the usage of monitorEvents](https://images.ctfassets.net/f20lfrunubsq/4AIxvE4nq9YTszTKPcBZ9t/d35ed7173caa4b03c61ddf4bdef2826b/Screenshot_2021-04-18_at_20.16.12.png)

Last week [I learned about the `monitorEvents` method](https://twitter.com/stefanjudis/status/1382936339126050816?s=20). It's available in Chrome's DevTool JavaScript console and offers a handy way to get information on an element's triggered JavaScript events. This discovery encouraged me to look at what's available in Chrome's and Firefox' JavaScript console.

👉 <a class="btn btn__small" href="https://developer.chrome.com/docs/devtools/console/utilities/">Chrome's console methods</a> <a class="btn btn__small" href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Tools/Web_Console/Helpers">Firefox' console methods</a>

## How an accidental imagemagick discovery led to speakerdeck.com

![Speaker Deck started as a happy accident. I mucked up a command line call to imagemagick and passed in the path to a PDF instead of an image. To my surprise, an image was returned. ](https://images.ctfassets.net/f20lfrunubsq/4q59DjQJXIwfRH1UqLBZwV/78e67d557f6386a044cf11d22a094ece/Screenshot_2021-04-25_at_21.55.55.png)

John Nunemaker shared his story of building and selling speakerdeck.com to GitHub to later buy it back and then sell it again. 🤯 It's a fascinating read on building products with many learnings and advice.

👉 <a class="btn btn__small" href="https://www.johnnunemaker.com/speakerdeck/">Read John' story</a>

## The challenge of designing a programming language

![Incomplete list of mistakes in the design of CSS](https://images.ctfassets.net/f20lfrunubsq/1xqqejX9yAPO2WxoKO4Q28/3a32610d2ba2cb358ce45d9fe9b3b5b3/Screenshot_2021-04-25_at_21.27.04.png)

Designing a programming language is hard! And it's particularly tough when the language is used on the web because then things are there to stay. Browsers and devices browsing the web are not following any versioning. If you ever thought "hmm, that's odd" when writing CSS, you will enjoy this list of "official" CSS design mistakes.

👉 <a class="btn btn__small" href="https://wiki.csswg.org/ideas/mistakes">Learn about CSS design mistakes</a>

## The language we use matters

![Language is ever-changing, so eliminating ableism from your vocabulary will be an ongoing process rather than a static victory. You may stumble, but checking in with disabled people is an effective way to find your footing and continuing to build a more inclusive vocabulary.](https://images.ctfassets.net/f20lfrunubsq/52c0HW6yjoz6WEd4jYFO4x/9b249396d46be5cc29f84037c6edcedb/Screenshot_2021-04-21_at_07.38.55.png)

The way we speak and the words we use do not only directly impact others but also how we think. The BBC published an eye-opening article on ableist language and its effects.

👉 <a class="btn btn__small" href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210330-the-harmful-ableist-language-you-unknowingly-use">Discover ableist language</a>

## Nerdy emoji details

![I thought it might be fun sharing a few nitty-gritty details of how this “biggest innovation in human communication since the invention of the letter 🅰️” works under the hood.](https://images.ctfassets.net/f20lfrunubsq/3HNkrWJOmpSFtj1xROQPJK/e195cde2ae14b2d2d267408c99126107/Screenshot_2021-04-25_at_22.11.14.png)

There's nothing better than a well-written article about Unicode. Nikita Prokopov explains nitty-gritty emoji details. Highly recommended!

👉 <a class="btn btn__small" href="https://tonsky.me/blog/emoji/">Learn how emojis work</a>

## A newsletter about accessibility

![Add punctuation to you your alt text](https://images.ctfassets.net/f20lfrunubsq/3x6zstoKGvoKVxKaY5dS6g/3dde56dc9e4e5f097803e652151a0f53/Screenshot_2021-04-25_at_23.06.40.png)

I found about Chris Ashton's accessibility newsletter "frequent11y" and subscribed right away. I learned quite a lot from his last edition.

👉 <a class="btn btn__small" href="https://ashton.codes/week11y-issue-72/">Read the last weekly edition</a>

## Colorful checkboxes/radios are on their way

![A purple radio and checkbox input](https://images.ctfassets.net/f20lfrunubsq/7kpGXJXcZUwHyy3fSi4pm6/b330063a062f70e02d9e2ebe4c226bea/Screenshot_2021-04-22_at_20.27.09.png)

"On brand" form controls are important to many people. While I think it's not a big deal when checkboxes are not matching the website style guide, I implemented many custom controls for precisely that reason. Luckily, there's a new CSS property (`accent-color`) on the horizon. It defines the highlight color of radios and checkboxes. 🎉

👉 <a class="btn btn__small" href="https://www.stefanjudis.com/snippets/how-to-style-and-define-the-color-of-radio-and-checkbox-inputs/">Learn more about accent-color</a>

## The beauty of evergreen resources

![Timeless Web Dev Articles](https://images.ctfassets.net/f20lfrunubsq/4nCtYY9hm82sHY6SdHaL14/b2529aec524e1674d7a384fe74036d4a/Screenshot_2021-04-25_at_21.09.21.png)

Many web development articles become irrelevant quickly, but occasionally there are some evergreen gems. It's a valuable habit to bookmark these articles ([find my favorites online](https://www.stefanjudis.com/resources/)). I came across Chris Coyier's list of timeless articles, and it's worth a look (and bookmark).

👉 <a class="btn btn__small" href="https://css-tricks.com/timeless-web-dev-articles/">Discover timeless articles</a>

## The difficulties of finding the right job

![That's where our story starts. This post will include lessons I learned as a job seeker. As well as patterns I hope companies will address.](https://images.ctfassets.net/f20lfrunubsq/7vzubkV4orOH2PWYS4tpVs/a4dca62c1349a1d6456c2b1ed8495c40/Screenshot_2021-04-25_at_22.05.41.png)

Finding a job that fits is difficult. Interviews are stressful and not always fair. Laurie Barth describes her experience of looking for her next opportunity (she ended up at Netflix). Her article includes valuable insights for interviewees but also hiring managers like myself.

👉 <a class="btn btn__small" href="https://laurieontech.com/posts/job-search/">Read Laurie's lessons learned</a>

## Reader shout out 💙

![Three avatars with the word Thank you below](https://images.ctfassets.net/f20lfrunubsq/GZngAFhDWAhvZAyn0VGEF/f49c2008c63f0a9d167571641b40ec2a/Screenshot_2021-04-25_at_22.34.23.png)

Chris Ashton, Wojtek Jeremy Połowniak and @antodev89 not only shared my newsletter on social media, but they also agreed to be quoted on my site. Thank you so much, friends!

## A new Tiny Helper

![Cumulative Layout Shift Debugger](https://images.ctfassets.net/f20lfrunubsq/2v7BEAmXCtMM8EYX5SkQIQ/370fe4c6790a8232800ef1fae5d6823f/Screenshot_2021-04-25_at_22.37.15.png)

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) is one of Google Web Vitals metrics. The CLS debugger visualizes a website's layout shifts to make debugging easier.

👉 <a class="btn btn__small" href="https://webvitals.dev/cls?ref=tiny-helpers">Debug CLS</a>

*Find more single-purpose online tools on [tiny-helpers.dev](https://tiny-helpers.dev/)*

## Three useful projects to have a look at 

- [argyleink/transition.css](https://github.com/argyleink/transition.css) – Drop-in CSS transitions.
- [git-tips/tips](https://github.com/git-tips/tips) – Most commonly used git tips and tricks.
- [RH12503/triangula](https://github.com/RH12503/triangula) – Generate high-quality triangulated art from images.

## A quote to think about

This week's quote comes from Mattias Ott. [He shared his thoughts on personal websites](https://matthiasott.com/notes/no-wrong-notes). There's no right or wrong, good or bad... your website belongs to you, and you can do whatever you want with it.

> A personal website ain't got no wrong words.

## A song that makes you stop coding

![Marbert Rocel - Catch a bird cover](https://images.ctfassets.net/f20lfrunubsq/2nXecFa4NzScmXy1QClBAj/3e11e319c0f591c1f182da74ac1582f6/Screenshot_2021-04-25_at_22.45.52.png)

This week's song is another festival memory. 🙈

Years ago, I was at the German Fusion festival. It was a bright and sunny morning. The dance floors were still full, and people tried to decide if they should continue dancing or instead get some rest after a magical sleepless night. 

Marbert Rocel entered the stage, and their funky and fun beats became my soundtrack of this festival. So good!

👉 <a class="btn btn__small" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2PJ3Oi_VmM">Listen to "Mr. Beat"</a>

## Thank you for reading!

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**Stay safe, and I'll talk to you next week!** 🎉 👋

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