Bookmark: "The unreasonable effectiveness of simple HTML" by Terence Eden

2021-01-27

Bookmarked:

The unreasonable effectiveness of simple HTML – Terence Eden’s Blog shkspr.mobi

Terence Eden tells the story of a young woman who, forced by circumstances, has to use a public website using a tiny gaming device’s browser. And it works. Because designers did their job:

The PSP’s web browser is – charitably – pathetic. It is slow, frequently runs out of memory, and can only open 3 tabs at a time. […] But the GOV.UK pages are written in simple HTML. They are designed to be lightweight and will work even on rubbish browsers. They have to. This is for everyone.

Such a great story, and a reminder that accessibility is not about “disabled users” but about universal access for everybody:

Are you developing public services? Or a system that people might access when they’re in desperate need of help? Plain HTML works. A small bit of simple CSS will make look decent. JavaScript is probably unnecessary – but can be used to progressively enhance stuff.

I'm Sebastian, Sociologist and Interaction Designer. This journal is mostly about bringing together social science and design for inclusive, privacy-focused, and sustainable "human-first" digital strategies. I also tend to a "digital garden" with carefully curated resources.

My occasionally sent email newsletter has all of the above, and there is of course also an RSS feed or my Mastodon/Fediverse profile.

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