ARIA: A Powerful Tool for Web Accessibility, and Its Pitfalls

2025-06-17
ARIA: A Powerful Tool for Web Accessibility, and Its Pitfalls

This article delves into the role of ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) in web accessibility, exposing common misconceptions. ARIA isn't a silver bullet; it supplements native HTML elements, providing additional information for assistive technologies like screen readers to enhance interactivity, purpose, and state understanding. The article covers ARIA's history, usage rules, its grammatical structure (roles, states, and properties), and challenges in real-world application, such as varying assistive technology support and ARIA attribute misuse. The author advocates prioritizing semantic HTML, using ARIA judiciously, and emphasizes manual testing to ensure correctness and effectiveness. Ultimately, the article connects ARIA usage with care for disabled people, urging developers to prioritize accessibility and build a more inclusive web.

Read more

CSS Shapes Arrive in Firefox 62: Flowing Text Around Any Shape

2025-03-17
CSS Shapes Arrive in Firefox 62: Flowing Text Around Any Shape

Firefox 62 now officially supports CSS Shapes, enabling text and other content to flow around non-rectangular shapes. This article explores how to create shapes using images, gradients, and basic shapes, simplifying the process with the new tools in Firefox DevTools. Learn to use image alpha channels, gradient transparency, and predefined shapes (circle, ellipse, polygon) to control text flow, adjust spacing with `shape-margin`, and leverage `shape-image-threshold` for semi-transparent images. The article also demonstrates combining shapes with `clip-path` for advanced effects.

Read more
Development

Svelte 5: A Conversation with Rich Harris on the Future of Frameworks

2025-01-28
Svelte 5: A Conversation with Rich Harris on the Future of Frameworks

Smashing Magazine interviewed Rich Harris, the creator of Svelte, revealing major updates and future directions for Svelte 5. A ground-up rewrite, Svelte 5 introduces clearer state management. Harris emphasizes that Svelte's goal isn't solely market share, but building high-quality, resilient, and accessible applications, and improving overall software quality by addressing widespread flaws. Future efforts will focus on the surrounding ecosystem, including SvelteKit, aiming to become a Rails or Laravel for JavaScript, simplifying full-stack development.

Read more
Development Web Frameworks