Heydon Pickering is a web-focused technical writer and designer specializing in inclusive language, accessible interfaces, design systems, and frontend documentation, with global speaking experience and award recognition.
73 articles from this blog
Explains the correct usage of the 'super' keyword in JavaScript custom elements, clarifying common misconceptions about constructor calls and inheritance.
A technical guide on dynamically loading and defining custom web elements using JavaScript, focusing on naming conventions and modular architecture.
Explores web accessibility principles through the lens of rickrolling, arguing that parity of experience is more important than descriptive labels.
A detailed look at Hel, a 3-axis variable font designed with deliberate, gritty distortion for creative and DIY web design.
A keynote speaker explores the emotional drivers of web accessibility adoption, arguing that professional pride and shame are key motivators for developers.
A web developer and writer explains their personal and ethical struggle with monetizing their blog, opting for non-intrusive ads over subscriptions.
An article exploring the HTML <col> element, its purpose, usage with <colgroup>, and its quirks in web development.
Explains the HTML <caption> element for labeling tables, contrasting it with closed captions and emphasizing accessibility best practices.
A meta exploration of using markdown to write about HTML markup, focusing on the <code> element and escaping special characters.
Explains the HTML5 <cite> element's proper use for citing work titles, contrasting it with HTML4 and academic citation styles.
An exploration of the HTML <canvas> element, its origins, technical implementation for 2D graphics, and accessibility considerations for rendering text.
Explores the ethics of LLM training data and proposes a technical method to poison AI crawlers using nofollow links.
A technical article explaining the HTML <br> element, its syntax, proper usage, and the challenges it presents in WYSIWYG editors.
Explores the historical misuse of the HTML <button> element, its critical role in web accessibility, and why developers often incorrectly use other elements instead.
A whimsical exploration of the HTML <body> element, its structure, and its relationship to the <head> element, using analogies to human anatomy.
Explores the HTML <blockquote> element, its semantic purpose, historical usage, and why it's unsuitable for pull quotes in web design.
A satirical and dramatic blog post explaining the HTML <bdo> element, which overrides text directionality.
Explains the HTML <bdi> element and its role in isolating bidirectional text from the browser's Unicode algorithm.
Explores the semantic evolution of the HTML <b> element from a presentational 'bold' tag to its current 'Bring Attention To' role, contrasting it with <strong>.
A humorous history of the HTML <audio> element, contrasting proprietary plugins like Flash with modern web standards.
