Dispatches From The Internets

The Cost of Javascript Frameworks

Excellent analysis by Tim here:

Good frameworks should provide a better starting point on the essentials (security, accessibility, performance) or have built-in constraints that make it harder to ship something that violates those.

That doesn’t appear to be happening with performance (nor with accessibility, apparently).

…

What is clear: right now, if you’re using a framework to build your site, you’re making a trade-off in terms of initial performance—even in the best of scenarios.

Some trade-off may be acceptable in the right situations, but it’s important that we make that exchange consciously.

Do yourself a favor and tuck into the numbers here. He presents a substantial amount of very useful information.

The Open Web: App Store of the Future

This is why I continue to be so excited about Progressive Web Apps:

[T]his will allow for full feature parity among devices and allow development teams to focus on one project as opposed to juggling multiple updates for all of the different platforms. In addition to this, the way updates happen are in real time as the web site is reloaded. No need to rely on users not updating their apps through the app store, this way all users are on the latest version to ensure the best possible experience.

I am also really encouraged by the way PWAs enable more folks to access “apps.” After all, the state of networks and devices is quite different beyond the bubble we live in. Look at India, China, huge swaths of Africa, Central and South America. Closer to home, I look at the rural United States and less affluent neighborhoods in large cities. The benefits of PWAs (and the web, more broadly) to these folks will be huge. For example, they won’t have to choose between keeping pics of their kids on their phone and being able to easily access their bank account.

CSS for internationalisation

This is a great resource for understanding how to use the power of CSS when working in multiple languages.

Lableism

I love this portmanteau!

Lableism: The act of intentionally removing web form labels and replacing them with placeholder text. Usually done in an effort to make form fields more aesthetically pleasing, while leaving blind and low vision users out in the cold.

Keeping your head, when designing during a crisis

This brief post offers some great advice for building resilient designs for any time, but which are especially relevant right now. In particular:

This isn’t the time to get precious about your favourite design and development tools. Use progressive enhancement as your philosophy. Your service might have to be accessed on old devices, in hospitals with outdated tech, or unsupported operating systems. HTML+CSS is your best bet to ensure that the service can be accessed in unlikely scenarios you haven’t even considered. Do you want to take that risk at a time like this? Me neither. Save the React squabbles for another time. Make it accessible and robust from day 1. Use the tools and components already at your disposal, and rely on the work others have done, to make them usable by everyone, to get you further more quickly.

Charles V. Bush agitated for equity in the officer corps

Charles Vernon Bush is perhaps best known for holding not one, but two “first” titles. In 1954, Charles became the first Black page of the Supreme Court of the United States. Nine years later, he became the first Black cadet to graduate from the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA). Charles didn’t stop there, however.

Two Black women received patents… in 1884 and 1885!

I have to admit that I was a little surprised when I learned that the first Black woman to receive a patent was granted it in 1884. To be clear, I wasn’t surprised because I didn’t think Black women were capable of inventing things—not at all. I was surprised because the process of obtaining a patent is pretty arduous on its own, even without factoring in the very overt racism I’m sure these inventors were dealing with at every step of the way.

Jerry Varnado and James Garrett started the first Black Student Union

In the aftermath of the Watts Riots of 1965, Jerry Varnado and James Garrett looked around and decided they needed to shake things up on the predominantly white campus of San Francisco State University. Together, they created the first Black Student Union and kicked off a campus movement that demanded schools of higher learning take the needs of their Black students seriously.