zeldman

Ava’s dad. OG blogger/web designer. Automattician. Author, “Designing With Web Standards” and “Taking Your Talent to the Web.” Publisher, A LIST APART and A BOOK APART. Emeritus: Happy Cog™, An Event Apart, School of Visual Arts MFA IXD faculty, and The Web Standards Project.

A List Apart: https://alistapart.com/
zeldman.com: https://zeldman.com/
Wikipedia bio: https://en.wikipedia.org
Gravatar: https://zeldman.link

Public Key

npub1zpydpzt5gvxqr0dg2zj4kal6r87z69n2ecmrwm9v7vt576nlt0zqskje3a

NIP-05 Address

zeldman_at_front-end.social@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqspqjxs396yxrqphk59pf2mwlapnlpdze4vud3hdjk0x960dfl4h3qprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0d4hhxarj9ecxjmntqmps3x

Publishing to

relay.momostr.pink

Author Public Key

npub1zpydpzt5gvxqr0dg2zj4kal6r87z69n2ecmrwm9v7vt576nlt0zqskje3a

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Last Notes

2026-04-20 15:48:54 UTC

Maybe I’m special. Or unlucky. But things that supposedly work intuitively for most users tend to fail spectacularly for me.
https://zeldman.com/2026/04/20/my-ux-superpower-nothing-works/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

2026-04-10 12:45:04 UTC

“Long term, we expect that a separate cache layer for AI traffic will be the best way forward. Imagine a cache architecture that routes human and AI traffic to distinct tiers deployed at different layers of the network.” – Cloudflare
https://blog.cloudflare.com/rethinking-cache-ai-humans/ #architecture #StateOfTheWeb #caching #AI #Cloudflare

2026-03-29 17:05:08 UTC

Rushing to the hospital Emergency Room has emerged as perhaps the paramount objective of slamming one’s own dick in a doorway.
https://cdn.masto.host/frontendsocial/media_attachments/files/116/313/548/806/650/607/original/28e0f4762e192ee3.webp

2026-03-19 12:45:06 UTC

Fontra is an open-source, browser-based, cross-platform, variable-first font editor, developed by Black[Foundry] and Just van Rossum with support from Google.
https://fontra.xyz/ #OpenSource #FontEditors #VariableFonts #VariableFirst
https://cdn.masto.host/frontendsocial/media_attachments/files/116/255/903/221/515/380/original/c7615e6bc6a33e2c.png

2026-02-09 17:16:01 UTC

Ring is rolling back many of the reforms it’s made in the last few years by easing police access to footage from millions of homes in the United States. This is a grave threat to civil liberties in the United States.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/07/amazon-ring-cashes-techno-authoritarianism-and-mass-surveillance #BigBrother #surveillance #SurveillanceState #Bezos #Amazon #dystopia #PoliceState

2026-01-13 13:57:07 UTC

“Our aim is to democratize typography and type design, making them more accessible to the general public.”
Open-source font collective dedicated to researching typography and typeface creation.
https://velvetyne.fr/

2025-12-13 16:35:48 UTC

Once more for the folks in the back: accessibility is a human right. Your web standards godfather shares thoughts on a small atrocity.
https://zeldman.com/2025/12/13/accessibility-is-a-human-right-cruelty-a-human-wrong/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

2025-12-09 13:45:03 UTC

Hoping Tarantino disses me next. I could use the boost.

2025-11-26 17:56:08 UTC

The early web revealed how many of us are creative.
The current one shows how many are morons.

2025-11-21 13:45:03 UTC

“One small thing designers and developers can do is to make accessibility and usability Job 1 on every project. And to take a broad view of what that means. It means taking people’s messy humanity into account and designing for extreme ends of the bell curve.”
#BlueBeanieDay is 30 November.
https://knowbility.org/blog/2022/why-we-celebrate-blue-beanie-day

2025-11-04 14:01:23 UTC

“If it was anybody else, we would arrest him tomorrow.”
https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/trump-arrest-classified-documents-probe-maralago-rcna241155

2025-10-24 12:45:23 UTC

The party of Lincoln cheers as masked vigilantes who can’t pass an open-book test aim guns at pregnant women, an alcoholic TV host murders unarmed fishermen while lecturing the US military on “manhood,” and the GOP keeps the government shut down to keep the content of the Epstein files a delightful secret.

2025-10-05 19:14:01 UTC

Congrats to The Guardian on hiring Doctorow to explain enshittification to the non-tech masses.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/oct/05/way-past-its-prime-how-did-amazon-get-so-rubbish #enshittification #CoryDoctorow #software

2025-09-13 14:41:23 UTC

See whose work tech companies are using to train their generative-AI models. Search for authors, YouTube channels and creators, or screenwriters.
Here are nine books I worked on that were used to train LLMs:
https://www.theatlantic.com/category/ai-watchdog/?q=Jeffrey+Zeldman

2025-09-11 17:01:27 UTC

Imagine a web page that loads instantly, deploys effortlessly, and never needs a security update. 
https://joeldare.com/why-im-writing-pure-html-and-css-in-2025 #webstandards #html #css

2025-09-11 16:16:01 UTC

“AI isn’t magic; it’s a pyramid scheme of human labor,” said Adio Dinika, a researcher at the Distributed AI Research Institute based in Bremen, Germany.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/sep/11/google-gemini-ai-training-humans

2025-09-01 13:30:16 UTC

“Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.” Abraham Lincoln
https://cdn.masto.host/frontendsocial/media_attachments/files/115/129/280/974/495/609/original/79cab259a6f05703.jpeg

2025-08-14 11:38:56 UTC

Internet Explorer 3, released one day and 29 years ago, was the first browser to (however partially and imperfectly) support the then-new language of CSS.   
Who else remembers the CSS showcase Microsoft published that year? For me, it changed everything.

2025-07-19 16:03:12 UTC

Listen up, designers. Travel the globe across 5,000 years of history via 490,000+ high-res works of art — all of them free for you to use, courtesy of the NY Met.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection #highres #art #downloads #free

2025-07-15 16:16:22 UTC

I’ve heard of this new thing called “planning.” I wonder if it will catch on in the corporate world. We live in an age of miracles.

2025-07-13 19:14:16 UTC

“Today, we optimise for ‘DX’ – developer experience. Not user experience. Not performance. Not outcomes. 🧵 1/3

2025-07-10 17:53:45 UTC

Study: When experienced open-source developers used current AI tools, work took 19% longer to complete. In spite of which, the developers *thought* they were working *faster.*
It’s just one study, and they don’t claim anything beyond what they observed. Their results are not predictive. Still....
(There must be a name for the psychological trick we play on ourselves to believe we’re being more productive even when we’re considerably less so.)
Hat tip: Dave Martin
https://metr.org/blog/2025-07-10-early-2025-ai-experienced-os-dev-study/

2025-07-07 16:16:20 UTC

Welcome to CSS JOY (lol)! #webrings #frontend #css
https://cs.sjoy.lol/
https://cdn.masto.host/frontendsocial/media_attachments/files/114/812/844/622/527/794/original/e5a01d72651d7702.png

2025-06-11 14:06:03 UTC

“What the Apple paper shows, most fundamentally, regardless of how you define AGI, is that LLMs are no substitute for good well-specified conventional algorithms.”
https://garymarcus.substack.com/p/a-knockout-blow-for-llms

2025-05-20 13:08:41 UTC

If you do it without probable cause, a warrant, and due process, it isn’t an arrest, it’s a kidnapping.
https://cdn.masto.host/frontendsocial/media_attachments/files/114/540/315/833/174/263/original/9021b3e47d054eef.jpeg

2025-05-05 11:48:39 UTC

Everything old is new.  
@npub1yyn…x8va, Friday, July 2, 1937: Hitler honors USA tech co IBM president Thomas J. Watson for helping the Reich hunt down “undesirables.”
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1937/07/02/94396156.html?pageNumber=8
https://cdn.masto.host/frontendsocial/media_attachments/files/114/455/066/542/963/166/original/6e334dc0989da994.png

2025-04-22 12:49:46 UTC

The easiest, fastest, most readily attainable path to clean, uncluttered, authoritative, branded design is through typography.
https://cdn.masto.host/frontendsocial/media_attachments/files/114/381/696/777/089/367/original/2b05ece86efca6bb.png

2025-04-19 16:16:09 UTC

“Associating with the Donald Trump administration’s multibillionaire adviser Elon Musk and misusing artificial intelligence are among the most surefire ways for companies to damage their brands, a new survey of more than 100 international public affairs leaders found.”
Cutting DEI programs ranks third (after Musk and AI) in destroying your brand, survey says.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/19/trump-musk-ai-brand-reputation-survey

2025-04-03 15:20:07 UTC

For those entering the US concerned about border guards looking through your phone—yes, they do this; a friend was deported yesterday in handcuffs—don't forget you can hide apps on iOS:
https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/lock-or-hide-or-an-app-iph00f208d05/ios
Hat tip: Zach S. (Full name withheld to protect his identity.)

2025-04-02 10:17:12 UTC

The first website my colleagues and I created was for “Batman Forever” (1995, d. Joel Schumacher), starring Val Kilmer. That website changed my life and career.
I never saw Top Gun, but Val Kilmer made a brilliant Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s “The Doors.” (And I’d seen Morrison perform live.)
Rest in peace.
https://cdn.masto.host/frontendsocial/media_attachments/files/114/267/850/697/013/919/original/2b1cd32aa2a3f94b.webp
https://cdn.masto.host/frontendsocial/media_attachments/files/114/267/850/698/910/516/original/98c5e8d9d43f5d53.jpeg

2025-03-13 09:58:02 UTC

You don’t need to be Jewish to apply.
$10,000 interest-free loan for folks who need to relocate because of anti-LGBTQ+ laws, policies, and climate in their current state of residence.
https://www.keshetonline.org/movetothrive/

2025-03-05 19:35:11 UTC

“Our goal was to blend this rich visual language with WordPress’s character, creating something uniquely ours, yet deeply connected to Japan’s spirit.”
Designing State of the Word in Tokyo
  https://automattic.design/2025/03/05/designing-state-of-the-word-tokyo-heritage-meets-innovation/

2025-02-22 15:16:04 UTC

“If democracy is at stake, standard tactics—and the kind of consultant advice that might have worked for Clinton in the 90s—have a real drawback: they communicate that, after all, things are still pretty normal. Citizens take cues from elites. If elites act normally, why should everyone else be that concerned?” — Jan-Werner Müller (1/3)

2025-02-22 15:16:04 UTC

- reply

“It’s important to remember Martin Luther King’s distinction between hope and optimism: the former is based on some paths in principle being open; the latter is an estimate of probabilities. You can hold on to hope, even as your thoughts turn pessimistic.” — Jan-Werner Müller (2/3)

2025-02-22 15:16:04 UTC

- reply

“It is dispiriting that some prominent figures and organizations – Bezos being an obvious example – sent a signal of capitulation before Trump 2.0 even started. But others are not capitulating and instead connecting with others.” — Jan-Werner Müller (3/3)
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/feb/21/lessons-for-the-resistance-20-on-how-to-fight-back-against-trump
https://cdn.masto.host/frontendsocial/media_attachments/files/114/048/195/748/358/780/original/1d84931bbb4e94b4.jpeg

2025-02-20 12:11:56 UTC

After all these years of not caring about pro sports, I finally have my first football hero.
https://www.alternet.org/nfl-player-arrested/

2025-01-25 14:39:49 UTC

ProPublica’s Claim File Helper: Find out why your health insurer denied your claim.
ProPublica’s Claim File Helper lets you customize a letter requesting the notes and documents your insurer used when deciding to deny you coverage. Get your claim file before submitting an appeal.
https://projects.propublica.org/claimfile/ #USHealthCare

2025-01-24 12:38:14 UTC

Erasure is the goal. Cruelty is a bonus. This is the America Americans chose, whether they knew what they were actually voting for or not. Still no word on eggs.
https://theintercept.com/2025/01/23/marco-rubio-state-department-passports-gender-trans-nonbinary/

2025-01-22 17:06:06 UTC

Occasionally, CNN remembers that it is a news organization:
“This pardon — and specifically the blanket nature of the pardon — sends the message that so long as your candidate wins, partisan violence against law enforcement in the seat of our nation’s government is acceptable and can be an effective tool to accomplishing political ends.”
https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/21/politics/what-to-know-pardons-january-6-trump/

2025-01-13 13:38:04 UTC

Mastodon CEO transfers ownership to new nonprofit, ensuring platform stays free of individual control.
https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/13/24342603/mastodon-non-profit-ownership-ceo-eugen-rochko #SocialMedia

2024-12-20 12:34:53 UTC

“What we have now requires no JavaScript, no dependencies, no libraries — just pure CSS. And if that’s not exciting enough, these animations run off the main thread, delivering smooth, high-performance, GPU-accelerated experiences.”
An Introduction To CSS Scroll-Driven Animations: Scroll And View Progress Timelines
https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2024/12/introduction-css-scroll-driven-animations/ #css #webdesign

2024-12-16 14:12:11 UTC

A Book Apart authors list by Alan Dalton is a wonderful indie resource keeping hope alive. Hat tip: @npub1vxz…gc5c
https://alandalton.github.io/Authors-Apart/ #webdesign #canon #books #authors #ABookApart

2024-12-01 23:05:27 UTC

No, thanks!
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/dec/01/with-brain-preservation-nobody-has-to-die-meet-the-neuroscientist-who-believes-life-could-be-eternal

2024-11-30 05:01:55 UTC

Saturday, 30 November 2024, marks the 17th annual Blue Beanie Day celebration. Join us! Hashtag #BlueBeanieDay.
https://zeldman.com/2024/11/30/how-to-join-blue-beanie-day-wear-and-share/

2024-11-27 14:44:46 UTC

US companies brace for severe supply chain turmoil, warn consumers that steep price hikes are inevitable.
MF isn't even in office yet, and already the idiotic plan his incurious fatuity insists upon is undermining families, farmers, food workers, and the economy.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/nov/27/trump-tariffs-policies-prices #tarrif #stupidity #inflation

2024-11-20 16:41:47 UTC

Am I the only MacOS user who keeps being asked to accept the new Terms and Conditions, and—having done so—is asked once again to accept the new Terms and Conditions, and then, after accepting them a second time, being asked etc etc ad infinitum?

2024-11-16 16:11:53 UTC

EU AI Act: Everything you need to know
https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/16/eu-ai-act-everything-you-need-to-know/ #AI #ethics #law #EU #TechRegulation

2024-10-20 10:59:32 UTC

Congratulations to @npub1rgd…nce7 on the 2024 edition of “Just Enough Research,” and congratulations to *you*, because this is a great book, and you can buy it now.
“Just Enough Research,” in its previous editions, was one of the most widely read texts A Book Apart ever published. Spend a few minutes in its enjoyably readable pages, and you’ll understand why.
Our publishing house is no more, but this brilliant book lives on.
https://www.muledesign.com/blog/you-need-more-enough

2024-10-10 15:04:13 UTC

Institute for Strategic Dialogue: Lies on X are largely responsible for the rise in threats against state and federal officials in North Carolina.
How does X’s owner, who gleefully engineers this chaos, continue to scarf up US government contracts?
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/08/us/north-carolina-floods-antisemitic-social-media.html?unlocked_article_code=1.RE4.jBcz.rKcrd1VZyuFq&smid=url-share #lies

2024-09-29 13:51:35 UTC

“The human component of the web won’t change. People will need answers that they can trust. …Something new will fill the gap and give people what they need and want. And my guess is that the open web, personal reputation, and word of mouth will be key components of that thing.” – Craig Hockenberry
https://furbo.org/2024/08/26/slop-is-good/ #openweb #enshittification #ai

2024-09-18 11:27:15 UTC

“Like watching Norman Bates talk to his mother.”
https://cdn.masto.host/frontendsocial/media_attachments/files/113/158/312/241/077/642/original/a7b521e2952bd03c.png

2024-08-28 12:23:25 UTC

Our addiction to complicated toolchains and overbuilt frameworks is out of control.
https://alistapart.com/article/cult-of-the-complex/

2024-08-10 13:41:22 UTC

★ Designers, writers, editors, artists: explore millions of images from the Smithsonian’s collections, all released into public domain as Creative Commons Zero (CC0). Use, transform, and share without asking permission, even on commercial projects.
https://www.si.edu/openaccess