the 200ok weblog

WDDS25, the Big Stonking Post™

2025-11-23T23:45:00.012+11:00

Web Directions Dev Summit 2025 was held on November 19th and 20th, at the Dr Chau Chak Wing building at UTS in Sydney.

WDCS24 and WDN24, the Big Stonking Post™

2024-12-04T00:17:00.010+11:00

Web Directions Code Summit and Web Directions Next were held at UTS in 2024. Code Summit was in the Guthrie Theatre, and Next in the amazing Frank Gehry designed Dr Chau Chak Wing facility - aka the ‘paper bag building’ to both fans and detractors.

WDL23 & WDS23, the Big Stonking Post™

2023-11-05T18:24:00.001+11:00

Web Directions Leaders & Web Directions Summit 2023 were hybrid events, held in person at the ICC Sydney and online streamed on Conffab.

The KonCodie Method

2023-07-23T17:04:00.002+10:00

For a while on Twitter I ran a parody account based on Marie Kondo changing careers and becoming an engineer - applying the KonCodie Method.

Given the state of Twitter, I took the account down. But people who knew about it asked if I could repost it for posterity... so here it is! I guess it sparked joy ;)

Clickable DIVs and other icebergs

2022-12-18T00:03:00.002+11:00

The web industry is unlikely to ever stop building custom UI components, which is fine. But the web industry also seems unlikely to stop replicating the same accessibility errors while doing so… which is not.

WDS22, The Big Stonking Post™

2022-12-04T22:49:00.001+11:00

Web Directions Summit 22 was a milestone, with the return of an in-person audience at the ICC in Sydney alongside the now-familiar streaming audience.

Python for JavaScript developers

2021-10-04T23:14:00.003+11:00

In the last year I’ve been working regularly with Python, porting a UI library to Dash and supporting people making apps with it. This is the blog post I wish I'd been able to find when I started learning Python.

Code 21, The Big Stonking Post™

2021-09-26T23:57:00.003+10:00

Web Directions Code 2021 was held online over two days, September 17 and 24 2021.

Hover 21, The Big Stonking Post™

2021-05-01T23:09:00.004+10:00

Hover was the first Web Directions event devoted entirely to CSS. Along with the familiar faces of John and Rosemary, Hover was emceed by Hui Jin Chen. Hover was run online over two days, in three timezones.

Code Remote 20, The Big Stonking Post™

2020-09-28T22:11:00.002+10:00

For obvious reasons, Web Directions Code 2020 adapted to become code://remote – a completely online experience, held over four fridays.

Notes from ReactConfAU 2020

2020-03-01T17:51:00.000+11:00

The first ever ReactConfAU was held in Doltone House on Sydney’s Jones Bay Wharf.

Notes from A11y Camp 2019

2019-11-17T17:27:00.000+11:00

A11y Camp 2019 was held at the ICC in Darling Harbour, Sydney.

WDS19, The Big Stonking Post™

2019-11-03T22:48:00.001+11:00

Web Directions Summit 2019 was held at the ICC in Darling Harbour, Sydney.

Accessibility is part of the job

2019-10-20T23:18:00.001+11:00

Whenever a major accessibility case makes headlines, the reactions are predictable. Business cries foul and keyboard warriors spout silly fallacies. The recent Dominos case in America is no different - it feels like we haven't really progressed since the Target case in 2006.

Code19, The Big Stonking Post™

2019-06-23T23:10:00.001+10:00

Web Directions Code 2019 was held on June 20 & 21 at the Arts Centre Melbourne.

Code tests without the code

2019-04-18T20:06:00.001+10:00

For years coding tests have been an accepted part of technical recruiting. They seem so obvious - we need them to write code, so we'll make them write some code.

I've done a few take-home coding tests as an applicant, created several and evaluated more than I can remember. They suck for everyone involved, but happily there is a better way.

Design19, The Big Stonking Post™

2019-04-15T18:41:00.001+10:00

Web Directions Design 2018 was held April 11 & 12 at Arts Centre Melbourne.

Designer & Developer Collaboration survey results

2019-02-17T18:44:00.000+11:00

In the lead up to speaking at Web Directions Summit 2018, I ran a small survey for designers and developers. I wanted to know what people felt was important to know about each other; and how people preferred to work together.

Notes from Code ❤ Design

2018-12-01T16:33:00.000+11:00

A mini-conf bringing together designers, design system lovers and front-end developers.

WDS18, The Big Stonking Post™

2018-11-04T22:14:00.001+11:00

Web Directions Summit 2018 was held in the rebuilt convention centre, a new space in a familiar location.

Design18, The Big Stonking Post™

2018-04-19T00:18:00.000+10:00

Web Directions Design 2018 was held April 12 & 13 at Arts Centre Melbourne.

Getting the most out of conferences

2017-11-14T16:56:00.002+11:00

I’ve gone to a lot of web events over the years. Every once in a while I’m asked questions about attending them, often from someone going to their first conference.

WDS17, The Big Stonking Post™

2017-11-12T18:21:00.000+11:00

Web Directions Summit 2017 was held at the Australian Technology Park in Eveleigh.