Josh Tumath
@joshtumath.uk
Dev in the BBC Design System team. CSSWG member. Here for CSS nerdery, design systems and Intrinsic Web Design. Also Christian and 日本語学習者. he/him
If I seemed a bit quiet the last month, it's because I lost my grandma. We had the funeral on Wednesday.
I don't have a dad and it was both my mum and grandparents who I lived with and who raised me, growing up.
How I'd love to be that little boy again giving her a hug.
I don't have a dad and it was both my mum and grandparents who I lived with and who raised me, growing up.
How I'd love to be that little boy again giving her a hug.
October 13, 2025 at 5:33 PM
If I seemed a bit quiet the last month, it's because I lost my grandma. We had the funeral on Wednesday.
I don't have a dad and it was both my mum and grandparents who I lived with and who raised me, growing up.
How I'd love to be that little boy again giving her a hug.
I don't have a dad and it was both my mum and grandparents who I lived with and who raised me, growing up.
How I'd love to be that little boy again giving her a hug.
I got to speak at our internal BBC conference, today, about what I've been involved with in the CSSWG: the new meta tag for websites to opt-in to respecting the text size accessibility settings in iOS and Android.
September 4, 2025 at 2:24 PM
I got to speak at our internal BBC conference, today, about what I've been involved with in the CSSWG: the new meta tag for websites to opt-in to respecting the text size accessibility settings in iOS and Android.
That's the end of #FrontEndNorth. Thanks to everyone in the team for putting on a fantastic event! We really appreciate you!! @frontendnorth.bsky.social
But anyway, our after party is at the national video game museum so smell you later!
But anyway, our after party is at the national video game museum so smell you later!
July 10, 2025 at 4:21 PM
That's the end of #FrontEndNorth. Thanks to everyone in the team for putting on a fantastic event! We really appreciate you!! @frontendnorth.bsky.social
But anyway, our after party is at the national video game museum so smell you later!
But anyway, our after party is at the national video game museum so smell you later!
So we didn't succeed in rebuilding FF9. But we got somewhere. And there were lots of learnings along the way. Thank you Joe! #FrontEndNorth
July 10, 2025 at 4:17 PM
So we didn't succeed in rebuilding FF9. But we got somewhere. And there were lots of learnings along the way. Thank you Joe! #FrontEndNorth
Hahaha and the character has just walked into our conference theatre. Look at that! #FrontEndNorth
July 10, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Hahaha and the character has just walked into our conference theatre. Look at that! #FrontEndNorth
Joe has requested that the CSSWG make a way to animate the reveal of text like a typewriter. 👀 #FrontEndNorth
July 10, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Joe has requested that the CSSWG make a way to animate the reveal of text like a typewriter. 👀 #FrontEndNorth
Oh my gosh and they've used CSS z-index to make the character go behind different parts of the image, so it's moving the 3D html canvas's z-index. 😆 #FrontEndNorth
July 10, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Oh my gosh and they've used CSS z-index to make the character go behind different parts of the image, so it's moving the 3D html canvas's z-index. 😆 #FrontEndNorth
Most of the game was not actually in 3D. It was 2D images layered over each other with a walkarea showing where the 3D character can go. #FrontEndNorth
July 10, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Most of the game was not actually in 3D. It was 2D images layered over each other with a walkarea showing where the 3D character can go. #FrontEndNorth
Making the character stats UI was more tricky. Joe used a sprite sheet to make some of the text. And used three.js library to do the 3D environment in a html canvas. #FrontEndNorth
July 10, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Making the character stats UI was more tricky. Joe used a sprite sheet to make some of the text. And used three.js library to do the 3D environment in a html canvas. #FrontEndNorth
The game uses a pointing hand to point to the focused item, so we can use a pseudo element to create that. #FrontEndNorth
July 10, 2025 at 4:01 PM
The game uses a pointing hand to point to the focused item, so we can use a pseudo element to create that. #FrontEndNorth
So let's remake the command menu. We can use an ordered list of buttons. But we're trying to make a pixelated looking UI so we need to set the image rendering to pixelated. We can even use image borders to make the border! But it's a nasty API. #FrontEndNorth
July 10, 2025 at 4:00 PM
So let's remake the command menu. We can use an ordered list of buttons. But we're trying to make a pixelated looking UI so we need to set the image rendering to pixelated. We can even use image borders to make the border! But it's a nasty API. #FrontEndNorth
The PS1 had only 2MB of RAM and a 33MHz CPU. The game has a world map, an overworld and battles. Let's remake the battles! They have lots of GUI bits we can remake. #FrontEndNorth
July 10, 2025 at 3:57 PM
The PS1 had only 2MB of RAM and a 33MHz CPU. The game has a world map, an overworld and battles. Let's remake the battles! They have lots of GUI bits we can remake. #FrontEndNorth
Now if you want to rebuild FF9, use a game engine, work with high res assets and use C#. Joe hasn't done any of that! They've made it completely from scratch and in JavaScript and CSS! Painfully! #FrontEndNorth
July 10, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Now if you want to rebuild FF9, use a game engine, work with high res assets and use C#. Joe hasn't done any of that! They've made it completely from scratch and in JavaScript and CSS! Painfully! #FrontEndNorth
So @joehart.bsky.social is going to talk about Final Fantasy IX. It's the 25th anniversary of the game and it did things that were way ahead of its time. #FrontEndNorth
July 10, 2025 at 3:51 PM
So @joehart.bsky.social is going to talk about Final Fantasy IX. It's the 25th anniversary of the game and it did things that were way ahead of its time. #FrontEndNorth
He's got lots of projects. Like the katamari games but you start as a node_modules folder and have to pick up npm modules to get larger and larger. 😆 #FrontEndNorth
July 10, 2025 at 3:48 PM
He's got lots of projects. Like the katamari games but you start as a node_modules folder and have to pick up npm modules to get larger and larger. 😆 #FrontEndNorth
Finally we end on @joehart.bsky.social who is part time developer, part time comedian. (And used to work at the BBC.)
And the start of the talk was slightly delayed because he was taking a photo of us and somehow incorporating it into the talk. #FrontEndNorth
And the start of the talk was slightly delayed because he was taking a photo of us and somehow incorporating it into the talk. #FrontEndNorth
July 10, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Finally we end on @joehart.bsky.social who is part time developer, part time comedian. (And used to work at the BBC.)
And the start of the talk was slightly delayed because he was taking a photo of us and somehow incorporating it into the talk. #FrontEndNorth
And the start of the talk was slightly delayed because he was taking a photo of us and somehow incorporating it into the talk. #FrontEndNorth
For some reason, people seem to resist actually talking to users. We need to include users and find out about all of the ways that we make them stumble. If it's not user centred, it's not accessible. #FrontEndNorth
July 10, 2025 at 3:42 PM
For some reason, people seem to resist actually talking to users. We need to include users and find out about all of the ways that we make them stumble. If it's not user centred, it's not accessible. #FrontEndNorth
Compliance and accessibility are not the same thing. Accessibility is a user need.
People in our orgs need to be made aware of accessibility. We can't just focus on the compliance aspect of accessibility just because that's where the risk is. #FrontEndNorth
People in our orgs need to be made aware of accessibility. We can't just focus on the compliance aspect of accessibility just because that's where the risk is. #FrontEndNorth
July 10, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Compliance and accessibility are not the same thing. Accessibility is a user need.
People in our orgs need to be made aware of accessibility. We can't just focus on the compliance aspect of accessibility just because that's where the risk is. #FrontEndNorth
People in our orgs need to be made aware of accessibility. We can't just focus on the compliance aspect of accessibility just because that's where the risk is. #FrontEndNorth
WCAG doesn't care about performance or colour scheme preference. But it's clearly still important to care about these things to meet user needs. #FrontEndNorth
July 10, 2025 at 3:36 PM
WCAG doesn't care about performance or colour scheme preference. But it's clearly still important to care about these things to meet user needs. #FrontEndNorth
Likewise, a button should not be obscured by something. At least part of it must be visible and clickable for it to pass. But that means even if the button only has 1px of it visible, that's a pass. But clearly that's terrible. #FrontEndNorth
July 10, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Likewise, a button should not be obscured by something. At least part of it must be visible and clickable for it to pass. But that means even if the button only has 1px of it visible, that's a pass. But clearly that's terrible. #FrontEndNorth
WCAG guidelines are great to help you be accessible, but it's not an end goal. People tend to miss the criteria for neurodivergent people. #FrontEndNorth
July 10, 2025 at 3:27 PM
WCAG guidelines are great to help you be accessible, but it's not an end goal. People tend to miss the criteria for neurodivergent people. #FrontEndNorth
On the GOV.UK design system, the date input field seemed bullet proof. But someone entered September for the month instead of the number 9. And if you try to let users do that by changing it to a text field, voice recognition software tries to write the word nine. #FrontEndNorth
July 10, 2025 at 3:25 PM
On the GOV.UK design system, the date input field seemed bullet proof. But someone entered September for the month instead of the number 9. And if you try to let users do that by changing it to a text field, voice recognition software tries to write the word nine. #FrontEndNorth
Here's an example. The Vancouver Square ramp is too steep for wheelchair users and has no handrails. Rather than fixing it, the local government put up signs. Great. #FrontEndNorth
July 10, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Here's an example. The Vancouver Square ramp is too steep for wheelchair users and has no handrails. Rather than fixing it, the local government put up signs. Great. #FrontEndNorth
Next is @craigabbott.co.uk talking about making user centred experiences to make them accessible.
The medical model of disability says oh a blind person can't go to the cinema because they can't see. The social model says they can't enjoy the cinema because they don't have AD. #FrontEndNorth
The medical model of disability says oh a blind person can't go to the cinema because they can't see. The social model says they can't enjoy the cinema because they don't have AD. #FrontEndNorth
July 10, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Next is @craigabbott.co.uk talking about making user centred experiences to make them accessible.
The medical model of disability says oh a blind person can't go to the cinema because they can't see. The social model says they can't enjoy the cinema because they don't have AD. #FrontEndNorth
The medical model of disability says oh a blind person can't go to the cinema because they can't see. The social model says they can't enjoy the cinema because they don't have AD. #FrontEndNorth
People assume that a name will always be structured in a certain way. But they're not. They may have spaces or punctuation or only be two characters long. They might not have a surname at all!
And when we exclude someone like this, we say 'This is not for you.' We're erasing people. #FrontEndNorth
And when we exclude someone like this, we say 'This is not for you.' We're erasing people. #FrontEndNorth
July 10, 2025 at 2:40 PM
People assume that a name will always be structured in a certain way. But they're not. They may have spaces or punctuation or only be two characters long. They might not have a surname at all!
And when we exclude someone like this, we say 'This is not for you.' We're erasing people. #FrontEndNorth
And when we exclude someone like this, we say 'This is not for you.' We're erasing people. #FrontEndNorth