Weeknotes 23:28
September 4, 2023
Week of August 27–September 2
Finishing up the initial development
I finished up QA (quality assurance) on my current project by fixing some outstanding issues that I had found the week before when I tested the site. On Tuesday, I tested with Lighthouse in Chrome and then manually tested it by tabbing through the pages. I added my :focus
styles at this stage of the project. I use code that I picked up from Stephanie Eckels to target :focus
using a keyboard but not with a mouse.
&:focus-visible {
outline: white dotted 2px;
outline-offset: 8px;
}
&:focus {
outline: white dotted 2px;
outline-offset: 8px;
}
&:focus:not(:focus-visible) {
outline:none;
}
I also ran my pages through the Deque axe DevTools® Firefox extension and caught some aria labeling errors that I needed to correct.
I caught some color contrast issues with a couple of the blocks that used white text on a light blue background (#6397D9). I changed it to another color blue (#2471D6) that was part of the brand color palette.
Learning about Scroll-driven animations in CSS
I took advantage of down time on Friday to focus on professional development. One of the items on my list to learn about was the scroll timeline, which is new to CSS and only available in Chrome and Edge. I read an article by Bramus on Friday, Scroll-driven Animations, that I would highly recommend. I also watched an accompanying video about what is new in web animations from Google I/O, which was filmed back in May.
It was a great introduction to the subject. Bramus did a thorough job of explaining the syntax and the concepts. I really appreciated the demos that he created to support the article. I came away feeling pretty confident that I could use this new tool once it has better browser support or may consider using it with the polyfill.
I had hoped to build some Codepens of my own to solidify my understanding but had to give attention to some client work before the long weekend. I plan to read some more articles next week and build some of my own demos.
Articles I read
- Can left-footed Foden provide Haaland with the same passing angles as De Bruyne? (The Athletic)
- The Death of Church and Pub (Carl Trueman)
- Eddie Rosario’s rise (and vision) important as Braves look to October (The Athletic) – I enjoyed playing with Rosario when I played with the Braves in MLB The Show 21.
- Sweetness of Speech
- The gripping sacrifice of Randy Arozarena: ‘He’s a tiger’ (ESPN)
- 43 (Chris Coyier) – I am enjoying more of these personal blog posts now that I don’t spend as much time on social media these days.
- The ideal viewport doesn’t exist (Andy Bell)
- Alex Cobb came within an out of a no-hitter, but the Giants got a win they needed (The Athletic) – I am rooting for Alex Cobb as he is a former Ray. I’m sorry to see that he fell one out shy of this milestone. Another former Ray, Matt Moore, also fell one out short of a no-hitter pitching for the Giants in 2016.
- After Acuña fan incident, MLBPA is reviewing safety measures: What policies are in place? (The Athletic)
- College basketball preseason Top 25: Kansas, Marquette, Duke lead 2023-24 rankings (The Athletic) – You know it will be another great college season when the Jayhawks are number one in a preseason poll.
- Animate elements on scroll with Scroll-driven animations (Bramus on Chrome Developers) – I read through this article and took a close look at the demos in this article on Friday. I have wanted to spend some time leveling up on new CSS scroll-driven animations and view transitions.
- A lot of stuff is just fine. (Chris Coyier) – Chris’ thoughts on Robin Rendle’s post, Why are websites embarrassing? I have not noticed a problem like Robin describes. Maybe I just don’t visit a lot of crappy websites.
- Why your favorite MLB player really cares about these stats and milestones (The Athletic) – This was an interesting read.
- We Don’t Celebrate the Tool (Tim Challies)
- A Subtle Attack Against Motherhood – I think this is also an issue in teaching. It is sad to see how our society devalues investing in the next generation.
- Personality Buckets (Chris Coyier) – Personality inventories can be helpful tools but they are not the end all, be all. My advice, take what is helpful and don’t get too caught up in it.
- “We’re All Just Temporarily Abled” (Jim Nielson) – Some really good thoughts on the fact that all of us will face challenges in our lives where accessibility is going to become more important to us.
- Fulham manager Marco Silva criticises VAR officials after offside call during Manchester City defeat (The Athletic)
- The (re)making of a 101 mph arm: How Cole Ragans became a flamethrower in the offseason (The Athletic)
- Vegas (Chris Coyier)
- At Detroit’s Hamtramck Stadium, volunteer crew revives Negro Leagues history (The Athletic) – This is a really cool story of some volunteers in Detroit. I hope they get an MLB game at the field in the future.
- Trusting God When Our Children Leave the Nest – This is very relevant to me as my youngest child starts her senior year of high school.
- The judgement of getting what we want
- No Fear of Old Age (Tim Challies)
- Write about what you learn. It pushes you to understand topics better. (Addy Osmani)
- ‘The Sandlot,’ 30 years later: Remembering the enduring magic of a baseball classic (The Athletic)
Books I am reading
- True to His Word
- Awe: Why It Matters for Everything We Think, Say, and Do (second reading) – Just as good if not better reading it the second time around.
- Making Sense of God
- Tampa Bay Rays: The First Quarter Century – I enjoyed reading through this book and reliving some memories from following the Rays over the last 15 years.
What I watched
- Ashoka (Disney+)
- Star Wars: Rebels (Disney+)
- Wedding Season (Netflix)
- Five Star Chef (Netflix)
- Swamp Kings (Netflix)
- Untold: Hall of Shame (Netflix) – Documentary about BALCO and steroids in sports in the 90s.
- Avengers: Infinity War (Disney+) – I decided to watch this after seeing a clip for the movie on Facebook.
- Bluey (Disney+)
What I played
MLB The Show 23 (Rays) – I went 4-3 this week. Two of the losses weren’t even close as the Blue Jays beat me 8-3 and 10-3. Three of my wins were shutouts and the other was a walk-off win in 11 innings.