Z-index: sandwich filler

Working with z-index can be a little counter-intuitive at times.

With my redesign I wanted to place a "polaroid" style photo of myself behind the "about" section but in front of the main content and header. If I hadn't used such large text and a coloured background perhaps I wouldn't even have noticed what was happening.

WCAG 2.0 and the visual design

Earlier today I found myself writing visual design requirements for a new website design that must have a very high standard of web accessibility. As it won't be me working on the visuals — and by that I mean the Photoshop / Fireworks stage — I felt the need to be very explicit and turned to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 to help.

HTML 5 and the Now

Like a lot of people with websites to build now, I admit to being a little disinterested in HTML 5. Maybe because it's the New Year there's been an extra flurry of activity — certainly true for Bruce Lawson — around this upcoming standard. Bruce's efforts with HTML 5 and WAI-ARIA are what finally inspired me to give it a go. Check out more HTML 5 links on my delicious account.

Looking forward

So here's the customary end-of-year blog post. I've titled it looking forward because I want to forget 2008. No need to go into details about my current job, especially now our managers have the appalling results of the employee survey in their hands.
Despite it all though I have been able to mostly keep their hands off [...]