Category Archives: web

Using reactive streams on serverless with cyclejs, xstream and Azure Functions

Posted on October 22, 2016 by Steve

[ Update 2016-10-23 the code is now in the cyclejs community repo] During development of my latest SaaS product, Brian, I’ve settled on a couple of key architectural decisions. For the Frontend I’m using Reactive programming (RP) with streams and … Continue reading →

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AWS, Azure or Firebase for a SPA browser app? Nope, it’s Kinvey

Posted on May 27, 2016 by Steve

[Update 2016/06/07:  I eventually found Azure to be lacking, though this did lead me to explore the excellent Auth0 for authentication. To be honest all three offerings are currently pretty much a bunch of ‘beta bits’, an apt phrase coined … Continue reading →

Posted in serverless, Uncategorized, web, web apps | Leave a comment

“I don’t care about the OS, just give me my web Apps”

Posted on May 10, 2016 by Steve

So I tweeted in jest to Bruce Lawson today in a conversation about Progressive Web Apps in the aftermath of the excellent WebProgressions one-day conference. And then I realised, I actually meant it! My point is that as a user … Continue reading →

Posted in a11y, Apps, web, web apps | Tagged , | Leave a comment

More on portable npm scripts

Posted on March 17, 2016 by Steve

Following on from my earlier post on the topic of writing portable npm scripts, here’s a few more useful tips. [UPDATE 2016/03/31: Bash for Windows was announced at Microsoft Build 2016. This exciting feature will allow running of Linux npm … Continue reading →

Posted in development, web, Windows | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Progressive Enhancement – the web’s strength

Posted on June 5, 2015 by Steve

The web is a big beautiful mess and we love it. We’ve has come a long way from the web’s origins as hyperlinked text for scientist to share. We’ve collectively learned a lot about what makes the web so powerful … Continue reading →

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CKEditor Accessibility Checker for content authors

Posted on May 28, 2015 by Steve

Here’s a mini review after a quick play with a preview of the new CKEditor Accessibility Checker plugin for content creators. The plugin is provided by CKSource who lead the development of the open source CKEditor and provide additional commercial grade … Continue reading →

Posted in a11y, opensource, web | Tagged CMS, drupal | 2 Comments

I’m liking Microsoft again

Posted on May 4, 2015 by Steve

After watching the key notes and selected sessions from Microsoft #Build2015 over on Channel 9 I’m definitely liking Microsoft again. This new found affection is form largely from the perspective of a HTML developer and to some extent as an … Continue reading →

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Sending emails with PHP on cheap hosting

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Steve

Many cheap or free share hosting services block the PHP mail() function so it silently does nothing. For example, I just added a contact form to a small WordPress based web site for a friend but it didn’t work as … Continue reading →

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HTML apps and the 50 year software engineering legecy

Posted on August 22, 2013 by Steve

I no longer call myself a ‘software engineer‘ but I do consider it to be a vital part of my career background. To my mind, engineering provides the rigour and discipline aspects of being a developer, the other parts being … Continue reading →

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Developing programs designed for AT users

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Steve

It can be a challenging enough to develop programs (and apps) that provide a first class user experience for users of Assistive Technology (AT) such as screen readers. There are plenty of examples of programs ‘out there’ with varying degrees … Continue reading →

Posted in a11y, opena11y, opensource, web | Leave a comment