Jens Oliver Meiert
Articles and books on the craft of web development, with a focus on HTML and CSS minimization and optimization.
Latest Book Release: The Little Book of Little Books
A compilation and update of the previous O’Reilly titles The Little Book of HTML/CSS Frameworks, The Little Book of HTML/CSS Coding Guidelines, and The Little Book of Website Quality Control (2015/2016)—and a different look at the craft.
0 of the Global Top 100 Websites Use Valid HTML (in 2022)
When you looked at the top websites in 2021, you learned that 98% of them included invalid HTML. When you do the same for the Top 100 globally, this year, would things have improved? Updated data, with a look at our field’s inability to produce valid HTML output.
An Attempt at Outlining the Many Factors Influencing Developer Experience
When looking at DX naively, it can seem that it depends on only one factor—DX = ƒ(x). But Developer Experience depends on many factors, and needs to be approached holistically. A quick attempt at sketching just what factors, each of which can tip the scale.
11 Tips to Read More and Read Faster (After Reading 791 Books in 9 Years)
Are you content with your reading? Here’s a collection of tried and tested ideas to help you read more—from switching to ebooks to reading everywhere to establishing routines to embracing short books to varying your reading speed.
One-Dimensional Website Optimization Considered Harmful
There are many website optimization vectors—SEO, performance, accessibility, &c.—, but optimizing on only one dimension may not only be expensive, but also counter-productive. On optimizing optimizations.
Website Optimization Measures, Part XIV
About link relationships, Twitterbot, dark mode, tags, addresses, social markup, color-scheme, and—FLoC.
Minimal Social Markup
Every website and app these days relies on so-called “social markup,” metadata for a richer and prettier display in social media and messaging tools. On the absolute minimum you may need.
Thoughts on an Accessibility “Get Well” Plan
Have you wondered how to anchor accessibility in an engineering team, one that isn’t yet producing accessible sites or apps? Some options to start with, for further refinement and discussion.
The Machine-Illustrated Life of a Frontend Developer
You may know DALL·E, what you can do with it, what others do with it, and… be intrigued by it, too. And you may wonder, how would AI depict frontend developers?
HTML Concepts: Focusable Areas
When you hear “focusable area,” what comes to your mind? Anchors and form elements that receive focus when being “tabbed through,” i.e., that are highlighted and that can be interacted with? That’s not a bad description!—but also not a complete one.
“The One with the Biggest Hammer Wins”
On a game we could stop playing.
Write HTML, the HTML Way (Not the XHTML Way)
You may not use XHTML (anymore), but when you write HTML, you may be more influenced by XHTML than you think. You are very likely writing HTML, the XHTML way.
2 Approaches to Accessibility on the Web
One can distinguish two approaches to accessibility on the Web: to produce accessible websites and apps (active accessibility), and to produce accessible-making software (passive accessibility). On how largely using one approach would stand in the way of a greater vision for web accessibility.
The CSS Art Paradox
The fanciest CSS, standing on the shoulders of bloated HTML.
3 Books for Working with Reality
With or without The Complete Conversations with God, The Nature of Personal Reality, and Loving What Is?
4 Books to Become a Greater Person
We may be quite fine as we are, but—we can probably still cultivate our character, our values, our conduct. Summoning Character, Advice to Young Men and Young Women, Profiles in Courage, and The Continuum Concept for inspiration.
3 Books to Become a Better Developer
When a frontend developer chooses A Philosophy of Software Design, The Pragmatic Programmer, and Clean Code.
4 Books to Become More Efficient and Effective
The start of a four-post mini-series about some of my favorite books, here featuring The One Thing, Getting More, Getting Things Done, and The Intelligent Investor.
HTML Concepts: Commands and Facets
On what you think they are, and something that what you think they are has.
What Makes You a Professional Web Developer
On a starting point that involves committing to high standards (including validating, and exercising control over oneself), acting ethically, practicing, learning, taking care of oneself, and taking care of others.
Website Optimization Measures, Part XIII
Lessons from running multiple websites, this time covering SVGs, HTML optimization, auto-completion, semantics tricks, code styling, favicon markup, and social images. Happy Saturday.
25 Web Development Terms You’ve Never Heard Of
__qems, cyclomatic complexity, homogenous migrations, NUIs, OOPIFs, and everything the web and software developer needs.
On the Difficulty of Counting the Number of HTML Elements
How many HTML elements are there? What looks like a fairly simple question, isn’t one, because there isn’t one number of HTML elements.
Reduce the Pressure on Young and Inexperienced Developers
Lower the expectations on young and inexperienced developers, and raise the expectations on their mentoring and coaching: on running gags, unrealistic expectations, and healthier hiring.
2021
Professional and personal highlights and data.
HTML Concepts: Form Owners
Today in “HTML Concepts”: form owners. It’s not what you are when you put a form on a page. What are form owners? In essence, form elements that so-called form-associated elements are tied to.
About Me
I’m Jens, and I’m an engineering lead—currently manager for Developer Experience at LivePerson—and author.
In web development, I specialize in HTML and CSS, contribute to technical standards, and write books (like The Little Book of HTML/CSS Frameworks, On Web Development, CSS Optimization Basics, the Upgrade Your HTML series, and The Web Development Glossary).
I love trying things: In philosophy, I’m interested in metaphysics (even in How to Work on Oneself). When it comes to art, I play with photography. And for adventure, I enjoy exploring places (Journey of J.) and activities (100 Things I Learned as an Everyday Adventurer).