JavaScript will kill you in the Apocalypse

JS Party: JavaScript, CSS, Web Development

Salma Alam-Naylor joins us this week to share her thesis that JavaScript is best in moderation, and is a liability when creating performant, resilient, and accessible web applications. Salma says we’re drunk on JavaScript, and it’s time we learn how to leverage this powerful web primitive to enhance our web experiences, alongside HTML and CSS, instead of purely relying on JavaScript to completely run the show.

Discuss on Changelog News

Changelog++ members save 4 minutes on this episode because they made the ads disappear. Join today!

Sponsors

• Retool – Retool is a low-code platform built specifically for developers that makes it fast and easy to build internal tools. Instead of building internal tools from scratch, the world’s best teams, from startups to Fortune 500s, are using Retool to power their internal apps. Learn more and try it for free at retool.com/changelog
• Sentry – Working code means happy customers. That’s exactly why teams choose Sentry. From error tracking to performance monitoring, Sentry helps teams see what actually matters, resolve problems quicker, and learn continuously about their applications - from the frontend to the backend. Use the code SHIPIT and get the team plan free for three months.
• Fastly – Compute@Edge free for 3 months — plus up to $100k a month in credit for an additional 6 months. Fastly’s Edge cloud network and modern approach to serverless computing allows you to deploy and run complex logic at the edge with unparalleled security and blazing fast computational speed. Head to fastly.com/podcast to take advantage of this limited time promotion!

Featuring

• Salma Alam-Naylor – Twitter, GitHub, Website
• Amal Hussein – Twitter, GitHub
• Kevin Ball – Twitter, GitHub, LinkedIn, Website

Notes and Links

• How to Prevent the Collapse of Society by Building an Accessible Web - slides to Salma’s talk
• man, javascript is just… pure
• Revenue Lost When a Retail Website is Inaccessible
• Axe Devtools - site & docs
• Axe Devtools Chromium Browser Extension
• Wave Evaluation Tool
• Wave Evaluation Tool Chromium Extension
• Lighthouse Devtools
• Colour Contrast Checker
• Google’s Core Web Vitals
• Google Core Web Vitals Used in Search Ranking 2021
• Aliexpress - one of the worlds most popular sites with less than great a11y
• AsyncJS Meetup
• AsyncJS Community Site
• Web AIM Survey 1 million page survey
• Salma’s Twitch Stream!

Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!