Laura Kalbag

½ of Small Technology Foundation. Designs, talks, and writes about web, rights-respecting tech, inclusivity, privacy, and dev. I wrote a book: Accessibility For Everyone: http://a4e.link she/her

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Last Notes

2026-06-11 08:54:42 GMT

Anyone here had a lumbar discectomy? I’m having the surgery in 6 days and I’m a bit nervous! Not so much about the surgery itself or general anaesthetic, but the stay in hospital and what the recovery will involve. I’d appreciate any insight or advice from people with experience!

2026-02-03 10:04:21 GMT

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@nprofile…xsrl do you mean split the chapters so each heading is across a different page or something else?

2026-01-27 13:16:16 GMT

My book, Accessibility For Everyone, is now free and online as a website.
https://accessibilityforeveryone.site
The book was first published by A Book Apart in 2017 but it holds up! It covers web accessibility for designers, developers, content folks, and really everyone who works in tech.

2026-01-22 15:04:31 GMT

Time for more @nprofile…e9cs kits. This time for colours. If you’ve been confused about whether you should be using design tokens or colour assets in Penpot (or what are tokens and assets!) I wrote this deep dive tutorial for you.
https://penpot.app/blog/penpot-deep-dive-color-tokens-vs-asset-colors/
And, as a bonus, I created two templates for creating reusable colour palettes in Penpot:
Using design tokens: https://penpot.app/penpothub/libraries-templates/color-palette-kit
Using colour assets: https://penpot.app/penpothub/libraries-templates/color-palette-kit-assets
https://cdn.masto.host/laurakalbag/media_attachments/files/115/939/361/080/453/414/original/3c91a01b16571e63.png

2026-01-14 10:49:12 GMT

Very satisfying moment when I realised the CSS grid sticky footer technique works perfectly in Penpot.
https://cdn.masto.host/laurakalbag/media_attachments/files/115/893/049/434/454/469/original/38b6ebcbe517681a.png

2026-01-12 16:13:32 GMT

This week I’m joining Ben Callahan for The Question, where we’ll be exploring the design system learning curve.
You can follow the link below to answer the questions for yourself, and join us on Thursday for the deep dive!
https://bencallahan.com/the-question

2025-12-12 13:26:27 GMT

🚨 Tokens in the sidebar and inspect panel 🥳 🚨
#Penpot

2025-12-10 14:04:06 GMT

Less than one hour to go! Join me live to learn more about improving your UI design skills and Penpot’s newest features:
https://peertube.kaleidos.net/w/isZKwryUWi8HwctgDXycRy

2025-12-03 14:21:25 GMT

New hands-on livestream next week!
I’m hoping this will also be valuable if you want to get to know some of the newest Penpot features! If there’s anything specific you find tricky or confusing in Penpot, let me know and I’ll try to cover it in the demo.
And of course, you can join me and ask questions live so I feel less like I’m talking to myself 😁

2025-12-02 11:31:35 GMT

So far some gorgeous and clever designs here. Can’t wait to see the full range, @nprofile…hjvj!

2025-11-28 18:14:10 GMT

There’s few folks as reliable, thoughtful, and no-nonsense as @nprofile…rjnj. I’ve known him a long time and I don’t endorse people lightly.
If you’re looking for a studio/agency to get your project going, I couldn’t recommend Set.Studio enough:
https://set.studio/

2025-11-25 12:16:42 GMT

For the hundredth time I’ve ended up with an unnecessary 1000 words on a complete tangent. And it came out so easily.

2025-11-19 10:52:02 GMT

The good people at @nprofile…s9pj have put my #axe-con presentation, Design for Everyone, live for all! (With captions and American Sign Language.)
This is one of my favourite talks. It covers accessible and rights-respecting design, sort of a culmination of many of my other talks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAL7ac40gAc

2025-10-31 17:58:12 GMT

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@nprofile…mdr0 (I would really love that catch up too)

2025-10-31 17:57:53 GMT

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@nprofile…mdr0 aw I’ve got to leave early tomorrow. I was in a workshop all day today. Next time! I need to come back to the west country more often!

2025-10-30 10:25:20 GMT

I’m at #Converge! Very excited to sit and learn from some fabulous talks today. Thank you to @nprofile…up6a, Ben Callahan, and @nprofile…s6nf for bringing me here to Bristol so last minute.
If you want to talk #Penpot, come find me before I manage to completely rub my name off my badge.
https://cdn.masto.host/laurakalbag/media_attachments/files/115/462/616/354/915/144/original/2fd3be574919a9f5.jpeg
https://cdn.masto.host/laurakalbag/media_attachments/files/115/462/617/289/053/020/original/851f31c06f59cb8e.jpeg

2025-10-28 10:22:09 GMT

If you missed Penpot Fest a few weeks ago, many of the talks are already live on @nprofile…s6nf’s Peertube https://peertube.kaleidos.net/w/p/ax41QLcz6tfSvCv7RSmfXp

2025-10-23 15:41:07 GMT

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@nprofile…2wxg @nprofile…s6nf it’s already available from the Playlist link on the course site: https://peertube.kaleidos.net/w/p/wbGB5eiMUVBdu8SARS4A93?playlistPosition=1
(New unit, new playlist!)

2025-10-23 12:36:41 GMT

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@nprofile…rt0u it isn’t my channel, but I’ll see what I can do.

2025-10-23 11:23:20 GMT

The next unit for the UI Design with @nprofile…s6nf course is now out!
It’s Text & Typography, and I’m sorry I’m a bit late in telling you…
https://penpot.app/courses
https://cdn.masto.host/laurakalbag/media_attachments/files/115/423/212/312/740/603/original/021704897c5302a3.mp4

2025-10-22 10:37:50 GMT

I should say I haven’t had any of these issues working with the Penpot team. I often notice the particular respect and empathy the Kaleidos folks have for each other. And I’ve been touched by times they’ve listened to me and taken actions to look out for me.

2025-10-22 09:27:18 GMT

A kind person just reminded me this video exists.
10 years ago I recorded a 4 minute video on why women leave the tech industry.
10 years later, I still stand by everything I said, and I’m so frustrated at how little the working environment has changed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar0vn2w2AhI

2025-10-16 08:56:46 GMT

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@nprofile…lqqn I’m not signed up for anything else using the email, it’s really strange.

2025-10-16 08:55:34 GMT

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@nprofile…078u 🤢 weirdly not! But it does feel like something like that!

2025-10-15 09:32:58 GMT

I’m weirdly getting a lot of unsolicited emails from real people to my Gmail account. It’s a custom domain, it’s not listed publicly anywhere.
Does Google make you discoverable in this way if a person knows your name? Feels off.
(It’s a work email, Gmail not my choice!)

2025-10-09 08:06:43 GMT

Penpot Fest is kicking off now! You can join in and watch live at https://penpot.app/penpotfest
#penpotFest #penpot #opensource

2025-09-02 10:55:25 GMT

Friends! Join me next month in Madrid for #PenpotFest.
I’ve got a fun new talk (and more!) planned. Looking forward to nerding out about @nprofile…90vj, design, and dev in-person…
https://penpot.app/penpotfest
https://cdn.masto.host/laurakalbag/media_attachments/files/115/133/929/675/325/483/original/dba0cb620fae1eef.jpg

2025-08-12 09:08:55 GMT

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@nprofile…8j5w thank you!

2025-08-12 09:08:49 GMT

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@nprofile…g4cv thanks! I’m in Ireland, so that’s handy regardless!

2025-08-12 09:08:12 GMT

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@nprofile…0nr6 thanks!

2025-08-12 09:08:06 GMT

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@nprofile…x3rv thank you!

2025-08-12 09:07:58 GMT

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@nprofile…fvjf fab, thanks!

2025-08-12 09:07:36 GMT

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@nprofile…lp0q thank you!

2025-08-12 09:07:30 GMT

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@nprofile…kd67 thanks!

2025-08-12 09:07:24 GMT

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@nprofile…zvdk thank you!

2025-08-11 15:57:11 GMT

UK pals: where do you buy decent quality men’s tshirts that have fun/retro designs? I’m looking for something unique and classy that I can get delivered as a gift inside the UK. And I’m attempting to avoid personalised junk and cursed AI-generated artwork!

2025-08-07 08:56:46 GMT

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@nprofile…kdf7 so much this.

2025-07-21 14:23:43 GMT

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@nprofile…6h3y I can’t wait to see how they make ART work. I really hope we don’t have to wait too long for it.
Such a good point about the display. I mostly missed the text because it was too fast (and I’m a speedy reader!)

2025-07-21 10:16:21 GMT

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@nprofile…5t03 I agree with @nprofile…eve2, they’re both great in different ways, so you’ll get something new from each. The shared aspects of the plot don’t spoil the joy of the rest.

2025-07-21 10:14:02 GMT

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@nprofile…rwk0 so here for not judging people on their trash entertainment tastes.

2025-07-21 10:13:27 GMT

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@nprofile…nfxw so true on Wayfarers!
MurderBot is also so well-observed on how well-meaning people overstep boundaries and make assumptions about others.
I love how modern the interactions and characters feel, but they’re still skewered for being a bit ridiculous sometimes.

2025-07-21 10:09:03 GMT

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@nprofile…6vnl truly! I wasn’t sure about how he’d work out, but he’s totally won me over.

2025-07-21 10:08:08 GMT

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@nprofile…6h3y I feel like it is mostly very true to the books, especially in tone and themes. The episodes are short, so there’s some elements lost but also some added elements that translate better to screen. I was unsure about the Murderbot casting initially, but I’ve been totally won over.

2025-07-21 10:05:11 GMT

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@nprofile…yhkx they are fantastic! I already liked Noma Dumezweni in other stuff, but her Mensa makes me love Mensa even more than I already did.

2025-07-21 10:03:14 GMT

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@nprofile…909z thank you! I’m so glad you’ve found it helpful so far.
I’ll see what we can do about something onboarding-related. Are you imagining onboarding for someone who is totally new to design tools?

2025-07-18 09:35:26 GMT

I’m still trying to work out and verbalise why I love MurderBot so much (the books and now the TV series.) But either way, I really recommend them. They’re something quite wholesome for these times.

2025-07-11 14:19:33 GMT

Sunny weekend vs Rimworld Odyssey release.

2025-07-02 08:54:13 GMT

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@nprofile…3a2z to some degree, but who says the website will get a smaller audience than a course platform.… We’ve also made some deliberate choices in formats that will hopefully help distribute content elsewhere. Though, when it’s free, you have different goals. No need for logins, taking payments. Your ideal audience is anyone who wants to learn, rather than anyone with money to spend!

2025-07-01 15:04:07 GMT

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@nprofile…3a2z we’re considering options that’ll help it reach a wider audience once we have all the content. But we wanted to work to our own format (not limited by another platform) and be able to provide the course completely free + open source.

2025-07-01 14:45:50 GMT

I’ve spent a long time pouring the contents of my brain into this course. I’m really grateful to @nprofile…90vj for making the course free, and for the brilliant, creative, and generous Penpot team who are bringing it to life.
https://fosstodon.org/@penpot/114778080440685295

2025-06-29 16:31:25 GMT

Yesterday we had to say goodbye to my best friend, my fluffy shadow, my sweet grumpy companion of 13 years. Osky will always be the bestest boy. I miss him so much.
Please give your dog friends extra tummy rubs and carrots from me.
https://cdn.masto.host/laurakalbag/media_attachments/files/114/767/585/770/622/766/original/8ad79fa4dccd311d.jpg
https://cdn.masto.host/laurakalbag/media_attachments/files/114/767/590/167/627/661/original/91aa0384e69c104e.jpg
https://cdn.masto.host/laurakalbag/media_attachments/files/114/767/594/958/080/009/original/142f9d3cacfcb924.jpg

2025-06-26 14:45:21 GMT

⏰ Live in 15 minutes!
https://peertube.kaleidos.net/w/k58AQVU4Gct9ZcfaDWQwCy

2025-06-23 13:16:36 GMT

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Here’s one from me… as a designer I once had to ask a developer to use the same font in production that I’d chosen for the design. Both fonts were sans-serif, but the developer could not tell the difference.
Fair enough, I thought, but I had provided the font name!

2025-06-23 12:56:16 GMT

Now let’s do this for Designers: what do you always wish developers knew or did when you’re working together?
Is there anything that really frustrates you? Something one developer did that made your work easier?
https://mastodon.laurakalbag.com/@laura/114420876155701258

2025-06-23 12:48:37 GMT

This Thursday! The chaos continues with me attempting a start-to-finish mockup using Penpot + design tokens. Join me live!
https://fosstodon.org/@penpot/114732670716291106

2025-05-30 08:50:46 GMT

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@nprofile…p353 yay, I wrote that so long ago… it’s great that it’s still helpful!

2025-05-26 16:27:20 GMT

Correcting my own captions. Reckoning with my ability to communicate.

2025-05-19 15:14:31 GMT

I created a design tokens starter kit for Penpot and it’s now downloadable from the Penpot Hub.
If you try it, please let me know any feedback or feature requests. I’ll keep updating it for future Penpot releases.
https://penpot.app/penpothub/libraries-templates/desig-tokens-starter-kit
https://cdn.masto.host/laurakalbag/media_attachments/files/114/535/143/574/536/966/original/c90f91267e054e2a.png

2025-05-12 16:32:39 GMT

Back in the UK. The sun is shining, travelling two stops on the train is as expensive as a pint.

2025-05-07 09:59:28 GMT

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@nprofile…t360 thank you so much for letting me know! I was deploying a temporary static version of my site and accidentally used the localhost version. All fixed now.

2025-05-06 10:49:35 GMT

Next week! Join me for a fabulous (free!) evening in London with the Penpot folks.
We’ll have a couple of insider talks and hopefully an insightful Q&A hosted by yours truly. Want to get nerdy about design, dev, and open source? Some spots still available…
https://fosstodon.org/@penpot/114455351399746430

2025-04-30 12:19:31 GMT

Just putting the finishing touches on my design tokens demo for this afternoon!
Even if you’ve never even heard of design tokens, I hope you’ll find this livestream a useful introduction ☺️
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Yh5vDV8vTg
#penpot

2025-04-29 11:59:54 GMT

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@nprofile…dvhv I love the cheap to expensive scale. It’s amazing how much used to be expensive on the web but is now cheap too!

2025-04-29 11:58:36 GMT

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@nprofile…elky incredible

2025-04-29 11:58:06 GMT

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@nprofile…en6n you mean the same element but tweaked differently for other pages?

2025-04-29 10:53:56 GMT

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Here’s one from me from years ago… as a dev I had to explain there were too many photo backgrounds in a landing page design. The images would either make the page load slowly or we’d have to compress them so the quality would not be the same as in the design.

2025-04-29 10:53:33 GMT

Developers: what do you always wish designers knew or did when you’re working together?
Is there anything that really frustrates you? Something one designer did that made your work easier?
I’m exploring some ideas for a talk, but as someone who does a bit of both design and frontend, I don’t have much insight into more separate roles…

2025-04-22 13:57:45 GMT

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@nprofile…43dg aw no, I would’ve loved to come see these talks!! Not sure on the travel plans yet, I’ll definitely be hanging around for a few days.

2025-04-22 12:57:01 GMT

London pals! Come hang out with me and cool Penpot folks in SE1 on the 13th of May.
We’ll be discussing all things design tokens and collaboration in a fab venue with lovely food and drinks.
And it’s free! Limited spots available:
https://app.hi.events/event/370/penpot-after-hours-london
(Non-Londoners also very welcome 😁)
#penpot #london #design #designTokens

2025-04-14 07:25:43 GMT

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@nprofile…6h3y my exact same feelings about the main character, but from the trailer I like what he’s doing so far. There’s a high hit-rate on Fruit+ with a lot of existing great series if you want to make the most of your subscription while you have it.

2025-04-10 08:55:40 GMT

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@nprofile…8ktc yeah, me too. He’s the only bit that doesn’t quite fit the visual I had in my head when reading the books. But he seems to have done a great job!

2025-04-10 08:54:25 GMT

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@nprofile…mf6a it feels so true to the books, it just shows how vivid Martha Wells’ writing is!

2025-04-09 15:28:17 GMT

Love these books so much, this looks like it got the budget it deserved!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEioDeOiqEs

2025-04-01 08:40:42 GMT

Ooh yes, I think I’ll be going on a little pre-birthday trip to hang out with some of the best people and talk about Penpot.
https://fosstodon.org/@penpot/114257176038394200

2025-03-25 10:06:06 GMT

Tomorrow! Join me, the 🤗 emoji, for a live session on Penpot + UI Kits.
I’ll show you a whole load of shortcuts for creating designs quickly, even if you don’t consider yourself a designer!
https://fosstodon.org/@penpot/114200079518134428

2025-03-20 12:32:04 GMT

Does anyone know how to disable Chrome’s devtools or change/remove the Inspect Element keyboard shortcut?
The keyboard shortcut is clashing with web app shortcuts (which I can’t edit.) I have to use Chrome for this task 🤢. And when I search for help, I just get loads of AI junk results 🙃

2025-03-19 09:45:21 GMT

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@nprofile…549n 😍 That’s a great idea! Osky used to hate wearing clothes but the dogsitter managed to get him into jackets and bandanas so I think he’s softening in his old age and it might just work for him too…

2025-03-18 10:11:55 GMT

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@nprofile…549n sending lots of love to Olaf! Cones really do add insult to injury.

2025-03-14 15:54:32 GMT

Working upstairs listening to Osky crashing about in his cone downstairs. Poor dog doesn’t have great spatial awareness at the best of times.

2025-03-11 13:17:22 GMT

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@nprofile…hklc fascinating. How did it end up that way?

2025-03-11 13:16:36 GMT

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@nprofile…egst hahahaha. That got me.

2025-03-10 11:28:17 GMT

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This is a rare post where I’m actually asking for thoughts and opinions! 😂

2025-03-10 11:28:02 GMT

If the house style is US English, but I’m speaking English with a British accent, should the captions and transcripts use US English or British English spelling?

2025-02-27 16:10:00 GMT

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@nprofile…z2fj thank you, I couldn’t find it 😂

2025-02-27 14:54:47 GMT

Going live in 5 minutes… bring your @nprofile…nfr6 Flex layout issues, keep me on my toes! #penpot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQnGUKmczYo

2025-02-26 16:43:08 GMT

This week’s livestreams 1/2 completed.
Tomorrow:
I’ll be demoing advanced Penpot Flex layouts. Please come at me with your tricky use cases, the Flex Doctor will be in session 🤓
https://peertube.kaleidos.net/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQnGUKmczYo

2025-02-26 13:25:46 GMT

In less than two hours, I’ll be opening the second day of the axe-con (free and online accessibility conference!) 2025 design track.
That means you still have time to register and even catch up on a couple of videos you missed from day one:
https://www.deque.com/axe-con/

2025-02-24 13:21:49 GMT

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@nprofile…6h3y no worries, no rush. We can come back to it another time. Just give me a shout. @nprofile…90vj

2025-02-19 13:19:30 GMT

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@nprofile…6h3y that’s such an interesting use case! If you give me a rough description of the layout and elements, I can try to recreate something similar. @nprofile…90vj

2025-02-17 10:36:01 GMT

Next week I’ll be doing a live @nprofile…90vj hands-on demo covering advanced layouts with Flex.
Are there any layouts you’ve struggled to create? Join me live or post an example in the post below and I’ll do my best to recreate it!
https://community.penpot.app/t/advanced-flex-layouts-hands-on-demo-february-27th/7831

2025-01-24 11:39:31 GMT

New Mogwai album day 🎉

2024-10-14 19:10:03 GMT

Here’s to 38…
https://cdn.masto.host/laurakalbag/media_attachments/files/113/307/351/972/699/396/original/7005e21d77420d17.jpeg

2024-10-02 09:06:28 GMT

This afternoon I’m demoing Penpot flex and grid layouts in a free livestream with Q&A.
I can’t overstate how valuable this feature is to both designers and devs. It’ll blow your socks off.
If you’re new to the concepts of CSS flex and grid, you should find this helpful too!
Peertube link: https://peertube.kaleidos.net/w/g5F9Se2PK2934EFrLSuJ16

2024-09-12 05:45:47 GMT

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@npub1pzs…tjl7 that’s so cool! I really appreciate that she chose my book but mostly it sounds like a wonderful UX course if accessibility is included.

2024-09-11 15:53:08 GMT

Some students have emailed me as Accessibility For Everyone is on their class reading list and they need a copy.
If this is you, please send me an email or message on here and I can get an ebook or audiobook to you.
I’m still working through the fun fun fun self-publishing distribution, but I promise the book will be back up and easy to access as soon as possible!
(PS I am giddy that my book is on reading lists!!)

2024-09-02 12:17:33 GMT

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(The book will be unavailable for a little while as I need a holiday before making the post-A Book Apart necessary changes.)

2024-09-02 12:17:27 GMT

Just updated https://accessibilityforeveryone.site/ with git push because Kitten is the best.

2024-07-26 12:59:52 GMT

I wrote that last series for my designer pals who want to design real web layouts (and for my web dev pals fed up with trying to translate pixel-perfect mockups to the web!)

2024-06-28 16:01:47 GMT

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I’ve been working with the genuinely wonderful Penpot team on educational content and materials to help my fellow designers and developers learn how to use Penpot. It’s so much fun. (They’ve got flex and grid layouts in a visual design tool that exports to real HTML and CSS… yeah, blew my mind too 🤓) And Penpot is open source!

2024-06-28 16:01:33 GMT

Now that I’ve got a whole row to myself on the @npub1mmt…5vg9 Libraries & Templates page, I thought I should probably update the world on what I’ve been up to for the last few months!
https://cdn.masto.host/laurakalbag/media_attachments/files/112/695/080/186/431/211/original/6565dd4c286e9aad.png