WebDev Feed

This issue of What’s !important is dedicated to our friends in the UK, who are currently experiencing a very miserable 43-day rain streak. Presenting: the five most interesting things to read about CSS from the last couple of weeks. Plus, the latest features from Chrome 145, and anything else you might’ve missed. TL;DR: lots of content, but also lots of rain. What’s !important #5: Lazy-loading iframe

Designing for mental health means designing for vulnerability. Empathy-Centred UX becomes not a “nice to have” but a fundamental design requirement. Here’s a practical framework for building trust-first mental health products.

A detailed behind-the-build on turning a strict minimal brief into a high-end experience through rhythm, transitions, and micro-interactions.

This is the second part of a small two-part series. In this article, we will explore another type of grid: a pyramidal one. We are still working with hexagon shapes, but a different organization of the elements., while exploring other different shapes. Making a Responsive Pyramidal Grid With Modern CSS originally published on

How learning to build my own work helped me take back control and fall in love with design again.

The new contrast-color() function is not fully supported yet. But can we still implement it in a cross-browser friendly way using other new CSS features? Approximating contrast-color() With Other CSS Features originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the

Autonomy is an output of a technical system. Trustworthiness is an output of a design process. Here are concrete design patterns, operational frameworks, and organizational practices for building agentic systems that are not only powerful but also transparent, controllable, and trustworthy.

A deep dive into building a GPU-enhanced procedural curve system in Three.js, where organic motion emerges from simple steering rules and endless Bézier paths.

Can we make pie chart that's semantic, with flexible markup, and avoids using a JavaScript library? Here's how I tackled it. Trying to Make the Perfect Pie Chart in CSS originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the

A studio story shaped by narrative, motion, and the belief that digital journeys should feel human.

A fresh selection of UI animations and motion work from the creative community.

CSS-only bar charts are one of those things we've tackled a bunch of times in different ways. But how can modern CSS features finally make it not only trivial, but fun? CSS Bar Charts Using Modern Functions originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the

Prescriptive class name conventions are no longer enough to keep CSS maintainable in a world of increasingly complex interfaces. Can the new `@scope` rule finally give developers the confidence to write CSS that can keep up with modern front ends?

Vladyslav Penev shares how he builds production-ready motion and layout-driven 3D systems, where CSS, WebGL, and interaction behave as one.

You’d think that publishing a VS Code extension is an easy process, but it’s not. You have to publish your theme in at least two places. No Hassle Visual Code Theming: Publishing an Extension originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the

Combobox vs. Multi-Select vs. Listbox vs. Dual Listbox? How they are different, what purpose they serve, and how to choose the right one. Brought to you by Design Patterns For AI Interfaces, **friendly video courses on UX** and design patterns by Vitaly.

I've always thought that creating a VS Code theme was a lot of work. But lo and behold, it took less than six hours to get it working, then a day or two to polish up my final tweaks. No-Hassle Visual Studio Code Theming: Building an Extension originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the

Learn how to build a multi-page WebGL image gallery with scroll-triggered shader reveals, smooth scrolling, and seamless page transitions using GSAP, Three.js, Astro, and Barba.js.

Let’s make the most of the shortest month of the year with a new collection of desktop wallpapers that are sure to bring a smile to your face — and maybe spark your creativity, too. All of them were designed with love by the community for the community and can be downloaded for free. Happy February!

Neither Chrome, Safari, nor Firefox have shipped new features in the last couple of weeks, but fear not because leading this issue of What’s !important is some of the web development industry’s best educators with, frankly, some killer content. What’s !important #4: Videos & View Transitions, Named Media Queries, How Browsers Work, and More originally published on

AI coding tools like agents can be valuable allies in everyday development work. They help handle time-consuming grunt work, guide you through large legacy codebases, and offer low-risk ways to implement features in previously unfamiliar programming languages. Here are practical, easy-to-apply techniques to help you use these tools to improve your workflow.

From discovering design as a teenager to creating award-winning experiences, Daniele Buffa’s journey has been shaped by curiosity, craft, and a lifelong exposure to art.

The new ::search-text pseudo (Chrome 144) matches are yellow while the current target (::search-text:current) is orange, but ::search-text enables us to change that. Styling ::search-text and Other Highlight-y Pseudo-Elements originally published on CSS-Tricks, w

Build a Three.js WebGPU scene where MSDF text dissolves with a noise-driven TSL shader while synchronized dust and spinning petal particles burst out, finished with selective bloom using MRT.

Stu Robson's ReliCSS (clever name!) tool can excavate outdated CSS in your codebase that have modern CSS solutions. ReliCSS originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the DigitalOcean family. You should

In CSS, we can create “stacking contexts” where elements are visually placed one on top of the next in a three-dimensional sense that creates the perception of depth. Stacking contexts are incredibly useful, but they’re also widely misunderstood and often mistakenly created, leading to a slew of layout issues that can be tricky to solve.

Discover the top 12 web design tools for 2026 – from AI-powered builders to creative resources for designers.

Accessibility advice around modals have commonly taught us to trap focus within the modal. Upon further research, it seems like we no longer need to trap focus within the <dialog> (even in modal mode). There is No Need to Trap Focus on a Dialog Element originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is

A while back, Temani tacked a repeating grid of hexagon shapes. Well, he's updated it with modern CSS features that result in fewer magic numbers. And it's impressive! Responsive Hexagon Grid Using Modern CSS originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the

The @custom-media at-rule has landed in Firefox Nightly! I couldn’t find it in the release notes but Adam Argyle’s on the beat noting that it’s behind a flag for now. Look for layout.css.custom-media.enabled I often forget the exact name of …

Developing effective agentic AI requires a new research playbook. When systems plan, decide, and act on our behalf, UX moves beyond usability testing into the realm of trust, consent, and accountability. Victor Yocco outlines the research methods needed to design agentic AI systems responsibly.

Semantic HTML does a lot more accessibility work than we usually give it credit for already — and ARIA is simple to abuse when we use it both as a shortcut and as a supplement. I Learned The First Rule of ARIA the Hard Way originally published on CSS-Tricks, which is part of the

Amit Sheen takes a hard look at the “Pixel Perfect” legacy concept, explaining why it’s failing us and redefining what “perfection” actually looks like in a multi-device, fluid world.

I love me some good web research reports. I’m a sucker for them. HTTP Archive’s Web Almanac is one report I look forward to every year, and I know I’m not alone there. It’s one of those highly-anticipated publications on … HTTP Archive 2025 Web Almanac originally published on

CSS relative colour values are now widely supported. In this article, pioneering author and web designer [Andy Clarke](https://stuffandnonsense.co.uk/) shares practical techniques for using them to theme and animate SVG graphics.

How to shape your career path for 2026, with decision trees for designers and a UX skills self-assessment matrix. The only limits for tomorrow are the doubts we have today. Brought to you by Smart Interface Design Patterns, a **friendly video course on UX** and design patterns by Vitaly.

[Penpot](https://penpot.app/?utm_source=SmashingMagazine&utm_medium=Article&utm_campaign=MCPserver) is experimenting with MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers, which could lead to designers and developers being able to perform tasks in Penpot using AI that’s able to understand and interact with Penpot design files. Daniel Schwarz explains how [Penpot MCP](https://github.com/penpot/penpot-mcp) servers work, what they could mean for creating and managing designs in Penpot, and what you c

Most developers spend their days fixing bugs, shipping features, and jumping into the next sprint without even thinking about it. After a while, you begin to ask yourself, “Is this still what I want to be doing?” This article looks at how you can move into a new direction in your career without starting from scratch, and how the skills you already use, like problem-solving, communication, and empathy, can open new doors.

Whether 2026 has already begun as you’re reading this or you’re still waiting for the big countdown to start, how about some new wallpapers to get your desktop ready for the new year? We’ve got you covered.

Practical UX guidelines to keep in mind for 466 million people who experience hearing loss. More design patterns in Smart Interface Design Patterns, a **friendly video course on UX** and design patterns by Vitaly.

Turn scattered user research into AI-powered personas that give anyone consolidated multi-perspective feedback from a single question.

Meet TARS — a simple, repeatable, and meaningful UX metric designed specifically to track the performance of product features. Upcoming part of the Measure UX & Design Impact (use the code 🎟 IMPACT to save 20% off today).

In this article, pioneering author and web designer [Andy Clarke](https://stuffandnonsense.co.uk) shows his techniques for creating [Toon Text titles](https://stuffandnonsense.co.uk/toon-text/index.html) using modern CSS and SVG.

We’ve got exciting news! eBook versions of “Accessible UX Research,” a new Smashing Book by Michele A. Williams, are now available for download! Which means soon the book will go to the printer. Order the eBook for instant download now or reserve your print copy at the presale price.

CSS Wrapped 2025 is out! We’re entering a world where CSS can increasingly handle logic, state, and complex interactions once reserved for JavaScript. Here is an unpacking of the standout highlights and how they connect to the bigger evolution of modern CSS.

Lead your organization’s AI strategy before someone else defines it for you. A practical framework for UX professionals to shape AI implementation.

Explainable AI isn’t just a challenge for data scientists. It’s also a design challenge and a core pillar of trustworthy, effective AI products. Victor Yocco offers practical guidance and design patterns for building explainability into real products.

CSS Masonry is almost here! Patrick Brosset takes a deep dive into what this long-awaited feature means for web developers and how you could make use of it in your own work.

With December just around the corner, how about some new desktop wallpapers to welcome the last month of the year — and the holiday season, if you’re celebrating? Our latest edition of monthly wallpapers has got you covered. Enjoy!

CAPTCHAs were meant to keep bots out, but too often, they lock people with disabilities out, too. From image classification to click-based tests, many “human checks” are anything but inclusive. There’s no universal solution, but understanding real user needs is where accessibility truly starts.

We’re so happy to announce that “Maturing Design Systems”—a Smashing book by Ben Callahan — will soon be joining the Smashing Library! Ben’s insights and advice are so powerful, we thought you might like to read an excerpt from the book. Subscribe to our Smashing newsletter to be notified when orders are open.

Practical guidelines on designing time-critical products that prevent errors and improve accuracy. Part of the Measure UX & Design Impact (use the code 🎟 IMPACT to save 20% off today). With a live UX training starting next week.

Animations can be one of the most joyful parts of building interfaces, but without structure, they can also become one of the biggest sources of frustration. By consolidating and standardizing keyframes, you take something that is usually messy and hard to manage and turn it into a clear, predictable system.

Server chaos doesn’t have to be the norm. AI-ready infrastructure and automation can bring clarity, performance, and focus back to your web work.

Debugging controllers can be a real pain. Here’s a deep dive into how CSS helps clean it up and how to build a reusable visual debugger for your own projects.

There are many existing web features and technologies in the wild that you may never touch directly in your day-to-day work. Perhaps you’re fairly new to web development and are simply unaware of them because you’re steeped in the abstraction of a specific framework that doesn’t require you to know it deeply, or even at all. Bryan Rasmussen looks specifically at XPath and demonstrates how it can be used alongside CSS to query elements.

There are lots of tips for [improving your website performance](https://www.debugbear.com/blog/improve-website-performance?utm_campaign=sm-10). But even if you follow all of the advice, are you able to maintain an optimized site? And are you targeting the right pages? Matt Zeunert outlines an effective strategy for web performance optimization and explains the roles that different types of data play in it.

SVG is one of those web technologies that’s both elegant and, at times, infuriating. In this article, pioneering author and web designer Andy Clarke explains his technique for animating SVG elements that are hidden in the Shadow DOM.

Let’s dive into the building blocks of UX strategy and see how it speaks the language of product and business strategy to create user value while achieving company goals. Part of the Measure UX & Design Impact (use the code 🎟 IMPACT to save 20% off today).

With component variants, design systems become more flexible, letting you reuse the same component while adapting its look or state with ease. In this article, Daniel Schwarz demonstrates how design tokens can be leveraged to manage components and their variations using Penpot, the open-source tool built for scalable, consistent design.

The new month is just around the corner, and that means: It’s time for some new desktop wallpapers! All of them are designed by the community for the community and can be downloaded for free. Enjoy!

Here is a lesson on Iterators. Iterables implement the iterable iteration interface, and iterators implement the iterator iteration interface. Sounds confusing? Mat breaks it all down in the article.

Motion can be tricky: too much distracts, too little feels flat. Ambient animations sit in the middle. They’re subtle, slow-moving details that add atmosphere without stealing the show. In part two of his series, web design pioneer Andy Clarke shows how ambient animations can add personality to any website design.

A simple but powerful mental model for working with AI: treat it like an enthusiastic intern with no real-world experience. Paul Boag shares lessons learned from real client projects across user research, design, development, and content creation.

Research isn’t everything. Facts alone don’t win arguments, but powerful stories do. Here’s how to turn your research into narratives that inspire trust and influence decisions.