Notices by Stef Walter (stephaniewalter@front-end.social)

Dear developers,
Please respect the reduced-motion preferences of your users.
I'm tired of your websites making me nauseous.
Motion is fun until it makes your users sick.

Here you go: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Reference/At-rules/@media/prefers-reduced-motion

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Reference/At-rules/@media/prefers-reduced-motion

I’m often asked for accessibility resources for beginners.
@laura's book has been my go to. It’s clear, practical, and works for designers, developers, and anyone involved in building products. The best part: it’s now free and available online.
Bookmark it. Read it. Share it!

https://accessibilityforeveryone.site/
https://accessibilityforeveryone.site/

I hate scroll fading, I'm not the only one, sometimes it's hard to convince people.
@db brought you the perfect "a picture is worth a thousand words", enjoy the horrible experience of trying to read this article.

https://dbushell.com/2026/01/09/death-to-scroll-fade/

It’s hard to justify Tahoe icons! @nikitonsky points out all the inconsistencies, in the icons of Tahoe, the new Mac operating system. The “fifty shades of new” made my day. If you can’t find a good metaphor, using no icon is better than using a bad, confusing, or nonsensical icon. They are also very small, hard to differentiate and confusing. When everything has an icon, nothing stands out.

https://tonsky.me/blog/tahoe-icons/

@wtrmt @nikitonsky not yet I usually wait for months to be sure especially when each OS messes up my webcam (Logitech), and most of the apps I use are not up to date yet.

A more modern example would be captions in videos: they are a feature designed for deaf and hard of hearing people, but also benefits people with ADHD and auditory processing disorder, people who want to listen to a video without sound for various reasons, etc.

Illustration by Sketchplanations: https://sketchplanations.com/the-curb-cut-effect

When we design for disabilities, we make things better for everyone. This is called the Curb-Cut Effect. The term was coined by disability students and activists in the 70s, who added curb cuts to the Berkeley sidewalks to make access easier for those in wheelchairs. They discovered those also helped people with strollers, using trolleys for deliveries, etc.

Today's beautiful procrastination is Messenger, a cute cozy multi players game in the browser where you deliver letters

https://messenger.abeto.co/

AI isn’t optional anymore. It’s baked into everything, often without choice, consent, or accountability. @PavelASamsonov argues we are in the “age of no consent.” Data theft, manipulative design, and bots making life-altering calls are the new norm. The question isn’t if it’s wrong (sad). It’s: why does this feel normal now?

The AI age is the "age of no consent" (8min) https://productpicnic.beehiiv.com/p/the-ai-age-is-the-age-of-no-consent-7559
https://productpicnic.beehiiv.com/p/the-ai-age-is-the-age-of-no-consent-7559

FliiipBook is a fun animation tool in the browser where you draw frame by frame, over 24 frames and 2 full seconds, your animation in black and white.
Here you go, have fun: https://www.fliiipbook.com/animate

What’s the most pointless trend in modern web design?
If we check the top comments, the top 5 annoying things are:
1. scroll hijacking
2. cursor changed into a circle
3. animating everything on scroll
4. another round of useless animations (and cookie notifications / pop-ups)
5. hijacking browser back button / links (as in forcing them to open in a new tab).
https://www.reddit.com/r/webdev/comments/1m5big7/whats_the_most_pointless_trend_in_modern_web/

AI will accelerate the democratizing of UX Resarch. While this should, in theory, allow researchers to focus on more critical area (I’m super skeptical about this argument), it will also enhance the risks of poor quality research.
To mitigate the potential future mess, Qiwen Zhao explains that we need clear discussions about roles and responsibilities between researchers, stakeholders and AI tools.
https://medium.com/@qiwenz95/learnings-from-the-trend-of-democratizing-ux-research-what-ai-means-for-researchers-d59165df4561

My curated weekly UX Research, Design, Accessibility & Tech Newsletter is out:
- What Makes A Good Accessibility Designer
- The Captcha Paradox
- Designing Through Uncertainty
- Design Accessible Annotations Part 1 And Part 2
- The Issues Of Democratizing UX Research With AI
- Fermented Miso In Space
- Whimsical Animations
- Image Editor Figma Plugin
- File Format Converter
- CSS Holographic Masks
- Apple New Accessibility Features

👉🏻 https://stephaniewalter.design/blog/pixels-of-the-week-june-8-2025/
https://stephaniewalter.design/blog/pixels-of-the-week-may-4-2025/

Duplicating components in Figma is quite annoying, this plugin solves it, and lets you also duplicate only one variant of a component, to play around and iterate without braking the whole thing.

Component Cloner : https://www.figma.com/community/plugin/736564662640346811/component-cloner

Most digital products today feel like vanilla ice cream: generic and uninspired!
Or worse: their journey is a nightmare, from poor copy that forces users to sign it to check if the product has what they need (plot twist: no), to the impossibility of leaving because their unsubscribe process is broken. This happens because they prioritize short-term performance metrics over meaningful user experiences.

Global Capslock Key You know I have a soft spot for fun, chaotic things. In case you need randomness in your life, install the client, and get you caps lock synchronized with everyone who uses this tool.
https://globalcapslock.com/

The Four Most Dangerous Words to People with Disabilities: "at least they tried"
The phrase "At least they tried" diminishes the significance of accessible design. It implies that those with disabilities should be grateful for any effort, even if it's half-hearted. However, accessibility is not a favor or charity—it’s a civil right. Regardless of their abilities, everyone deserves a fair and equitable experience when using digital tools.
https://buttondown.com/access-ability/archive/the-four-most-dangerous-words-to-people-with/

https://buttondown.com/access-ability/archive/the-four-most-dangerous-words-to-people-with/

Motion sickness is no joke. It doesn't happen to me often, but once in a while a website triggers my vestibular disorders so badly that I'm sent to brain fog for a couple of hours.
And I hate that I've had people make fun of me, call me "dramatic" when I explained how animations might cause issues to people.

I love cute subtle animations. Dmytro Tovstokoryi created this set of beautifully crafted animated icons
They are available under MIT Licence.
Full project: https://icons.pqoqubbw.dev/

I think I've reached the point of AI fatigue, where I can't read yet another article on how AI will kill my job.
So, my 2 cents: my job is about understanding people, processes, services and businesses. No AI can do all of that. We will adapt. Chill, breath, it will be alright.