Why I Switched to Hand-Crafted HTML
For years, my digital portfolio has lived in the "black box" of
frameworks. I've chased dependencies, wrestled with build tools, and
watched my node_modules folders grow larger than the
actual content I was trying to share.
As a developer and an Accessibility Specialist, I finally reached a breaking point. I realised that the more "help" I was getting from modern web tooling, the further I was getting from the core DNA of the web, and the lazier I was becoming. Here is why I decided to strip everything back to raw HTML and CSS for this iteration of my website.
1. Accessibility by Intent, Not by Plugin
In my professional life, I see how easily frameworks can "break" the
web for users with disabilities. When you use a heavy library, you're
often fighting its default behaviours to make it accessible. By
writing raw HTML, I am forced to be intentional. I'm not "fixing" a
div to act like a button; I'm just using a
<button>. There is a semantic purity in
hand-crafted code that ensures a screen reader user hears exactly what
I intended.
2. The "Forever" File
Frameworks have a shelf life. If I build a site in the "Framework of
the Year", I am effectively putting an expiration date on my content.
In five years, that framework may be deprecated and the build will
likely fail. A standard .html file is effectively
immortal. I want this site to be just as readable in 2046 as it is
today.
3. The Performance of Less
Most modern websites are "heavy" for no reason. By switching to hand-crafted code, the entire site is much smaller and faster, there is no JavaScript blocking the rendering, and it respects the user's data and battery life.
4. A Personal Connection
Between being a dad, a husband, and a lifelong SAFC supporter (a journey that requires a lot of resilience), my time is limited. I don't want to spend my weekends debugging build problems any more. I want to create content. By removing the "middleman," the friction between having an idea and publishing it is gone.
This site is a work-in-progress, a digital garden that I'll be tending to over time. No tracking, no bloat, just the web the way it was meant to be.