The sunshine has brought out my colleagues' sass today, wow 💁

Screen reader question 💬

Is there a way to correct screen reader pronunciation across the board rather than on one specific device or tool?

Example: If VoiceOver says 'lead' as in Cluedo's lead pipe rather than as in leader? Both are right but actually not always, in context.

#A11y #Accessibility

Is it like 'adulting', and it serves no purpose other than giving the ick?

All I want for Christmas is my favourite protein powder back in stock ☹️

Particularly fun was trying something new every month: tarot, reiki, sound bathing, life drawing, learning self-defence, holidaying with my siblings, and more. Thoroughly recommend.

Lightroom immersive art exhibition, The Moonwalkers, projecting enormous images of space travel on the walls and floor at Factory International, Manchester

5 goals smashed in 2025:
1. Overpay my mortgage (i.e. get it under £x)
2. Exercise and eat well consistently
3. Visit at least 1 new country
4. Do 1 new thing every month
5. Go to at least 12 galleries or museums

Take at least a couple of these into your 2026, if you can.

Northern female founders!

Bruntwood are offering £20,000 of support, including free desk space and expert advice. Apply by 21 December: bruntwood.co.uk/female-found...

Shocking to ask Slack to /remind you about something this week and the date is in the teens of December. How very British of me, but hasn't this year flown?!

Don't get it twisted. As a UX designer you'll spend:

75% of your time in meetings
10% of your time understanding problems
10% of your time convincing people
5% of your time designing

Figma pop-up modal stating that you can now use Figma in French, with a call-to-action to change your language

As someone always trying to improve my French, I love this. Or should I say, j'adore.

Writing messages as a woman:

*Types*

*Adds smiley face to seem friendly*

*Deletes smiley face to seem professional*

That satisfying feeling of closing loads of tabs because you've dealt with those things 🤌

Happy Chocolate Labrador smiling for the camera

Crunchy golden leaves

Giant skeleton Halloween decorations

Becky holds a big beautiful autumn leaf

I spent the last week dog-sitting for friends and it reminded me of two things.

1. How important it is to go outside every day.

2. Especially in autumn.

I think the power is: This person loves/d me and I should love myself.

Interaction Designer:National

Thanks to the speakers I managed to catch: Eva Horvathova, Nicola Hancock, Gianna MacKenzie, Keith Allan, and @heydonworks.com.

p.s. Justice Digital are currently hiring Interaction (UX) Designers www.jobtrain.co.uk/justicedigit...

#UXJobs #TechJobs

3. To help generate ideas for solving problems, it can be useful to flip them on their head and think about the WORST thing you could do. Then do the opposite.

🧵

2. User research participants may cry. And so might you. That is often the correct human response. It shows you care.

🧵

Lots to reflect on from this week's Justice Digital accessibility conference. Three key points for me:

1. We can't assume or decide how people will use our services, we need to hear the voices of disabled people then translate that into services.

🧵

Maybe we should start drinking out of a hip flask 🌝

New delivery manager has shamed me for always having giant mugs. Apparently this is a designer thing?! (I confess it is true in my case.)

Manchester skyline in autumn

Vibrant orange trees along a canal

Manchester's Beetham Tower reflecting in the canal alongside trees turning golden

Recent running views, to cleanse your timeline. Autumn in Manchester is really something this year 🧡

Challenge yourself and your biases.

If a woman has been in her role for a while and hasn't been promoted, why?

Do you subconsciously apply the 'competence penalty' (women who use AI are seen as less competent than men doing the same, per HBR)?

How can you support colleagues and reports?

END!

p.s. Blaming childcare/caring for others makes it women's problem rather than the systemic issue it really is.

50% of women leave tech by age 35 and this costs up to £3.5 billion a year (2025 Lovelace Report). People assume this is because of caring responsibilities but it's also because of lack of pay parity. So pay women equally, allowing us financial independence and the freedom to have choices.

If you're in a position of allocating work and/or people, do it fairly. Give women the opportunity to develop and progress. We need the right projects to grow skills and gather evidence that we're worthy of promotion, when it comes to that (and if we want that).

First thing's first. We've come a long way, but we're not done. And we're tired.

We want progress but we need to protect our wellbeing and our energy. It can help to do small things consistently rather than trying to change everything at once.

Panel of speakers introduce themselves at Lloyd's Ada Lovelace Day event

Thanks to Lloyds for this morning's Ada Lovelace Day breakfast! Lots to think about, I'll share my takeaways once I've tidied up my (many) notes. #ALD25

Final thought: I'm glad this finished with a musician's perspective. But the ending was weird.

The stats weren't quite right* but it's true that there are higher numbers of neurodivergent people in tech: 30% of us, compared to the typical population estimate of 15-20%.

*This miniseries is from 2022 so we could have updated numbers in 2025

We will all identify with the character who is proud to create a "pure" product — before it's increasingly diluted to keep everyone happy 🤡