I miss #WebDayOut :(

A Web Day Out in Brighton — 13 Mar 2026 I’m in Brighton, and it’s blowing a gale outside. The air is fresh and salty and I’m gliding back to my hotel room 50cm above ground, my mind still high on the day’s vibes. I’ve just left Mrs Fitzherbert’s pub after a fantastic day at Web Day Out, _”a one-day event all about what you can do in web browsers today!”_ organised by Clearleft and MC’d by Jeremy Keith. Just up my street. I love these kind of small, one day, focus driven conferences. Eight talks around topics around what can be done in modern browsers, from CSS to the W3C working groups, via what is the browser baseline, battle tested progressive web apps, accessibility concerns and progressive enhancement. No JavaScript (frameworks) required, just love and care for CSS and HTML. Brighton is the perfect place to host event like this. Its vibe and size are human, rich with creativity and imagination. Open minded. ## Jemima Abu ### I can’t believe it’s not JavaScript The day kick off in style and energy with a talk by Jemima Abu who covered some of the latest native HTML elements or CSS properties available in baseline. It was talk full of sparkles and passion. I connected immediately. It was my first opportunity to listen to Jemima present in person, and boy was I impressed. > We have a lot of shit in our packages I’m probably going to repeat myself in this post, but the care and passion (and love) for native HTML and CSS was palpable. Both on stage and in the audience. I use a bunch of the elements that were presented, but the popover API stood out. It came up in a number of talks that followed. Tooltips, modals, or styling the `select` element, the popover api is at the rescue. ## Rachel Andrew ### A pragmatic guide to browser support Rachel Andrew (the grid lady, by her own admission) talked about Web Platform Baseline, how it worked and how to use it, relying on common sense and giving many useful tips on how to suggest new features, and how to decide to use one feature (or not) and when. > Think about your audience > Think about your team > Understand path to baseline. Rachel’s presentations are so well structured and illustrated, it’s each time a renewed pleasure to listen to her. Rachel announced that Subgrid becomes widely available next week! Widely available: 30 months have passed since the newly interoperable date. The feature can be used by most sites without worrying about support. ## Aleth Gueguen ### Progressive web apps from the trenches Aleth Gueguen presented real world use and tests of PWAs with loads of tips, especially for iOS - surprise surprise - that are golden for people developing real world solutions that must run in real world conditions. Precious. > Let the user know the state of their data > Make it seamful > Provide a button to trigger a sync. ## Harry Roberts ### Build for the web, build on the web, build with the web Harry Roberts stormed the event with a punchy presentation that resonated close to my heart, and not only because he was kind enough to call me out, but because of what he echoed what I’m trying to express in a professional capacity for a while now. I was fortunate to work with Harry last year for a client, and he is an amazing person, generous, committed and so talented. I always learn so much when he’s around. > The web is versionless, and versionless is a virtue > Stick with the web. A opiniated talk on his love from the web. Check-out his post for a deep dive. His stories about SPA, made me laugh… (if you can name 5 pages of your website, it’s not an SPA). Harry elegantly framed out loud what I’ve been struggling to verbalise these last years. Harry posted his slidedeck to SpeakerDeck. ## Manuel Matuzovič ### Breaking with habits Manuel is my latest favourite speaker and person. I had the pleasure of discovering him at Smashing Conf in Freiburg and later at beyond tellerrand (or the other way around) and I finally got to meet him in person at Web Day Out (it was his birthday!) He’s passionate (nerdy) and loves sharing his experience and knowledge, and is really a truly nice person. I love the way he dives deep into a subject to explore and understand all the nook and cranies (checkout his talks on colour, or his type scale - brilliant!). I always learn so much each time our paths cross. Check out his blog and his no-class CSS framework Oli. ## Richard Rutter ### What’s new in web typography? Richard made me love typography, and I try to jump on every opportunity to read or listen to him. He dived into nerdy typographic details like `font-size-adjust` (0.417!), variable font properties or fluid typography. Check out his aspect value calculator. His segment on lists (don’t miss his article on Piccalil.li) and headings positioning and aligment (`text-box`) were stunning. So many details… I was reminded to use OpenType properties more often (eg. `font-variant-position`). Super subtle. ## Jake Archibald ### Customisable `select` and the friends we made along the way A fascinating time travel in the history of the `select` element. It turns out `select` is the element the most re-created by developers, and the one that gives the most frustration (by far) - no surprise. OpenUI W3C community group worked hard on the process that led to the popover API mentioned earlier by Jemima. Read more about the popover accessibility. > The stylable `select` has finally landed in browsers - 33 years after its initial proposal. Many more stories about the top layer in which popover renders and how to position it (`position-area`) or style the picker (`appearance`) with any CSS properties and pseudo-selectors (`::picker-icon`). The `select` element allows any HTML element now, like `div` or `img` (or `button`!). Ever heard of `selectedcontent`? Powerful. ## Lola Odelola ### The browser is the playground Lola started with a project she led last year “alt-text as an Artistic Practice”. How would you describe an abstract image? Consider alt-text as the primary way to experience an image (`prefer-alt-text` - turns out, it’s a bad idea). > Robb sits in a room painted in shades of disrupted sleep and red velvet. He is amongst friends, drifting between the embers of his second coffee and the spark of a third. > – Robb or > Three aging emos post gradiose yet humbly against the urban backdrop of Leeds, looking either wistfully off into the distance or straight into the camera, they embody everything that can be right with the world. Hope, confidence, quietness, serenity, camaraderie. The day was good, and so are these people. > – Salma Lola dove deep into into W3C processes (she is the co-chair of W3C Technical Architecture Group) and described and explained many things I wasn’t aware of (eg. the priority of constituencies or reducing user fingerprinting). Throught her talk, she elegantly demonstrated why a ‘dream feature’ (like `prefer-alt-text`) can be a bad idea, and all that from the point of view of a browser engineer. ## Amazed, and proud I’m truly amazed by the rate at which new features, elements and properties are appearing, and proud to be part of this community, that strives to to design and build on the web, for the web, with native web elements. More links: * Mastodon toots * Marc Thiele’s photos * My Flickr album * “That was Web Day Out” by Jeremy * “Look into the future of the web platform” by Rachel ## Make friends, not followers Michael Flarup wrote about the comeback of small conferences in his latest newsletter that echoes another reason why I like attending these kind of events so much: > A conference is one of the few places where a scattered online community briefly becomes real. > > There’s a realness that comes from meeting your peers face to face. All of the fluff that so often surrounds online discourse falls away. There is no hype, just passion. No engagement hook, just curiosity. > > Instead of making followers, you make friends. Thank you Jeremy and Clearleft for hosting such events 💜

Updated my #webdayout post with a few links.
davidroessli.com/logs/2026/03/a-web-day-o...

A Web Day Out in Brighton I'm in Brighton, and it's blowing a gale outside. The air is fresh and salty and I'm gliding back to my hotel room 50cm above ground, my mind still high on the day's vibes.

Updated my #webdayout post with a few links.
davidroessli.com/logs/2026/03...

Dash and the browser’s missing piece | Etch Software Studio Building websites closer to the browser by only adding the missing pieces as you need them.

I built a tiny build tool called Dash (github.com/etchteam/dash) after listening to some excellent talks at #WebDayOut conference last week, here's why:

etch.co/blog/dash-and-the-browsers-missing-piece/

Web of State of the Browser Day Out Okay, that's a stupidly obscure title. It's meant to represent the combined events: State of the Browser and Web Day Out - two events I attended in the last mo…

Finished my blog post about a couple of wonderful events this last month - then mashed the shit out of the titles to make it "work" for a blog post title.

Thank you #StateOfTheBrowser and #WebDayOut

remysharp.com/2026/03/18/w...

That was Web Day Out An excellent day of talks in Brighton exactly 37 years after the birth of the World Wide Web.

I couldn’t make it to #WebDayOut. Thankfully, @adactio.com wrote about it and linked to a bunch of online talk about it. Special shout out to @joshtumath.uk who live-blogged each talk.

adactio.com/journal/22465

Red text with white shadow "Breaking with habits by Manuel Matuzovic" on pink background with illustrated Mining tools set from Shifts and Expedients of Camp Life, Travel (1876) published by William Barry Lord.

🧰 Breaking with habits
A presentation at Web Day Out in March 2026 in Brighton, UK by Manuel Matuzovic @matuzo.at

#webdev #slides #WebDayOut #css #html #js

noti.st/matuzo/K64nm...

Me on stage, presenting and gesturing. I'm smiling.

Outside of the Studio Theatre in Brighton. A sign with a Web Day Out poster and a couple of people in front of it.

A plate with 4 cupcakes and plastic “Happy Birthday” letters stuck in them.

I'm grateful that I got to spend time with so many friendly, fun, and talented people in the past two weeks! State of the Browser in London and Web Day Out in Brighton were great fun!

The slides for my talk “Breaking with habits” are available online! noti.st/matuzo/K64nm... #WebDayOut

Web Day Out | letorey.co.uk A one day single track web conference focusing on the cool things that you can now do in the web.

#WebDayOut - great days out

Check out my post - letorey.co.uk/leets/web-da...

Smokers Delight 30th anniversary show | letorey.co.uk Nightmares on Wax 30th anniversary of Smokers Delight and 20th anniversary of In a Space Outta Space show live at Royal Albert Hall, London.

On Thursday I left #WebDayOut early and missed @jakearchibald.com and @lolaodelola.bsky.social talks, sorry.
It was definitely the right decision #NightmaresOnWax #RoyalAlbertHall

letorey.co.uk/leets/smoker...

After #WebDayOut I had an extra day in Brighton. Having some lovely cocktails just across the venue at the Bar Valentino… but it looks really familiar.

youtu.be/oqRaADSdJLE?...

@csswizardry.com sorry I missed you yesterday after #WebDayOut it was lovely to meet in person 😊 and thank you for the personal call-out, it means a lot to me 🙏🏻 Safe travels home, and see you soon Harry - Lionel and Nath send their love.

Me gazing longingly at Jeremy while he introduces me on stage at Web Day Out.

Well, Brighton, you’ve been stunning as always. Thank you so much to @adactio.com and the @clearleft.com team for having me at #WebDayOut, an invigorating and inspiring shot in the arm to kick conference season off proper.

A piano painted in Pride colours, adorned with stars and hearts. It has a sign saying “Play Me” across the top, but the lid is padlocked. It’s giving a real mixed messages vibe.

Heading back to Oxford after an excellent time at #WebDayOut, catching up with old friends, making new ones, and lots of brain food.

I had such a good day at #WebDayOut yesterday. Really enjoyed giving my talk on web typography to a lovely crowd – warm, knowledgable and supportive.

So glad we filled the house in the end, because the other speakers were brilliant, with talks that deserved, and needed, to be heard.

Totally won the "I shall keep drinking with @keithamus.social until it's not okay with the bar AND mother nature tells says: go home" AND did my monthly MS injection (not injecting myself with MS–duh!). Might be late–but I'm counting that as a win all round.

Lovely to see awesome ppl at #WebDayOut

Great day at #WebDayOut!
I built my first website in 1997. It didn’t occur to me that web design was even a career choice until around 2000. And it amazes me how there is always more to learn in web dev. It keeps the ball rolling. Fantastic talks. ❤️

My hand holding a printed white and photo of Manuel and I!

Missed my chance at #SoTB26 but recovered at #WebDayOut
Cc: @matuzo.at

A photo of me on-stage taken from the vantage point of an audience member. I’m pulling a face that looks almost kind of lustful in a way. I’m actually glad you can’t see it—it isn’t flattering.

Me looking at standardised web APIs like…

#WebDayOut

A view of a busy conference room, backs of people’s heads looking at a screen which says Web Day Out

A dark room focused on a screen saying A pragmatic guide to browser support

Two men stood in front of a large screen, it’s shows a red slide with white writing displaying: build for the web, build on the web, build with the web

A man stood in front of a large screen showing a snippet of code displaying size adjustments in fonts

Pretty epic day at #WebDayOut. Left inspired, concepts I thought terrifying now seem achievable and all shared by lovely lovely humans. What a treat.

Awesome day at #WebDayOut today. Fully invigorated, a real tonic and reset.

Shoutout to the amazing folk at @clearleft.com for hosting.

What a fantastic day! #WebDayOut really lived up to my expectations, not that I had any doubts. It feels soo good to reconnect in person with like minded people and friends. I’m going home recalibrated and inspired (and hopeful), gliding 50cm above ground.

Book: Web Accessibility Cookbook, by Manuel Matuzovič

Manuel Matuzovič autograph on his dedication: “Pedro, don’t do divs”

#WebDayOut reignited my love for all things Web, I saw in IRL my CSS heroes @jakearchibald.com and @rachelandrew.bsky.social and I won this book my shouting KBD and even I received this suggestion that I tell always to my students to my students “DON’T DO <DIV>S”

Original post on mastodon.social

What a fantastic day! #WebDayOne really lived up to my expectations, not that I had any doubts. It feels soo good to reconnect in person with like minded people and friends. I’m going home recalibrated and inspired (and hopeful), gliding 50cm above ground.
Big thanks to all the speakers and to […]

Web Day Out 2026 – Photos by Marc Thiele This is my set of photos from Web Day Out 2026 in Brighton.

What a great day. All photos of #WebDayOut are up and online. marcthiele.com/photos/web-d...

Noooo it's all over.

@adactio.com asks us 'Have we been recalibrated?' Yes! #WebDayOut

This was Lola's first foray into browser engine code. But there are lots of other ways she's been involved, including co-chairing the W3C TAG. You could join a working group or a community group. Igalia have an internship.

Keith Cirkel from Mozilla helped Lola to dive into the code base #WebDayOut

So why does the web platform feature that we want not exist?

It is often because of these kinds of privacy concerns.

But it could be because you haven't suggested it. So suggest it! #WebDayOut

The problem is this could enable fingerprinting. It could also let people see that the user is using assistive technology, which is a privacy issue. And this solution could prevent images from being downloaded, which could also be a fingerprinting method. #WebDayOut

That's so cool. Lola has updated a browser engine to add her own media query and CSS property! And it works! #WebDayOut