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Ashley Watson-Nolan

@ashn.uk
123 followers 158 following 103 posts

Principal UI Engineer, Design System Maintainer, Gamer, Ale Drinker, Dad – sometimes all at the same time. Work at JustEatTakeaway.com. Creator and maintainer of PIE Web Components – pie.design

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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 10/08/2026
We were chatting about this exact thing in our team last week – it's a habit that devs need to make sure they don't pickup: Don't be a meat proxy gruhn.me/blog/2026-08... #ai #dev
gruhn.me
Don't be a meat proxy
Too often I ask a question in Slack or leave feedback under a merge/pull request or argue with friends in a WhatsApp group and get back:
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 04/08/2026
So I've just been messing around with herdr and moshi and I now feel like that bit in The Matrix where Neo chooses the red pill and fell down the rabbit-hole 🤣
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 01/07/2026
This is sad news. At a time when gamers are already stretched financially, and console prices rising, Sony are killing off the 2nd hand game market for their games to stick the knife in blog.playstation.com/2026/07/01/p...
blog.playstation.com
Physical disc production ending in January 2028 for new games releasing on PlayStation consoles
In response to shifting trends in consumer preference, new games will be released on PlayStation Store and at retailers in digital formats only.
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 28/06/2026
For anyone who knows a little person with a Yoto, check out Animal Facts. It’s a dynamic card app, narrated by my 7 yr old daughter Alice, which is now featured as part of the Yoto digital club collection. Check it out and let us know what you think!
animalfacts.uk
Animal Facts - A Dynamic Yoto Playlist
A dynamic daily playlist of Amazing Animal Facts!
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 19/06/2026
Looking forward to a great day of talks at @pixelpioneers.co today!
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 12/06/2026
Also, if you find any bugs/issues with the site, please let me know!
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 12/06/2026
I just flipped the switch on my revamped site. I'm not afraid of Friday production releases 🤣 Here's my first post in almost 7 years – Hello again (and a new look) ashleynolan.co.uk/blog/hello-a...
ashleynolan.co.uk
Hello again (and a new look)
After far too long a break from writing, I've given my site a fresh coat of paint.
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 10/06/2026
All my posts are in markdown (luckily) so I’m porting them over to using 11ty and the JS all to native ESM. I’m keeping the design of the site, but the CSS is basically all redone to use modern features.
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 10/06/2026
We're hosting the Pixel Pioneers Warm-up at JET's Bristol office next Thursday 18th June, with talks from Molly India Nye, Jamie Maguire and Marwa Gorvan. The event is free – grab your ticket here: ti.to/pixel-pionee...
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 10/06/2026
It's been a while, but I've been working on updating my site so that I can start posting again. To give an idea of how ancient the old code is, it uses RequireJS, Grunt, and floats for CSS layout (everywhere). Releasing the new version will be like removing a huge weight from my back 😆
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Geri Reid @gerireid.com · 11/05/2026
If you're in Bristol the night before Pixel Pioneers, come to a meetup at the Just Eat offices for some lightning talks and chat. We're on the harbourside just along from the venue 👇
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Oliver Lindberg @oliverlindberg.com · 18/05/2026
Candi Williams is bringing the words at @pixelpioneers.co Bristol 2026 — with a talk on how language shapes great UX. Because every button label, error message, and tiny bit of copy is doing more work than you think. 👀 📍 Arnolfini, Bristol 📅 June 19 🎟️ pixelpioneers.co/events/brist...
A photo of Candi Williams speaking at an event, alongside the title of the talk she will deliver at Pixel Pioneers Bristol on 19 June 2026: Language - The Secret Sauce of Great UX
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 18/05/2026
CSS is DOOMed! nielsleenheer.com/articles/202...
nielsleenheer.com
CSS is DOOMed!
Every wall, floor, barrel, and imp is a div — DOOM rendered entirely in CSS. Using 3D transforms, CSS math functions, @property, clip-path, anchor positioning, and SVG filters to build a fully…
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Oliver Lindberg @oliverlindberg.com · 30/04/2026
50 days to go! @pixelpioneers.co is back in Bristol on 19 June, this time covering: 🚀 Browser support 🧑‍💻 UI layouts 🌱 Web sustainability 🤝 Accessibility 𖨆𖨆𖨆 Better collaboration ✍ Content design 🎵 Music with HTML 📈 Web performance 🧩 Design systems Tix: pixelpioneers.co/events/brist...
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David Bushell 🪿 @dbushell.com · 01/05/2026
reading: NHS Goes To War Against Open Source shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/05... Sigh.
shkspr.mobi
NHS Goes To War Against Open Source
The NHS is preparing to close nearly all of its Open Source repositories. Throughout my time working for the UK Government - in GDS, NHSX, i.AI, and others - I championed Open Source. I spoke to doze...
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 04/04/2026
Most difficult thing about parenting at Easter - remembering that you’ve put chocolate eggs inside the oven, microwave, shower and balanced on cupboard doors and not using any of those things before they’re found in the morning
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Stef Walter @stephaniewalter.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
The 2026 WebAIM Accessibility Report is out, and honestly, it makes me a bit sad. After years of slow but steady improvement, accessibility on the web is getting worse again. Full report: webaim.org/projects/mil...
Screenshot of the Detected errors graph: a Line chart showing average errors of around 60 in 2019 and 2020 decreasing to around 50 in 2021, 2022, and 2023, then increasing to 56.8 in 2024, then back down to 51 in 2025, then up to 56 in 2026.

Text above the graph reads: Across the one million home pages, 56,114,377 distinct accessibility errors were detected—an average of 56.1 errors per page. The number of detected errors increased 10.1% since the 2025 analysis which found 51 errors/page. "Errors" are WAVE-detected accessibility barriers having notable end user impact, and which have a very high likelihood of being WCAG 2.2 Level A/AA conformance failures.
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 03/04/2026
Some crazy stats in here about the number of satellites we’ve now launches into orbit. Nice visualisations too www.theguardian.com/science/ng-i...
theguardian.com
‘This feels fragile’: how a satellite-smashing chain reaction could spiral out of control
Today, the space around Earth can no longer be considered empty. More than 30,000 objects are in orbit, and that figure is rising exponentially
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 17/03/2026
My aim is to make short videos for devs (like me) who don't always have the time to watch a 30-minute deep-dive explainer. If there are any topics you'd like me to cover, let me know!
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 17/03/2026
I've decided to have a dabble into the world of making video content. If you're interested in HTML/CSS/JS, AI coding tips and tutorials, and just frontend topics in general, subscribe to my new channel, Frontend Guidelines. www.youtube.com/@FrontendGui...
youtube.com
FrontendGuidelines
Modern web tech, frontend AI workflows, and practical dev tips and tricks. Hosted by Ash Watson-Nolan, a developer from Wales, in the UK. Weekly videos that will provide you with clear, actionable gu...
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 09/11/2025
Really love the new W3C logo – simple but modern change www.w3.org/blog/2025/w3...
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 09/10/2025
Also, if you do like it (and have a Yoto account), please hit like at the bottom of the Yoto space page. The Top 10 entries get Yoto related prizes 😆 yoto.space/developers/p...
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 09/10/2025
I mainly built this as an excuse to show my eldest daughter how things get made with code, but I actually learnt a tonne from making it too. There's a small Technical info section on the Yoto card page which explains how the application is built.
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 09/10/2025
I built a thing! For any parents who know what a Yoto Player is, I submitted an entry for their Developer Challenge – Animal facts! It's a dynamic card app that updates daily with new animal facts. If you (or your kids) have a Yoto, check it out! yoto.space/developers/p...
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 08/10/2025
I'm really interested to hear devs' thoughts on this – When interviewing, do you prefer Live Coding or Take Home tests? I've made a poll on Reddit, which would be great if you could respond to, but I'd love to hear any thoughts on here too! www.reddit.com/r/webdev/com...
reddit.com
From the webdev community on Reddit
Explore this post and more from the webdev community
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 07/10/2025
If you want to fully dive down the rabbit-hole with CSS Layers, @css-tricks.bsky.social has (as ever) the go-to explainer css-tricks.com/css-cascade-...
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 07/10/2025
Feel very late to the game, but I've been reading up today on CSS Layers, especially with regard to reset styles. This article gives a good intro to why you'd want to use them with your reset styles > mayank.co/blog/css-res...
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 02/10/2025
Super cool to see Shopify Polaris (built on Web Components) has now become stable! www.shopify.com/partners/blo...
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 22/09/2025
Amazingly, our very own PIE Design System has been nominated in the 2025 Design System Awards for Best Adoption! If you'd like to help us out, you can drop us a vote in that category on the link below 👇👇🙏 awards.zeroheight.com/voting/
awards.zeroheight.com
Voting
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 13/08/2025
Want to work with me? (don't let that put you off!) We're looking for a talented Frontend Developer to join our Design System team at JET, working on pie.design – based in either our Bristol or Berlin office. If you're interested, drop me a DM! careers.justeattakeaway.com/global/en/jo...
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 12/08/2025
I’ve been hacking on a personal project the last couple of weeks. I’d almost forgotten how freeing it was to push code without waiting for code reviews and comments 😂
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 19/06/2025
Really enjoyed speaking at the @pixelpioneers.co warmup event this evening! Good luck to all of the speakers tomorrow - tremendous line up of talks to look forward to
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Oliver Lindberg @oliverlindberg.com · 22/05/2025
📣 We've teamed up with Just Eat to bring you a warm-up on the night before @pixelpioneers.co Bristol! Featuring talks by @gerireid.com and @ashn.uk and @whitep4nth3r.com! The event is free to attend, but as space is limited, please register to reserve your spot: pixelpioneers.co/events/brist...
Portrait shots of Geri Reid, Ashley Watson-Nolan and Salma Alam-Naylor
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 20/03/2025
Split - I like the visual separation. My brain just doesn’t parse unified as well for some reason
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 07/03/2025
In other news, I’ve been playing around using Cursor this week and enjoying it so far. It’s extremely good in certain use cases and can see myself using it a lot more > www.cursor.com/en
cursor.com
Cursor - The AI Code Editor
Built to make you extraordinarily productive, Cursor is the best way to code with AI.
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 07/03/2025
Wish the UK government would take more action in this area - mobile phones and social media do more damage to anyone under 16 than any supposed benefits www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Plan to ban smart phones in schools watered down by MP
The MP behind the bill says he has altered proposals in a bid to gain government support.
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Brian J. Karem @briankarem.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
I have covered presidential politics for 40 years. This was the most juvenile display by a President and Vice President I have ever seen. Other presidents treated their enemies with more respect. This is a low point and a dark day for the US. Totally embarrassing.
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 04/02/2025
Also, I'm almost ashamed to say that I had no idea that there was now a <search> HTML element?! Just goes to show how easy it is to miss things when working with the fast moving worlds of CSS/JS now #PracticalA11y
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 04/02/2025
Having that moment today after watching just enough of #PracticalA11y that I realise how hard some areas of our site must be to navigate for screen reader users. Learnt a lot about landmarks this week and the best way of using them to signpost content.
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Hawk Ticehurst @hawkticehurst.com · 28/01/2025
Don’t let anyone ever tell you that web components aren’t performant They can absolutely flyyy 😮‍💨
A screenshot of a local run of the JS Framework Benchmark. Several popular web frameworks are shown along with the vanilla JS implementations. The run for a vanilla JS HTML web components implementation is highlighted as the second fastest right behind vanilla JS.
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 30/01/2025
Yep, for sure - we roll our own web component library, but have taken a tonne of influence from Shoelace. Excited to see how tooling and standards can evolve as more people use Web Components
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 30/01/2025
Essentially, if you only wrap text inside a div or a span, you're explicitly marking that content as having no meaning 🤯
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 30/01/2025
Despite common misconception – `<div>` and `<span>` are semantic HTML elements – they represent generic containers and map to the aria `role=generic` (meaning that their content has no semantic meaning on it's own) #PracticalA11y
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 30/01/2025
*Opens can of worms* 😆
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 30/01/2025
Happy to hear @syntax.fm predicting more Web Component usage on their 2025 Web Dev Predictions episode! I do feel like we're at a tipping point where more devs will start using them, as more tools like Web Awesome get released later in the year. syntax.fm/show/866/202... #web
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 22/01/2025
They may not last that long…
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 22/01/2025
So TL;DR - I have 10 bars, 1 lil bits pack and a multipack. That’s literally all I could fit in my bag… 😂
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 21/01/2025
I have to self impose a limit, otherwise I’ll just wake up in my hotel room surrounded by empty chocolate wrappers 😂
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 21/01/2025
Just unbelievable really. Wildfires literally still burning as they’re withdrawing from an agreement that barely scratches the surface of what’s needed to turn things around
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Ashley Watson-Nolan @ashn.uk · 21/01/2025
In other news, I’m off to Amsterdam with work for a couple of days, and words can’t describe how excited I am to go back to the Tony’s Superstore and make my own chocolate bar again 😂
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