Nic Chan
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nicmakesstuff.bsky.social
Nic Chan
@nicmakesstuff.bsky.social
codes on the weekdays and draws on the weekends. tech stuff, web accessibility, cats, and fire emblem💖

https://www.nicchan.me

Mostly on Mastodon @ https://indieweb.social/@NicMakesStuff
Merry Christmas! Thought this little street shrine decorated for Christmas was a cute but poignant statement
December 25, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Reposted by Nic Chan
I've had an execeptionally tough year.

I have no income or health insurance, and could really use your help finding my next paid project. 💜

semanticfish.com/2025-year-in...

Open to front-end, full-stack, design system, & accessibility projects. 10+ years experience.

Many more details in post!
2025: Year in Review | Semantic Fish Creative Group
This post gets personal about my experiences this year with grief, loss, health emergencies, and being disabled & working in accessibility in the US.
semanticfish.com
December 23, 2025 at 9:44 PM
My highschool classmate just sent me my yearbook entry and i just recalled i had a shoutout to my favorite irc channel... I was meant for this nerd life
December 22, 2025 at 6:20 AM
I was trying to pick out a new aircon and was overwhelmed with all the options. I went to the store and they immediately pulled up this chart, which has all of their available models arranged by brand and horsepower, with helpful info all in the listing. Maybe we're doing appliance e-commerce wrong
December 21, 2025 at 5:19 AM
Me upon seeing that YouTube has put the ability to put faster playback speeds behind a paywall: You fool, I have studied the arcane arts! -opens console-
December 20, 2025 at 4:03 AM
I'm at a mexican place and someone just asked for ketchup, is it time for the guillotine
December 18, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Reposted by Nic Chan
A rant in the face of the industry's continued neglect and outright hostility towards digital accessibility and care for users.

vale.rocks/posts/access...

#WebDev #Accessibility #a11y #FrontEndDevelopment
You Can't Opt-Out of Accessibility
Shiny exclusion all the way down.
vale.rocks
December 18, 2025 at 4:59 AM
I'm so good at self control. If can work through Steam showing me notifications that all my US friends are playing [random co-op game that I play with them on weekends] then I can work through anything.
December 18, 2025 at 3:22 AM
I'm at the once in a decade Kam Tin Jiao festival and the announcer just said 'the parade will now enter the grounds, please move out of the path of the dragon' and that's got to be one of the coolest loudspeaker announcements possible
December 16, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Apparently my latest blog post ranks for the keywords 'fuck' and 'fucking' and I cannot begin to tell you how disappointed people will be if they click into the post after searching for those terms 😅
December 15, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Today i went to the top of HKs tallest mountain to gather cow shit! I ain't passing up this opportunity to do a literal shit post! I also got to use a scythe for the first time, very fun
December 14, 2025 at 9:30 AM
I've volunteering at the shelter for 10 years and I have never seen a cat with face fluff as long as Hendrix. It's absurd!!
December 12, 2025 at 8:22 AM
I think my favorite thing about this is the level of intention. from the use of archival materials for the postmarks, the curated music playlists and the commissioned charcoal portraits, it reminds me of how wonderful the process of human creativity is. Hats off to Henry and Red!
🌧️ hey yeah it’s launch day. had a blast making this website with the inimitable @likethecolour.red, a Bluesky Account & in many ways a dear friend whose outlook on life inspires me deeply :)

this is a project made with love for the web, friends, and reiselust. i'm excited to share it with you.
Strangers By Spring
Strangers, By Spring is a blog about escapism, romance, and rebirth.
strangersbyspring.com
December 10, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Reposted by Nic Chan
I have a lot of thoughts on AI.

I've been working on this post for a couple of months now. It's very personal, characteristically lengthy, and sure to be at least somewhat controversial. Take it (or don't) as you will.

joshcollinsworth.com/blog/sloptim...
AI optimism is a class privilege
I think I have an idea why we're so extremely divided on AI: it's because we have an intuitive sense of who it stands to benefit, and who stands to pay the costs. I think whether you see reason for op...
joshcollinsworth.com
December 8, 2025 at 8:59 PM
My mom is simply the best. She willingly switched to Signal because I asked her to and will also compliment my work even though it has far too many f-bombs for her taste.
December 8, 2025 at 11:30 PM
Reposted by Nic Chan
“As a user, when I see a button that says ‘talk to our sales team’, I treat the entire region of the page with the same trepidation as nuclear waste.” – Nic Chan

www.nicchan.me/blog/the-f-o...
The f*** off contact page - Nic Chan
How to get people to NOT contact you
www.nicchan.me
December 8, 2025 at 3:30 PM
fyi in case you were wondering, if you ever make it to the top of hacker news you will receive emails at a rate of 10 emails per hour. Not sure if the chills I have right now is because of the fact I just got a flu shot or the fact my inboxes now a black hole 🤯
December 8, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Reposted by Nic Chan
I’ve never worked with Nic, but this post makes me want to.
If there's a better way to let people know you're available for work than writing a curse word laden blog post, I simply do not want to hear it!

Jokes aside, what do YOU call this kind of contact page?

www.nicchan.me/blog/the-f-o...
The f*** off contact page - Nic Chan
How to get people to NOT contact you
www.nicchan.me
December 8, 2025 at 7:55 AM
If there's a better way to let people know you're available for work than writing a curse word laden blog post, I simply do not want to hear it!

Jokes aside, what do YOU call this kind of contact page?

www.nicchan.me/blog/the-f-o...
The f*** off contact page - Nic Chan
How to get people to NOT contact you
www.nicchan.me
December 8, 2025 at 7:34 AM
Reposted by Nic Chan
I was talking to somebody about writing professionally and figured that the advice I gave was generally useful enough to publish for all, so here it is:

vale.rocks/posts/profes...

#Writing #WritingTips #FreelanceWriting
On Writing for Publications
Lessons from an incapable fool with a byline.
vale.rocks
December 8, 2025 at 5:40 AM
I've never seen the industry so reluctant to spend. I had a company with 9 figures (yes, in USD) in revenue turn down a low five figure quote for a custom solution that would be revenue generating.

As a side note, if you're looking for a web swiss army knife, your gal is free in Q1~
December 5, 2025 at 3:55 AM
Reposted by Nic Chan
HTMLHell smashing it out of the park on day one with this article from @5t3ph.bsky.social

Top layer troubles: popover vs. dialog

htmhell.dev/adventcalend...
Top layer troubles: popover vs. dialog - HTMHell
A collection of bad practices in HTML, copied from real websites.
htmhell.dev
December 1, 2025 at 9:21 AM
Take it from someone who's had the pleasure of seeing it up close and personal several times, the Set team always do right by their clients!
bell.bz Andy Bell @bell.bz · Nov 27
A bit of a vulnerable post by me but we need your help to get us through what has been a more difficult period than 2020.

It would be really appreciated if you could read and share in your networks too 💛

bell.bz/its-been-a-v...
It’s been a very hard year - Andy Bell
Unlike a lot of places in tech, my company, Set Studio/Piccalilli has no outside funding. Bootstrapped is what the LinkedIn people say, I think. It’s been a hard year this year. A very hard year...
bell.bz
November 27, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Trying to get news on the deadliest fire in recent history for hk but lol JavaScript
November 26, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Reposted by Nic Chan
Our Black Friday deals are now live!

Save £60 on *all courses* and everyone who buys a course during this period will be given a coupon code that they can use to get a 50% discount off future course purchases at any time.

piccalilli.link/black-friday...
Premium Courses
Expansive, high quality education to make you a better developer and designer. Join thousands of others in boosting your career opportunities.
piccalilli.link
November 25, 2025 at 9:00 AM