Letting us measure the ‘viewport’
that our page is rendered in –
and them adjust our designs based on that.
That’s pretty great,
until we start adjusting our designs
in more complex ways.
So right away developers were asking
to measure (or query)
not just the viewport,
but other elements on the page.
2011-2022Selector Queries Element Queries Container Queries
There have been multiple approaches to this
over the years,
using a variety of names…
And it became one of the
most requested features in CSS.
The browsers heard us asking,
and all responded in unison!
NO.
–
The Browsers
Not Ever.
–
The Browsers
Stop Asking.
–
The Browsers
Container queries will never be possible on the web. They would cause infinite layout loops.
–
The Browsers
But that was the past!
And we live in the future!
Sorry, not this future.
We get a global rise in authoritarianism.
Sorry, I used to have a joke there
about flying cars and spicy auto complete,
but… I don’t know.
I’m feeling sad about our industry obsession
with fancy new technology,
without seriously considering
how our algorithms will be used
by corporations or governments
to do large-scale harm.
What direction are we taking the web?
Is it a direction that helps real people,
or only the bottom line?
The fact we can control a paper page
is really a limitation of that medium.
–
John Allsopp, 2000
We’re not alone here
We’re part of an ecosystem
Our decisions impact other people
And on the web, we don’t get final say
We’re collaborating with browsers
Also the people who interact with our sites
(super cute in their handy tool belts)
On their chosen devices
(with varying capabilities)
And we’re also collaborating with…
aliens 👽
Maybe, who knows?
Web Designs
Need to Adapt…
@mediamin-width
@mediaprefers-reduced-motion
@mediahover
@supportscontainer-type: inline-size
Graphic design of unknown content with unknown collaborators, on an infinite and unknowable canvas, across operating systems, interfaces, languages, and writing modes…