I’d promised another devlog this week about why I’m using the Kelp library for my new website. Not gonna lie, I was putting it off for a while–but once I sat down and thought it over, I realized this particular post doesn’t need to be more than some bullet points. So here they are!
- “Back to basics” web development: The single biggest difference between Kelp and other UI libraries like React is that Kelp is built on web fundamentals: HTML, CSS, and Web Components. The only JavaScript you have to deal with is what you write yourself–no bucketfuls of clever DOM manipulations you don’t understand and might not need, no preprocessed CSS magic, no worrying about your page being unusable if JavaScript is disabled or broken, no rendering or even compilation. It’s good ol’ fashioned 90’s-style web design, but with all the best parts of modern web standards and browser capabilities.
- Accessibility-first design: everything in Kelp is accessible by default. Accessibility is an important part of web development, but it often gets overlooked because (a) the majority of developers don’t need it, so they either forget others need it or they put in a “seems good enough to me” effort instead of following actual standards, and (b) it’s hard. You don’t have to be an expert to get the basics right, just do your research–there’s no excuse for not even trying. But you do have to be an expert to get all of it right. With Kelp, that expertise is built-in, and will keep improving with every update.
- Elegant, flexible theming with beautiful (and pro-🏳️🌈) defaults: you can just read the docs if you want more on this one.
- Solid documentation: see above.
- A brilliant licensing model that I really hope catches on: Kelp’s license isn’t the only “fair-code” license out there, but it’s how I learned about the concept. It’s a very cool idea! It takes the best aspects of open-source licenses (contributing to the shared commons; free collaboration; lowering barriers to entry for entrepreneurs, hobbyists, and not-for-profits; etc.) and puts some safeguards on them to ensure that developers get fairly compensated for their work and get a say in how their software is used. Kelp’s license, for example, specifically prohibits its use for projects that promote censorship, fascism, and discrimination, or that profit from things like tobacco and deforestation. Cool!
- A developer who is a great writer and a rad person overall: I’ve mentioned him a couple of times before. Go check out his blog!
In Search of Secrets 