Weeknote 2: The Details component could be yr life

Man I'm knackered. It doesn't feel like it's been a tiring work week but it's certainly been a tiring week. The outcomes were positive though. Let's get into it then I'm putting my feet up.

The details element is a pain in the bum

I spent most of this week focusing on investigating one of the 3 tricky issues from last year's DAC audit of GOV.UK Frontend. This one is how VoiceOver, the native screen reader software in iphones and macs, interacts poorly with our details component on Safari on iphone. Classic frontend environment specificity.

Because our details component is just a wrapper with some styling around the native details HTML element, this is most likely an issue at the vendor level, both with VoiceOver and iOS Safari. This is true but it also isn't because screen readers interpret elements with different display rules differently in often unclear ways, most notably block and inline-block elements. Former Design System tech lead, current new dad taking a break Ollie already looked into this before he went on paternity leave which I'm very grateful for. Most of this week has been assessing his solution and seeing if there's anything else that does it better, which there hasn't been.

I often struggle with investigations like this where you don't have your head down, making the thing, but I had an excellent chat with Anika, our accessibility specialist, yesterday that helped put the 3 issues into perspective. A reminder for me not to be afraid to pair early.

With the week at an end I've come around to feeling positive about these investigations.

Mid-year

It's also the mid-year review period which has taken my time away from explicit team work. Lots of feedback form filling in, chatting to line managers and line reports if you've got any. It can be a frustrating time trying to balance this with your day job, especially trying to write useful feedback for your peers. A teammate described the process as similar to school popularity contests which isn't untrue and adds to the stress.

I personally find it very tiring. Maybe this is saying the quiet part too loudly, but progression and recognition is something the civil service haven't really figured out. I had a really interesting chat with my line manager during my review where we discussed that I still care about my work and the product, but I'm at present not interested in developing specific skills. That doesn't line up with the objective-driven progression system present in at least Cabinet Office, because how do you represent maintaining high standards in an objective? Tangentially, there's something here around why it's hard for companies and gov departments to establish strategies for maintenance of their feature-complete service, because that's difficult to articulate and sell.

M'life

As I said it's been a tiring week. We've been having trouble with the circuit in our flat that controls the kitchen, the living room and the hot water. We've had a couple of electricians round who gave rough guesses but finally we got someone who identified a dodgy wiring job in one of the sockets in the kitchen and finally, issue solved. It's very nice to have a fully functional house again. Ice cold showers are rubbish.

Brazilian jiu jitsu update

I don't know if my gym has a promotion running at the moment but 2 Wednesdays in a row, loads of newcomers from the kickboxing class that happens right before the BJJ class have hopped into BJJ right after. A regular rotation of new people isn't something I had in my first year, the year just gone, so it's interesting both doing more teaching during drills and sparring with even more completely fresh people. I'm trying to strike a balance between sparring with new and more experience classmates. Offence practice, defence practice. That's how I'll grow.

Still only 2 classes this week. It feels comfortable and not too overwhelming. I think I'll stick to that for now.

BODEGA's new album and beyond

I'm going to see BODEGA at the end of October so I wanted to both refresh myself on their last album and listen to their new one from a few months ago. BODEGA feel both very familiar and distinct at the same time. Imagine the Strokes if they met in an art collective warehouse squat.

I know their first album Endless Scroll really well so only relistened to their second album Broken Equipment, and remembered why I didn't pay it much mind. It's an ok album but it's a lot of the same. The new one though, Our Brand Could Be Yr Life, is excellent. It feels like their sound has grown up. Tarvokski is on a loop on my phone. Well excited to see them.

Funny ha ha

Yesterday I went to MOTH club for a comedy night and it was fun! I haven't seen live comedy for ages. It's still a nice time.

In particular I was in tears watching Paul Foot who is funny in a surreal way that's difficult to articulate. If you're in London and willing to travel through Hackney Central past 11 on a school night, strongly recommend.