lufra-design is a site where I'll be sharing my design and development work with you. It's a space where I can experiment with new ideas and showcase my passion and creativity. Moreover, I aim to use it also to recognize and recommend other inspiring individuals who shape my work and to connect with fellow designers and developers on topics that spark my passion.

I hope to foster a community of like-minded individuals who share my enthusiasm for designing and creating inclusive experiences.

The Importance of inclusivity and accessibility in design

"Though we see the same world, we see it through different eyes."

The quote from Virginia Woolf is a beautiful reminder of the empathy we need to have towards others' experiences. It highlights the fact that each individual has their own unique perspective and perceives the world differently.

"Though we experience the same world, we experience it through different senses."

This seems even more fitting to me, because it acknowledges that not all individuals can rely on eyesight as a primary sense to experience the world and that our experiences go beyond just what we see, encompassing all other senses.

By designing for a broad range of abilities and backgrounds, we can ensure that everyone has access to experiences that are enjoyable and welcoming, regardless of individual sensory perceptions.

Excluding individuals from certain experiences based on their abilities or backgrounds is not only a societal issue, but also a moral one. As designers, it is our responsibility to consider accessibility in all our design choices and to create experiences that are inclusive and accessible to all individuals. Accessibility should not only be seen as a legal obligation, but also as an ethical obligation that we owe to our users.

Inclusive design is not focused on a specific need or a group of people, it benefits all users by improving usability and user experience in their respective varying situations. It is essential to remember that we all have different needs, preferences and abilities and that by designing with inclusivity and accessibility in mind, we can create a better world for everyone.

Building my site with Jamstack, Astro and Sanity

Jamstack is the perfect solution for my needs, as I'm not building a complex application, but rather a static multi-page site with basic routing. I'm committed to keep performance high and network traffic low, which means that my website can load quickly even on lower bandwidth connections and older devices, providing a seamless user experience for all visitors.

For the frontend, I chose Astro. Having followed the Astro community for a few months, I was inspired to use it after researching open source frontend libraries at my previous workplace, while planning the launch of our own open source library. Astro's great performance for Multi page applications and its ecosystem of useful integrations, like Sitemap, RSS Feed and Sanity, make it a top choice for building my website. Additionally, Astro offers a fantastic usability and developer experience.

On the backend, I went with Sanity, which is easy to use even for someone without extensive backend development experience like me. My knowledge of databases is limited, so being able to write a simple schema in Sanity has been super helpful. Sanity also offers image hosting in the cloud, which is another big plus.

Finally, I opted for an RSS feed to allow readers to consume content without needing to switch apps or visit different websites. I started using RSS feeds back in 2018 when I only had 500 MB of mobile data volume per month, which was always rapidly consumed by ads and the cluster of tracking packages that news sites and apps send to you when you just want to read an article.

Using RSS feeds can be a refreshing change in this age of cookie banners and anti-AdBlock popups. I highly encourage you to give it a try and see how it can simplify your content consumption while also helping you take control of your data usage. With cross-platform options like Feedly and self-hosted solutions like Winds, it's never been easier to curate your own personalized news and blog feed.

Join me on this journey

Let's work together towards building a digital future that is welcoming to everyone by creating designs that accessible and inclusive for all individuals. I'm excited to connect and collaborate with you on this mission!