This was quite a year for web development. It seemed like every week there was a new framework or tool appearing on the scene. Below are what I consider the highs and lows of web development in 2014.
The Good
- Increased industry focus on web performance
- SVG has become a popular way to display resolution independent graphics
<picture>andsrcsetbegan appearing in major browsers- Grid systems such as Bootstrap and Foundation made it easier for non-front-end developers to create responsive sites and applications
- The Higher Ed RWD directory reached 252 entries
The Bad
- Scroll-jacking is on the rise
- Average web page sizes continue to increase (breaking 1600K)
- Giant background videos that serve no real purpose are showing up everywhere
The Future
My personal hope for 2015 is that perf becomes ever more important. Hopefully as solutions for responsive images gets adopted more thoroughly, average page sizes will actually drop for once. Maybe as a community we can worry less about what’s shiny and new and put a little more focus on web fundamentals and remember that universal accessibility is what makes the web great.