Had a super lovely wholesome chat with an accessibility focused service designer Eszter based in Budapest. She described the gov.uk design system as being 'like heaven' and prompted me to share inspiring things from UK gov like 'tell us once', applying 'universal barriers'. Thank you internet

Really looking forward to @ukgovcamp.com 🥳 Each one I've been to has been so different! wonderful community 💖

I need a mood booster, let's talk about capybaras. Here's a capy demonstrating one of MANY ways they can move through the water: running along the bottom. They're 'semi-aquatic' mammals, just like hippos, seals & beavers. They LOVE water. (📷: Fernando Maidana)

Like icing sugar on branches love when it snows! #uksnow

Snow in woods, faint rising sun #uksnow

Did I attempt to moonwalk in the snow first thing this morning? Of course. #uksnow

Fresh snow, pink horse #uksnow

An elderly relative who struggles with the concept of "the email" has developed a sudden desire to migrate to Linux. Our Lady of Perpetual Tech Support, pray for me.

Bike ride at last light I love how freeing it feels to cycle, even in chilly condition big moon tonight!

There are lots of circles in this image of chocolate milk It's freezing but feels like it will be a good day

Happy New Year! keep doing things which feel good in 2026! Quite like the last day of the year. This year has been 'interesting' and definitely challenging at times for me but there's also been lots of good bits 💖 Keep your sense of wonder and curiosity, always opportunities to learn and grow

Merry Christmas everyone! 🎄 A sunny but chilly day here in the countryside where I grew up. Grateful for my friends, family and the lovely people I've met through various digital gov, design, accessibility and craft communities. Thank you for your friendship and support this year 💖

Thinking about @vickytnz.bsky.social miss you 🥹 Been almost a year Comes in waves and sometimes it just hits you and you start tearing up

Today I'm going to listen to all the Christmas songs 🎄 Merry Christmas Eve! 😃

Santa told us that people that don’t add alt text are getting coal in their stocking this year.

If you ever get the chance to design, or redesign a public service/platform, please *start* with delegated authority user needs. It's *the* hard problem you can't afford to leave until later.

folks they are almost out of ai assistant names. there are not many left

The Department for Elfish Affairs 😉(totally real has tasked you with completing your Elf-cessability induction at Santa HQ. To become a fully-fledged junior Elf-cessability (accessibility) Specialist, you’ll need to take on a set of short accessibility challenges. elfcessability.lorithomson.co.uk

I wanna be the first FIFA Poet Laureate

Free therapy from the ticket machine

Disabled people do not owe able-bodied people a performance. If you don’t understand how invisible disabilities work, or the millions of ways disabilities can look, that’s something to start educating yourself on asap.

Beware of companies promising to make sites completely accessible, compliant, and immune from lawsuits with just a few lines of code. This just isn't possible. Disabled users have long said these tools don't actually help them, and can often make things worse.

Curious how many people have looked up "turn off Liquid Glass" I want to be able to quickly glance at the time, finding it harder to read. Who wants a see-through clock?

"do you do shower gel but solid" yes it's soap

Wrote a piece for the @zeroheight.com blog on annotating design system components for accessibility: zeroheight.com/blog/how-to-... #a11y

Cold morning frost

Very excited to be doing this! Thank you to @shaungomm.bsky.social and @catcutmore.bsky.social, and for mentioning @adhdpathfinding.org.uk

Friends, vikings, countrymen: lend me your eyes. May I present what just happened an hour ago in Iceland? It was an early, short substorm, but it was a good one. Literal space weather! #northernlights #aurora

i put the holiday house on top of the heated mat

really went dark for the sequel

A bit of a display at Sandside, north Scotland

Frost fringed

FYI, @sarasoueidan.com is doing a Black Friday sale for her Practical Accessibility course, and IMHO she's one of the best instructors you can get to teach you about accessibility! practical-accessibility.today

What a warm hug on a screen. Thankyou to the lovely folk who took time out of their lunch hours, to join the second session I’ve hosted to explore “how do we make brilliant products & services that create radically good change for people, planet & future generations”? ✊🏻🌍✨

Vibe coding has always been a trap: "when computers got good enough for renderings, everything looked amazing at first. You could construct an amazing-looking thing in half an hour, but “It didn’t help us make good buildings. It helped us make things that looked like they might be good buildings.”"

Look up mint hot chocolate and read this as 'add peppermint candles' 😅

A month ago I reported a hate incident to Stagecoach. They will have CCTV on the bus of what happened. I have not heard anything from Stagecoach other than receiving a feedback form asking how their customer service was. Not great.

I keep recommending people listen to Systems of Harm by @amyhupe.bsky.social People often shy away from topics like burnout, racism, activism, ADHD, trans exclusion, gender. I appreciate the authenticity, openness and depth. Thought provoking and entertaining. Brilliant guests and hosting 💯

My entire job is writing things (forms, guidance, advice and so on for government, charities, police, NHS) in a way people are more likely to read and understand and I can categorically tell you that most people do not read most things no matter how critical they are.

exercise class I go to every week is mixed levels but not for beginners, a fact which is mentioned on the booking page not only several times but SOMETIMES IN ALL CAPS, and the fact that we still get beginners in at least once a month does make me worry about how closely people read things online

I really don’t understand what Microsoft Teams is trying to be.

People are impacted everyday when accessibility isn't considered. It's not a distant, theoretical concept when you are directly impacted. When you assume that your service will have no disabled users it excludes people. Many people won't disclose until they come across something they can't do.

Autumn, awesome trees! Feel a sense of awe seeing the layers of colours and the tall trees reaching up towards the sky. So cool and vibrant.

From Jasper, Alberta

The northern lights and Milky Way over Berthoud Pass in Colorado last night.

Just a quick sketch today inspired by the aurora excitement. #art What a pleasure it is to see people posting about something joyful for a change 🥰

Waaaaaa we did it! Just woke up from a dream of “oh must remember to do that”, then no… it’s done! Whooop we did it @jocarter.bsky.social An epic day of #GCCy25

Also, this team here defies words. Continually amazed and impressed. @transform.wales

Had a fabulous time at @govcampcymru.bsky.social!! Thank you Wales! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿