Static site takeaways

Updated: Thu Apr 17 2025

Working in just HTML and CSS was invigorating because I’d done it since the 1990s. There was something simple, pure, and frankly nostalgic about it.

Working with a static site generator indirectly made writing fun again (note I’m writing this sentence two weeks into the new year). To be able to update stuff, and have something not work-related (well, someone else’s work) to write about, in such a simple format as Markdown, felt really good, and rapid changes were easy.

I didn’t need a reminder about the importance of structure, metadata, reuse, and strategy, but it all felt natural — almost like I’ve done it for over 30 years.

Trying to work with documentation for several different pieces of software reminds me that yes, I too hate to RTFM. But there is a difference between good docs and bad docs, and it’s obvious. There is lots of opportunities for technical writers to improve developer documentation — if businesses are willing to pay for it. In my experience, they’re often not until it’s too late.

Accessibility

The other nice thing about creating sites from HTML is that you can control how it’s generated, and be sure to use the built-in elements to make my site accessible.

Final thoughts

Like any project, learning and implementing is a process. I often think I can skip steps in the process, especially when one of my end goals for this project is to promote myself while looking for a job. You can tell the early writing of these pages by the sheer amount of frustration in my (written) voice. When you’re not a full-time developer, writing code and building a website is more fun than video games. It’s also a lot easier to control everything when you’re a one-man shop. I did not do testing. I