ICYMI: Takeaways from the 2025 State of the Browser conference

State of the Browser (SotB) is a virtual and in-person conference that’s been held almost annually since 2011. This year was the 13th installment, and in case you missed it, we’ve compiled all the most interesting takeaways for you right here!

All the talks will be edited and uploaded to the London Web Standards website soon.

This conference, hosted by London Web Standards and held at the Barbican Centre in London, brings together individuals interested in creating a better web. 

This year’s talks covered various topics, from having fun with accessibility to mindful design choices. Here’s the list of talks you might have missed! 

Unlike some larger industry conferences, SotB doesn’t use a multi-track format, which, in all honesty, can be overwhelming for some attendees. It can also bring about feelings of FOMO with too much going on simultaneously. SotB keeps it simple. 

This is just one of the reasons why attendees look forward to this conference every year. Hosted over a single day with a single track of discussions, SotB offers a user-friendly conference format that’s all about making the web more user-friendly. 

While the format may be simple, the topics are anything but basic. Let’s examine what each speaker discussed and why these are critical discussions in design and development today.

Andreas Kling is a Swedish-born developer building a new browser called Ladybird. This was the focal point of his talk. 

Ladybird will be a truly independent web browser and engine. What does this mean exactly? 

Because this browser is being built from the ground up, it will take time to get it off the ground. Kling seems to be aiming for a 2028 release date. 

If you’re interested in solutions powering a decentralized web, this is a great talk. You’ll hear about Kling’s journey to building the browser, the challenges he’s facing, and the roadmap for development.

Niya Dobazova is a student of web design and development at the University of Greenwich. Her talk revolved around enabling light and dark mode on websites. 

Like most devices, browsers allow users to toggle between light and dark mode. The problem is that not every website follows each user’s existing browser preferences, nor is every website equipped with a light/dark mode toggle of its own.

Dobazova argues that because we can’t predict which mode most users want—and, more importantly, we shouldn’t make decisions based on the majority’s preference—we must allow each user to choose. 

By doing this, developers will effectively provide a more optimal and accessible viewing and reading experience for everyone. She demonstrated how to achieve this using the light-dark() function.

By the way, if you’d prefer to create your own light/dark mode, we have some tutorials that will help:

Josh Tumath is a developer at the BBC and Cascading Style Sheets Working Group (CSSWG). He’s worked on bringing the BBC’s WebCore Design System to life, which is relevant as his talk focused on making documentation and APIs more user-friendly. 

Tumath reminded the audience that we always prioritize putting the end user first. He made a good point when he asked, “Why don’t we consider ourselves end users too?” Just because web designers and developers are often more technically minded than laypeople, that doesn’t mean that documentation should be complex and difficult to use.

Tumath discussed the lessons he’s learned while building and supporting APIs and design systems. Not only do they need to be scalable, but they also need to be so intuitive that users (even the most tech-savvy) don’t need to refer to endless documentation to figure them out. 

Even if you don’t develop technical documentation, this is a valuable session if you’re interested in user experience and how to balance it with competing priorities.

Manuel Matuzović is a Vienna-based front-end developer. His talk was about color and how to use CSS to do more with it.

One of the first things Matuzović argued is that developers should move away from using RGB and HEX and instead use HSL (Hue-Saturation-Lightness) color values, as they’re easier for developers to read and implement. Even then, he believes there are superior solutions to configuring colors in CSS.

In particular, he believes that the Lab color space and LCH (Lightness-Chroma-Hue) system are the best solution. Developers will find there are fewer limitations in terms of color ranges. Moreover, you’ll be able to create more flexible and scalable design systems.

Here’s what Luke Murphy thought of the talk!

Whatever your preferred method for curating color and developing gradients, this talk will provide you with a lot of insight. 

Scott Riley is a web designer who specializes in early-stage, responsible design. So, it’s only natural that his talk was centered around rethinking the way we build digital experiences for humans. In other words, how do we move away from dopamine-driven design and allow for self-determination?

During his talk, he dug into two important disciplines in web design:

If you’ve been looking for a way to set your work apart from the cold, unoriginal, and machine-like experiences offered by Big Tech platforms, this is a talk worth listening to.

Sara Joy is a front-end developer passionate about web accessibility and teaching people how to make their own websites. She’s also quite nostalgic for the early days of the web.

What’s unique about her talk is that, while she was indeed focused on accessibility, she put a unique spin on it. At its core, she wanted to know why accessibility has to be all work and no play.

Of course, getting the functionality right is crucial in accessible web design. If users can’t fully interact with or understand the products you build, that’s a huge problem. Yet Joy wonders if it’s possible to make accessible experiences more lighthearted and enjoyable.

During her talk, Joy explores ideas like planting Easter eggs for people to find using assistive technology or adding fun lines of poetry to alt text. 

If you’ve found yourself dreading the implementation of accessible features and functionality because it feels dry, Joy’s talk may inspire you to think differently about it.

Oliver Schöndorfer is a freelance designer from Austria with a special appreciation for typography. His talk also chipped away at the idea that accessible design needs to be boring and uninspired. 

To start, he discussed common myths when it comes to accessible typography, including: 

The truth is that accessible design doesn’t need to be boring, ugly, or machine-like. Accessibility is about designing usable, readable, and enjoyable experiences for everyone. So the aesthetics and feel of your digital experiences still matter a ton. 

Throughout this discussion, Schöndorfer gave designers tips on how to express themselves creatively and their brand values through typography without compromising form and function. 

If you’re eager to learn more about accessible design but want to remain empowered to be creative, this is a great talk.

With so many industry conferences every year, choosing which ones to give your time and money can be hard. It’s easy to see why people keep returning to SotB year after year since 2011. Unlike some larger conferences, SotB provides a more intimate environment and focused discussion over the day. And if you’re passionate about things like user-first web design, the open web, and accessibility, this is a great one to catch, even if you’re not local to London. Remember, you can watch the videos soon on the London Web Standards site.

I’d also argue that conferences like this are a great opportunity to rediscover your passion for design and development. We’ve all been affected by massive disruption in recent years, from worldwide shutdowns to the rise of AI. So it’s nice seeing folks who feel empowered to make the web a better place for us all, despite it all. 

Speaking of the web being a better place, to take your design inspiration up a notch, check out Andy Clarke’s recent articles about using poster design and fanzine design to inform your web design ideas.

And, with that, I’ll leave you with this insight Josh Tumath shared on his Bluesky account: