Wednesday 

Room 1 

11:40 - 12:40 

(UTC±00

Talk (60 min)

Do It With Style: Rethinking CSS

Cascading Style Sheets. CSS. The language everybody loves to hate. Everything's global, there's no control flow, there's no error messages... in fact, some people say it isn't even a real programming language.

Web
UI
UX

But CSS isn't just about making websites look pretty. It's one of the fundamental building blocks of the open web, and it's continuously evolving. Modern CSS has variables, grids, flexboxes, animations, view transitions... when it comes to layout, accessibility, interaction and validation, CSS can do all kinds of things you thought you could only do with JavaScript.

Dylan Beattie's been building web applications since before CSS was invented - yes, really - and in this session, he'll take you on a whirlwind tour of some of the weird and wonderful things you can do in 2026 using semantic HTML, a generous sprinkling of CSS, and absolutely no JavaScript.

OK, maybe a tiny bit of JavaScript. But absolutely no React.

Dylan Beattie

Dylan Beattie is an independent consultant who has been building data-driven web applications since the 1990s. He’s managed teams, taught workshops, and worked on everything from tiny standalone websites to complex distributed systems. He’s a Microsoft MVP, and he regularly speaks at conferences and user groups all over the world.

Dylan is the creator of the Rockstar programming language, and the founder, vocalist and lead guitarist with The Linebreakers, the world's greatest nerd comedy classic rock disco alt punk covers band.