Learn why accessible web design matters for everyone — not just users with disabilities. Lindsay Miller joins Podcast Awesome to discuss WCAG, ADA, design best practices, and tools for accessible development.

🚨 In this insightful episode of Podcast Awesome, host Matt Johnson is joined by Lindsay Miller, accessibility advocate and member of the Web Awesome team, for a deep dive into the principles, practices, and purpose of accessible web design.

Together, they explore what web accessibility really means, debunk common misconceptions, and offer practical insights for developers, designers, and digital creators. From ADA compliance and WCAG standards to UI/UX challenges, you'll learn how small choices—like proper contrast ratios or semantic HTML—can have a big impact.

🔍 Key Topics Covered:

• What accessibility means on the web (hint: it’s about inclusion, not just disability)
• Designing and coding with empathy: serving users with temporary, situational, or permanent impairments
• Why legal compliance matters: WCAG, ADA, Section 508, and how lawsuits are shaping the web
• Real-world design challenges: from color contrast to font sizes
• How Web Awesome components are accessibility-first
• Tools, resources, and guidelines used by accessibility professionals

🛠️ Mentioned Resources:

• WebAIM.org
• WAI-ARIA Authoring Practices
• The A11Y Project
• Nielsen Norman Group’s accessibility guides

Whether you're building for clients, open-source, or your own product, this conversation is a must-listen for anyone who believes in a more usable, equitable internet.

🎧 Produced and edited by Matt Johnson
🎵 Theme song: By Ronnie Martin | interstitials by Zach Malm
🔊 Mastering by Chris Enns at Lemon Productions
📹 Video editing help from Isaac Chase / @theisaacchase

Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!

Font Awesome 7 Here We Come! 

In this episode of Podcast Awesome, we’re serving up a heaping helping of new icons, fresh features, and ProPlus goodness with Font Awesome 7! Host Matt Johnson is joined by icon designers Jory Raphael and Noah Jacobus to break down what’s new — like seven all-new icon packs, a smoother-than-butter upgrade path, and under-the-hood improvements that make your icons sharper, faster, and slicker than ever.

Is it too many icons? Maybe. Are we going to stop? Absolutely not.

🎙️ Listen in as we talk about the design tweaks, ProPlus perks, and the iconic (heh) collabs that made Font Awesome 7 a reality. Plus, we drop some exclusive details on the biggest sale of the year!

💥 Don’t miss out — hit play and then ... Go make something awesome.

Timestamp Summary

🌟 0:00 | Font Awesome 7 Launch: New Icons and Features Unveiled
🚀 3:37 | Font Awesome 7 Enhancements and New Pro Plus Icon Packs
🎨 9:24 | Icon Designers Unleash Creativity with Font Awesome Pro Packs
🌌 17:18 | Creative Icon Design Inspired by Silicon Valley and Cosmic Events
🧠 21:09 | Innovative Icon Design and Preparation for Launch
✏️ 24:00 | Creating Art with Thumbprint Drawings and Icon Packs
🧭 24:48 | Creative Exploration and Unique Icon Design Inspirations
🔍 29:17 | Exploring Icon Packs and Their Creative Development
📦 32:05 | Font Awesome 7 Launches With New Plans and Icon Packs
📣 34:57 | Font Awesome 7 Pro Plus Icon Packs and Marketing Ideas

Resources & Links

• 🎶 The Podcast Awesome theme song was composed by Ronnie Martin: https://ronniemartin.org/

• 🎵 Music interstitials by Zach Malm: https://muzach.bandcamp.com/

• 🎛️ Audio mastering by Chris Enns at Lemon Productions: https://www.lemonproductions.ca/ 

• "After School Keyboard Club" https://pixabay.com/music/video-games-after-school-keyboard-club-casio-vl-tone-80s-chiptune-retro-151684/

• Font Awesome on the Socials

• 🌤️ Bluesky: @fontawesome.com

• 🐦 Twitter/X: @fontawesome

• 📸 Instagram: @font.awesome

Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!

🎬 Summary

In this Nerd Show & Tell episode of Podcast Awesome, we finally catch up with the one and only Isaac Chase — the wizard behind our ever-growing library of video content at Font Awesome. From his early dreams of making it in film and television to becoming a full-time creator on our team, Isaac shares about the challenges of starting in the film industry during the COVID era, storytelling in marketing, and more.

We chat about his background in film and marketing, his favorite movies (slow burns, unite!), creative influences, and how his love for storytelling finds a home even in screencasts and product walkthroughs. Plus, Isaac drops his hot take on the next big icon pack idea (we're looking at you, Severance fans 👀).

🧠 Key Takeaways

🎓 College Grad, Creative Dad Connection
Isaac studied digital film and TV production at Missouri State University and joined Font Awesome part-time during the industry-wide writer/actor strikes — eventually going full-time thanks to a well-timed offer (shoutout to Travis Chase, a.k.a. Isaac’s real-life dad).

🎥 From Film Sets to Screencasts
His deep love for film — especially slow-paced, thoughtful stories like The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Past Lives, and Arrival — translates into his thoughtful, user-focused approach to content creation at FA.

📼 Video, Video, Video!
Isaac helped launch our video podcast format and has been leading the charge on screencasts, animations, and behind-the-scenes storytelling (more to come on that, soon!)  🎬

💻 Learning on the Job = Built-in Bonus
Despite not having a dev or design background, Isaac's learned loads about accessibility, UI, and component-based design just by working on educational content — and he's loving every minute of it.

🧃 Favorite Icon?
The cup-to-go ☕ icon has a special place in his heart (because coffee + nostalgia), and he’s got a soft spot for our teleportation icon too. ✨

🎨 Design Nerd in the Making
Outside work, Isaac’s nerding out on graphic design, especially in music merch and poster art. He’s diving into the visual side of music culture — and working with musician friends on their branding.

⏱️ Chapter Markers

🟡 00:00 – Introduction to Podcast Awesome
🎥 01:13 – Isaac’s role at FA and current projects
🎓 03:21 – Isaac’s background in film, college, and the writer's strike
🛠️ 09:12 – From film school to corporate creativity
🍿 11:22 – Favorite movies and the magic of slow storytelling
🎞️ 16:46 – How filmmaking skills shape his current work
📺 22:55 – Screencasts, branding, and learning to teach
🎨 29:43 – Nerding out on design, music merch, and FA icons
📦 32:33 – Isaac’s icon wish list (hello, Severance pack!)
🎉 44:00 – Wrap-up and thank-yous

Produced and edited by Matt Johnson
Edited by Isaac Chase
Theme Music by Ronnie Martin
Interstitials by Zach Malm
Mastering by Chris Enns at Lemon Productions 🍋

Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!

Episode Summary

What makes design hard? It’s not just pixels, software, or tools — it’s people. (Yep, you. And me. And all of us.) In this episode, I sit down with my friend Bryan Zug, co-author (along with Scott Berkun), of the book, Why Design is Hard, to talk about why good design is more than just good ideas — it’s about relationships, collaboration, and the messy, sometimes painful reality of working on creative teams.

Bryan was there in the early days of the web, hacking together sites before CSS was even a thing. He’s built products, led UX teams, and helped companies like Amazon and Zillow figure out how to make design work at scale. But more than that, he’s a community builder, the kind of guy who started hosting backyard firepits during COVID just to keep people connected.

I’ll be honest — this conversation was brutal to edit because Bryan has so much insight to share. If you’ve ever struggled with design bottlenecks, team dynamics, or just getting your ideas off the ground, this one’s for you.

What We Cover in This Episode

💡 Why great design is really about great relationships
 🎨 How designers can avoid getting stuck in “artifact culture” 
 💻 What designers actually do in the real world 
 📖 How storytelling can make or break your influence as a designer
 🤝 The secret sauce to making cross-functional teams actually function
 🦄 Why the lone “unicorn designer” era is over — and what comes next 

*Factually accuracy check at playback: Bryan informed me he misspoke at 7:11 when he said he was at Amazon when the pandemic hit — I was actually Zillow. NBD. Audio not edited. 

⏳ Timestamps

⏲️ [00:00] Intro – A Conversation Years in the Making

⏲️ [02:15] The Big Idea: Why Design is Hard

⏲️ [08:40] The Myth of the “Design Hero”

⏲️ [14:25] Why Design Decisions Happen in Budget Meetings

⏲️ [19:30] The Red Flags of a Company That Doesn’t Truly Value Design

⏲️ [25:10] The #1 Skill Designers Need (Hint: It’s Not Figma)

⏲️ [30:50] What Ignite Seattle Taught Bryan About Telling Better Stories

⏲️ [35:15] Outro – Why You Need to Read Why Design is Hard

Links & Resources

📖 Grab a copy of Why Design is Hard

Learn more about the co-author, Scott Berkun: https://scottberkun.com/
🔗 Connect with Bryan Zug: @bryanzug.bsky.social
🎶 The Podcast Awesome theme song was composed by Ronnie Martin: https://ronniemartin.org/

🎵 Music interstitials by Zach Malm: https://muzach.bandcamp.com/

🎛️ Audio mastering by Chris Enns at Lemon Productions: https://www.lemonproductions.ca/ 

"Retro Race" https://pixabay.com/music/video-games-retrorace-108750/

Font Awesome on the Socials

🌤️ Bluesky: @fontawesome.com

🐦 Twitter/X: @fontawesome

📸 Instagram: @font.awesome

Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!

Design engineer. UX engineer. Front-end dev with opinions. What does it all mean?! In this episode, we sit down with Dave Darnes to untangle the ever-evolving world of design and development (And Dave is our first non-Font Awesomer on the pod!). We talk about why job titles keep getting weirder, whether "engineer" is a fair title for folks who work on the web, and how design systems can bridge the gap between teams. Plus, we explore the future of the role — will tools like Figma and AI replace design engineers, or will the internet always need humans who can actually build things?

🚀 Tune in for a fun, insightful, and slightly existential conversation about the intersection of design, dev, and the titles we give ourselves.

🏆 Key Takeaways

• Design Engineer: Job Title or Existential Crisis? Dave breaks down the blurry line between design and development and why this role exists.
• Gatekeeping vs. Open Web: How the internet has democratized career paths—and why some job titles might be a shield against skepticism.
• The Future of Design & Dev: Will tools like Figma and AI squeeze out design engineers, or is there always a place for people who build with craft?
• Design Systems & Developer Relations: Why advocacy (not nagging) makes or breaks adoption.
• Rockstar/Ninja/Unicorn Titles: Just ... don’t.

⏱️ Episode Breakdown

🕛 00:00 - Meet Dave Darnes – 🇬🇧 UK-based designer/developer, father of sick children (but still here for the podcast).

🎤 02:30 - The Legendary "David Darnes" Callout – A completely necessary and extremely fun moment of podcast magic.

🛠️ 06:45 - What is a Design Engineer Anyway? –  The Venn diagram of design and development overlaps in weird ways.

📛 12:15 - Why Job Titles Get Messy –  Specialization vs. generalization and the need to impress hiring managers.

🏗️ 18:30 - Engineer as a Title — Does It Matter? –  Structural engineers hold up buildings; do web engineers hold up the internet? (Kinda, yeah.)

🔄 24:00 - The Evolution of Design & Dev Roles –  How web components, CSS variables, and other tech are shifting expectations.

🥕 30:45 - How to Get People to Actually Use a Design System –  Hint: Be more carrot, less stick.

🤖 35:00 - The Battle Between Figma & AI –  Will design engineers survive the encroaching automation?

🔄 40:30 - If You Had to Rename 'Design Engineer'... – Dave's answer is almost annoyingly simple.

🔗 Resources & Links

• Check out Dave’s work: https://darn.es/

• His blog on design systems: designsystems.wtf

• Is 2025 the Year of the "Design Engineer"? 

• Submit your own “David Darnes” callout on his website (seriously, do it).

• 🎶 The Podcast Awesome theme song was composed by Ronnie Martin: https://ronniemartin.org/

• 🎵 Music interstitials by Zach Malm: https://muzach.bandcamp.com/

• 🎛️ Audio mastering by Chris Enns at Lemon Productions: https://www.lemonproductions.ca/ 

• "After School Keyboard Club" https://pixabay.com/music/video-games-after-school-keyboard-club-casio-vl-tone-80s-chiptune-retro-151684/

• Font Awesome on the Socials

• 🌤️ Bluesky: @fontawesome.com

• 🐦 Twitter/X: @fontawesome

• 📸 Instagram: @font.awesome

Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!