Mat Marquis reminds us that web design is scrappy business. He inspires us to fight for what we truly believe in. He shows us how we can take our designs and skills further by learning a little code. He motivates us to continue to hone our communication skills by writing a lot. He also encourages us to surround ourselves with people who inspire us, and make us better.
Mat Marquis is an Inclusive Web Developer at Bocoup where he makes fast, accessible and responsive websites. He’s the Chair of the Responsive Issues Community Group where he spearheaded the effort to bring native responsive image solutions to the HTML5 specification. He’s the author of A Book Apart published “JavaScript for Web Designers”. He’s a former editor at A List Apart, and member of the jQuery team. Mat is a frequent speaker at one of my favorite web conferences, An Event Apart. He’s an ex-carpenter, amateur boxer and also bakes a mean batch of croissants.
Aaron Gustafson inspires us to build a web for all people. He encourages us to keep an open mind about perspectives that are different than our own. He motivates us to keep focused on context when it comes to the users we’re designing for. He also challenges us to plant seeds of growth in others by making ourselves available and open to new opportunities.
Aaron Gustafson is passionate about web standards and accessibility as would be expected from a former manager of the Web Standards Project. In his two decades working on the Web, he’s worked with companies such as Happy Cog, Major League Baseball, McAfee and The New York Times. He joined Microsoft as a web standards advocate to work closely with their browser team. He loves sharing his knowledge through writing. His three-part series on progressive enhancement for A List Apart is a perennial favorite and his seminal book on the subject, Adaptive Web Design, has earned him numerous accolades and honors. When he’s not writing, he’s probably on the road presenting at conferences and running workshops across the globe. He is a longtime member of Rosenfeld Media’s “experts” group and former technical editor for A List Apart. He and his wife also brokered and produced the DVD release of Drawing Flies which was also produced by Kevin Smith (of Clerks fame who also happens to be a fellow comic book nerd).
