A quiet rebuild: assets, webcmd, and accessibility

03 Jan 2026

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Over the last day I made a round of changes that do not scream “new feature,” but materially improve how this site loads, behaves, and feels – especially for readers who use keyboard navigation or assistive tech. This post is a quick technical walkthrough of what changed, why it matters, and how it helps you as a reader.

1) Consolidated assets into one place

Previously the site had both public/ and assets/, which caused confusion and occasional broken paths. I merged everything into assets/ and updated all references.

What changed

• CSS, JS, and favicon files moved from public/ to assets/.
• All templates now link to /assets/....
• The web manifest and webcmd page were updated to the new paths.

Why it helps readers

• Fewer path mismatches means fewer broken resources.
• Simpler structure makes maintenance faster, which reduces future regressions.

2) Modernized the favicon setup

I added an SVG favicon and kept the ICO fallback for broad support.

What changed

• assets/favicon.svg is now the primary favicon.
• assets/favicon.ico remains as a fallback.
• The <link rel="icon"> tags were updated accordingly.

Why it helps readers

• SVG is crisp at any size; it looks sharper on modern devices.
• ICO fallback preserves compatibility on older browsers.

3) Webcmd got a real upgrade

/webcmd/ is still the command-line page – but it now matches the rest of the site and behaves more predictably.

What changed

• Webcmd now uses the default layout and site theme.
• The command UI is more readable and consistent with the Nord palette.
• Help output is semantic (lists + headings), easier to scan, and displayed in two columns on desktop.
• The find command now appears in the Searches section (where it belongs).
• Navigation commands (ph, p, pi, pr) now use relative URLs so they stay on localhost when you are testing.

Why it helps readers

• The page is easier to read and use, especially on mobile.
• Commands work the same in dev and production.
• The help panel is much more legible.

4) Accessibility pass (WCAG-oriented)

I did a focused accessibility sweep across the main site templates (excluding jsgames/) with WCAG 2.1 AA as the target.

What changed

• Added a Skip to content link and a proper <main> landmark.
• Sidebar toggle now updates aria-expanded and is keyboard-operable.
• The search overlay now traps focus and restores focus on close.
• “Annotate me” is now a real <button> (not a clickable <span>).
• Improved focus styles and general keyboard flow.

Why it helps readers

• Keyboard users can reach content faster.
• Screen reader navigation is clearer and more predictable.
• Dialog behavior is now much closer to expected modal behavior.

5) Reduced Disqus noise on non-post pages

Disqus counts were being loaded everywhere. Now they only load on posts that explicitly allow comments.

Why it helps readers

• Less third-party JS on pages that do not need it.
• Cleaner performance and fewer surprise widgets.

6) New documentation

To keep this sustainable, I wrote a few new internal docs:

• docs/webcmd.md explains how the command engine works and how to add new commands.
• docs/accessibility.md captures accessibility conventions and checks.
• The README was updated to link to both.

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In short

This was a maintenance sweep – but the impact is tangible: the site is more consistent, easier to navigate, more accessible, and easier to extend.

If you notice anything off, ping me. Otherwise, I will keep iterating on the small stuff that makes reading feel smooth.