Pixel Pioneers Bristol

Director of TetraLogical

There Is No Spoon
Generative AI can feel astonishingly real, but like the spoon in The Matrix, it is nothing more than an illusion — patterns of probability masquerading as truth. Just like Neo had to bend his mind to see beyond the illusion, we must recognise that AI does not understand, reason, or perceive reality; it just generates plausible facsimiles. This talk will explore the relationship between humans and generative AI, particularly in the realm of accessibility, where accuracy, clarity, and real-world impact are critical. We’ll examine the risks and limitations, but also the extraordinary potential of AI as a means to make the world more accessible.

Senior software engineer

Debugging Web Performance
In this talk, we'll look at how to get started debugging your website's performance: how to spot issues your users are having, how to replicate them locally, and then how to use the tools available to understand and resolve the issues. A lot of performance tools can be overwhelming at first but once you get started they can present you with a wealth of information and in this talk we'll see how to break it down, interpret it, and use it to boost your performance and ultimately the experience for your users.

Front-end developer

Maintaining and Modernising Legacy CSS
In recent years, updates in CSS have given us many exciting possibilities for creating modern, dynamic web experiences. Yet, for many developers, the day-to-day reality often involves working within the constraints of legacy codebases. In her talk, Ana will explore practical strategies for navigating the challenges of maintaining and modernising legacy CSS. Is refactoring an option? What are the pros and cons of this? How do we approach stakeholders? And if refactoring is not an option, how do we prioritise and initiate changes, measure improvements and quick wins? With her many years of finding the balance here, Ana will share lessons from past experiences and look forward to what's ahead.

Product designer and design leader

From 0 to Scale: Building and Transforming Design at Startups & Scaleups
How do you set up design for success in a fast-moving startup? And how do you scale it when the company grows? Over the past four years, Rachel has tackled both challenges — bootstrapping design as the first hire at an early-stage startup and leading design transformation at a scaleup. Along the way, she learned that great design isn’t just about pixels. It's about collaboration, speed, and setting up the right foundations so both designers and developers can build better products, faster. In this talk, Rachel will share practical insights and examples from her time at Tessl and Multiverse on: • Choosing and implementing component libraries to speed up iteration for both design and engineering • Strategies for establishing a culture of great cross-functional collaboration from day one • Adapting design systems and processes as the company scales — without slowing teams down • Defining and executing a strong design vision that can drive change over time • The do’s and don’ts of hiring: from making the first design hire to scaling a team Whether you're a designer looking to build better collaboration with engineering, or a developer wanting to understand how design can evolve with your product, this talk will offer actionable takeaways for working together to build great products at any stage.

Technical co-founder and software engineer

Lightning Talk: Browsers vs the OS – How to Reach End Users
The browser is arguably the most critical platform today, serving as one of the most important applications to access everything, from essential productivity tools to cutting-edge AI services. It's the engine driving the open web, but what happens when the operating system itself becomes a gatekeeper, actively working against user choice? Thomas Beverley, co-founder of the indie browser Wavebox, has firsthand experience navigating these challenges. He’ll expose the specific techniques used by operating systems like Windows to limit user choice. He’ll explain why this matters – not just for user freedom, but for browser competition, innovation, and ultimately, for developers and designers trying to reach their audience. And why there’s a growing coalition of browser developers speaking out and calling for action. Join Thomas to explore this critical battleground, understand the forces shaping browser access, and consider how we can ensure the path to end users remains open.

Interactive motion designer

2D to 3D and Back Again
Chris will guide you through making an interactive animation in 2D using JavaScript code with Greensock. You’ll learn how to set up an SVG vector file in Ai (not that one, Chris means Illustrator!!) before you animate, trigger GSAP animation code using JavaScript and discover why easing can make or break your result. Then Chris will recreate the same interactive animation in 3D using Spline, a no-code platform (utilising Three.js under the hood). Again, you’ll learn the how transitions and events work and how to think about translating work from 2D to 3D.

Digital accessibility specialist

ARIA, the Good Parts
The first rule of ARIA suggests it is better avoided if there is an HTML equivalent. Yet sometimes, the right use of ARIA can improve your UI better for end users. In this talk, we’ll look at practical examples of effective ARIA usage and how they work in assistive technologies. Find out more about the patterns that have broad support and which ones to avoid. Let’s look at ARIA, the good parts!

Senior product manager

Lightning Talk: Pay the Web Forward – A New Approach to Content Monetization
The web was built on openness, but today’s monetization models can and often create barriers. In this talk, we’ll explore how Web Monetization offers a new way forward: a simple, privacy-respecting protocol that enables streaming micropayments to flow directly to content owners as users browse. You’ll get a look under the hood at how Web Monetization works, the challenges it addresses, and how you can start experimenting with this model in your own projects. Whether you're building content platforms, supporting others with publishing their websites, working on browser tooling, or just curious about open standards and the future of the web economy, this session will offer insights into a more expansive model for monetization that’s more aligned with the web's original spirit.

Fractional developer experience leader

Death of the Browser
In ten years, internet browsers may be nostalgic memories. “Information wants to be free,” but the internet has evolved from an open information highway into a congested maze of walled gardens, ad-powered content, and algorithmic manipulation. This is what Cory Doctorow terms “enshittification,” and it happens to all products as they mature and are monetised. However, this complexity has created an opportunity for AI-powered solutions to put users back in the driver’s seat. This talk explores how AI agents can transform our relationship with the internet, shifting from platform-centric to user-centric interactions. We'll examine how AI can create adaptive interfaces that adapt to individual needs and preferences while providing privacy and accessibility features unmatched by browser providers. We'll also dive into the technical implications of this shift, discussing how AI agents are using techniques honed by the web scraping community to bypass traditional data monopolies and extract content buried in HTML soup. We’ll explore emerging and existing technologies and methods for direct content distribution and access, from RSS feeds to the AT Protocol, and the infrastructure needed to support this new paradigm of internet interaction. Discover how AI agents aren't just tools for automation – they're the key to reclaiming the internet's original promise of universal information accessibility while building a more user-centric digital future.