Levelling up in 2025: What I'm excited to learn

Looking ahead to 2025, I’m filled with all the energising excitement of new learning adventures. 2024 has been a high-speed blink-and-you’ll-miss-it year of experimentation, revelation, and a lot of learning.

The more I take in, the more I panic at how much there is to explore and absorb, and that I can’t retain it all. It’s always grounding, but I’m ready to embrace even more of that in the year ahead.

So, here’s an early mini-ramble about what I’m going to focus on in the coming months:

Accessibility Competencies

One of my key goals for 2025 is Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC) certification. It’s something I’ve been steadily working towards - studying and reading up, applying what I’m learning to my projects, and generally just trying to understand accessibility on a more thorough level. The plan is to sit the exam at some point in 2025 (fingers crossed!)

Accessibility is an area I genuinely feel strongly about, and I really want to get deeper into the subject so I can make better decisions and just do better by others. I think aiming for CPACC gives me a good framework for learning, and if I pass, I’ll set my sights on the Web Accessibility Specialist (WAS) certification too.

Shelving old CSS habits

Recently, I’ve been reading through the Complete CSS course from Piccalilli, and it’s been an utter eye-opener so far (plan to do this course properly over the end-of-year break). Like much of their content, it’s forced me to rethink some of my old habits. I’ve been working with CSS for a long time, and it’s easy to fall back on what you know works.

Over the last 6-12 months, I’ve been gradually dismantling starter kits I’ve relied on for ages. I mean, you always tweak/add/amend/remove bits, but I want to make sure I’m not ignorantly sticking to outdated or overly safe methods when there could be a much-improved approach. I’m determined not to be complacent, and this year’s been about starting to overhaul my CSS approach, and I’m looking forward to pushing that in 2025 (and beyond.)

My goal is to stay current and stand a wee bit closer to understanding the boundaries of what’s possible. CSS is just endlessly fascinating.

Building better UI Kits

I been trying to learn more about how others are building modern, reliable UI kits. I’ve worked on an evolving UI Kit over the last number of years, but I really want to strip it down, almost start from scratch, and as mentioned earlier - I want to get rid of all the old safe/bad habits. Make sure I keep a modern mindset.

Aligned with this, I’m planning to look further into design systems from a development perspective. I’ve always dabbled, but I want to gain a better understanding of how to approach comprehensive, reusable systems - if anything, to make my own work more efficient and cohesive. I’ve got some great courses lined up from Maven and Design System University.

And, of course, I’m hoping this will simultaneously help me level up my Figma skills, look into its accessibility tools and capabilities, and essentially inclusive design.

Exploring more

Web Components: I keep reading about Web Components, and I’m keen to find out more. To be honest, I don’t know much about these yet, but the idea of creating modular, reusable elements in this format appeals to me.

Scott Jehl kindly offered his Web Components Demystified course, and it’s on my to-do list, so I’m excited to get a clearer understanding of how they work.

Astro.build and Vue.js: I’ve been experimenting with Astro and Vue.js more and more. Astro’s blissful simplicity and Vue’s flexibility just makes them a powerful combo I love. I’m excited to continue playing with both.

Reigniting ASP.NET: Many moons ago, used to be a full-stack ASP.NET developer, but over time, out of both necessity and curiosity, I found myself focusing on mostly front-end work. Over the last few months, I’ve been keen to revisit ASP.NET, and re-sharpen my C# skills (sorry!). To get back to feeling confident with back-end / server-side again, and catch up on all the stuff I’ve missed.

Headless CMS

In 2024, I spent some time with a few headless CMS platforms: Contenful, Cosmic, Strapi, and Sanity. Now, I’m interested in exploring some I’ve had exposure to before, like WordPress and Umbraco.

WordPress: I’m really intrigued by its headless capabilities, especially when it comes to using and rendering block themes via API. Never tried it, but I have a few opportunities to play with it and just need to set aside some dedicated time.
Umbraco: I’ve used Umbraco Heartcore before, it was one of the nicest headless systems I’ve tried. So I definitely want to have another go in 2025, so long as I can get a playground set up without breaking the bank.

Peeking out from my comfort zone

It’s not all about tech stuff - I’m also going to continue to try and become a better communicator. As a developer, it’s easy to get caught up in solo work and isolation. But I know its so important to connect, whether that’s collaborating, engaging more in conversations, and building relationships. I feel I’ve been in this wee bubble since 2020-2021, so in 2025, so I’m going to continue making it a priority to step outside of my comfort zone and grow and learn - not just as a developer, but as a person. So learning not to rely on the safety of isolation…

Around this, I also want to get better at talking over accessibility in a way that connects better with different people - whether it’s with clients, people I work with, or the wider devopment/design community. I know that being an advocate means speaking up, even when it feels awkward, or when I’m embarressed, or when I’m not sure how to say things the right way. I want to learn to get better at speaking up, and that probably means just doing it more. If anyone has any tips or resources, let me know!

And yes, I’m going to be committed to writing here. Writing is still fairly new to me, but I’m enjoying it more than I expected. I don’t think anyone’s reading, but that’s not the point. Writing has actually become a way for me to clear my head, reflect a bit, and maybe share something useful - even if it’s just a small thing that might help someone else. Or maybe it’s just a way to process my thoughts. Either way, I’m enjoying it.

On my radar

Guitar & Bass: I’ve played in bands for years, but never actually learned properly. Maybe just playing more is the best place to start.
Yo-yo: Honestly, I can’t explain this one - it know a few tricks, but I’d like to learn more.
Kayaking: Something about being out on the water just sounds like freedom - plus, it’s a great excuse to explore new places. Needs to be on nice lakes and rivers through.
Pottery or Sculpture (Beginner): This idea’s been living in my head for over a year - maybe time to finally give it a go.

Looking ahead

I’m genuinely looking forward to the year ahead and the opportunities it holds. Learning is an obsessive journey I’m always thrilled to go on.

So, what about you? What are you hoping to learn or improve on in 2025? I’d love to hear your plans!

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