Skip to content

Hi, my name is Brecht, Front-end developer

I'm a self-taught front-end developer and Google Developer Expert located in Belgium with a passion for UX and Design. After more than a decade working in tech, I decided to start a little blog for documenting my findings about HTML, CSS and JS with an eye on accessibility and UX.

During the day, you can find me working at iO on a variety of projects. There are a lot of environments I'm working in, the majority of them being Twig or React. But my real niche will always be semantics and CSS, especially now, with the ever fast updates in browser support. It's a great time to be a front-end developer.

Brecht De Ruyte - front-end developer | utilitybend

Latest articles

Articles overview

Invoking elements by using only HTML: A first look at invokers

Open UI logo with text invokers below it

Wouldn’t it be cool if we could click on a button to open a modal with just HTML? How about those file input elements? Imagine that creating a custom play button for video controls would be an easy thing to do. How about custom counter buttons for a number input? This is where the idea of invokers comes in. It’s currently available behind a flag to play around with and it’s definitely one of the most exciting advances in HTML to look out for.

Read moreabout Invoking elements by using only HTML: A first look at invokers

Why I care about a Google Developer Expert certificate and Web communities

Google Developer Experts logo

A few weeks ago, a cool little package was delivered to my home. When I opened it I couldn’t stop smiling, it was a Google Developer Expert certificate to hang on my wall. But why did this make me so happy? Well,... it’s all about being self-thought and believing that communities are important. In this (non-technical) article, I’d like to share some thoughts about communities, what they gave me, what I hope to return, and what scares me.

Read moreabout Why I care about a Google Developer Expert certificate and Web communities

Belgium and its beauty

Passionate about photography

Morning mist photography

One of my hobbies is nature/landscape photography. When my beautiful baby girl was born, there wasn't much time to travel the world and so I started to shoot landscapes in Belgium. It gave me a sense that nature's beauty can be closer than you might think.

Most of the images are near my hometown Deinze. A small city famous for its cycling near the Lys river. I added some photos on this website as sort of a "hobby corner". I will update them from time to time, but you can follow my Instagram for latest images.