Welcome to byhand.website!

An open guide to hand coding websites

This site comes out of my own interest in building and browsing hand coded websites and my teaching since the early days of the pandemic which has focused largely on web based projects. Rather than being a refined course, I see byhand.website as offering a starting point for artists, designers, and anyone else who is interested in building their own weird and wonderful corner of the internet. To that end, this site is written in the first person for two main reasons. First, I aimed to have the writing sound close to how I would explain these topics in conversation to make it more approachable. Approachability is important to me especially because much of what this site offers is context, and context I believe benefits from plain human language. Second, I don't want this site to feel like an impersonal (or official) resource without personality or fallibility, I do not consider myself an authority on the subject but instead a fellow learner trying to offer context and guidance.

This project also comes out of a recent uptick in being asked for coding help from current and former students, friends, and colleagues, many of whom report finding large comprehensive computer science or business oriented resources intimidating. So, whether it's a portfolio page, a net art project, or anything else you can think of, I hope that byhand.website can be a friendly and more human guide that helps you find joy and excitement in hand coding websites.