I believe in deeds not words, and I try to practise what I preach. Below are some of the ways I try to ethically handle sustainability, accessibility, clients, and AI.
The ‘why’ and ‘how’ are as important as ‘what’ you do. I always try to make sure my time, effort, and skills are contributing to something good, and that the people I work with share similar values.
Sustainability and efficiency
My environmental impact should be minimal. To do the work I do in the modern world, I have to use equipment, tools, and technologies that have supply chains or downstream impacts I do not like, but I will always do what I can to avoid, lessen, or negate them. We all live in this world, and I’d like to keep it that way.
I use carbon neutral web hosting, avoid unnecessary cloud storage, and do not use social media (save for professionally on LinkedIn). I designed my website to be dark to reduce OLED energy usage, minimise tech bloat and reliance on external scripts wherever possible, and I only invest in or advocate for tools that actually help; never just because it’s new and shiny or well-marketed. I only print with FSC-approved stock and ideally using sustainable ink (such as soy ink) and local companies for specialty production where possible.
I also push for efficiency:
- only important meetings
- keep things simple and clear
- reduce ambiguity early
- establish ways of working that actually work for everyone
Some examples of test results are below, from Website Carbon and The Green Web Foundation.
In short: keeping it lean, clean, and green.
Accessibility and inclusivity
I take pride in making things more accessible and equitable, and I love helping people understand the importance of accessibility. My website is accessible, and I will do everything I can to make sure my website, my content, and my work is as accessible as possible to as many people as possible.
I believe in reducing barriers. Understanding challenges. Making accessibility about people, not impairments.
I want to make beautiful, engaging things that work and take into account the people using it and the people behind it.
Honesty and integrity
I speak honestly and frankly, but gently. I call out nonsense and noise, and I am not afraid to speak truth to power no matter how uncomfortable it may be. When I work, I am open and try my best to be clear about deliverables, risks and issues, timescales, and project parameters.
Transparency is important in all things. I hold no secrets about my methods or techniques, and I freely share whatever knowledge I have gathered over the years. I will never gatekeep tools or ideas and actively try to educate and empower people about design and accessibility, whether they are in the industry or not.
I value non-profit and third sector organisations very highly, and have a lot of respect for the public sector overall. Yes, I have to earn a living, but non-profits and third sector organisations will always have my attention first and I actively prioritise working with them, even if it means earning less.
I do enjoy working with private companies, startups, and small-medium enterprises (SMEs) too, but will charge my normal rates.
Human-first
I choose my tools carefully and avoid feeding scrapers and content engines wherever I can. I do not use generative AI, and will not agree to my work being used in it. LLMs have their place, but are not for everything and should not replace critical thinking.
Fire is a wonderful, useful thing. It can also burn a house down in minutes or ruin my dinner. AI is the same, as was social media before it and algorithmic search weighting before that. I am a profound nerd and have learnt a lot to come to that conclusion.
My work ethos is to be human, for humans.