I’ve been a fan of xkcd comics for over 15 years. Created by Randall Monroe, xkcd comic strips launched in 2005 with jokes about life, programming, technology, and more.
I remember laughing at their comic strips, but it wasn’t until the University Website comic started making its way into higher education conferences (when I was working on a college web services team) that I began to follow their comic strip regularly.
But I grew frustrated when I discovered the xkcd comics weren’t accessible to everyone.
Alternative text provided for the comic strip was incomplete. The joke and explanation behind the comic strip was missing for people who couldn’t view the comic.
And there were plenty of times I couldn’t figure out the joke and wanted an explanation.
Frustrating.
Wouldn’t it be good if there was an alternative way to view and understand xkcd comics? That worked for everyone?
Now there is, thanks to Mayank who launched xkcd.fyi.
What you’ll find on xkcd.fyi is a website offering a more accessible way to view xkcd comic strips with:
- Properly marked up comic strip title
- Transcript for every comic
- Links for an explanation of the comic strip and original comic
- Option to change to dark mode
What a great idea!
When I visited Mayank’s website, I found their bio:
I’m a design engineer who likes building for the web using radical
newtechnologies such as HTML, CSS, and (just the right amount of) JavaScript. I strive for accessibility and inclusion in everything I do.
Appreciate your xkcd.fyi site, Mayank!
