Wondering why your friends’ avatars have changed today, with everyone wearing a blue beanie cap?
It’s Blue Beanie Day! The day where web professionals around the world celebrate web standards by adding a blue beanie to their avatar.
Why a Blue Beanie?
The Blue Beanie honors Jeffrey Zeldman, author of the 2003 Designing with Web Standards book, which for many people, was their first introduction to web standards.
He doffed a blue beanie for his photo on the front cover of the book.
Zeldman was one of several designers raising awareness of web standards, the importance of semantic code, and best practices to design usable, accessible sites.
Show Your Support for Web Standards
I’m just starting to formally tinker with #WebDevelopment. Fortunately, my favourite mentor and inspirator supports me in establishing good habits and adhering to #WebStandards and best practices regarding #a11y. This is my first year observing Blue Beanie Day. #BBD17 pic.twitter.com/M1hBNCLHMU
— Marty Cho-Ho-Hodorek (@MChodorek) November 30, 2017
You can show your support for web standards by changing your social media avatar to a photo of you with a blue beanie. Use the #bbd17 hashtag to share your support and show off your social media avatar.
If you don’t have a blue beanie or hat to wear, download the blue beanie Photoshop zip file (45KB PSD) and update your social media avatars.
Social Media Conversation
Join the conversation about web standards today! Here are a few of the tweets I enjoyed this morning.
☞ November 30 is Blue Beanie Day in support of Web standards. https://t.co/OQ7OCU35Ih #bbd17 #webstandards pic.twitter.com/qZLjqt4B8r
— W3C (@w3c) November 30, 2017
Celebrating Blue Beanie Day to raise awareness about accessibility for all – and enjoying how it matches my JS dress. 🙂 #bbd17 #a11y #webstandards pic.twitter.com/lbTshAbEJb
— Elaine Shannon (@webelaine) November 30, 2017
✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ Happy Blue Beanie Day 2017! ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ #webstandards #a11y #openweb #bbd17 pic.twitter.com/kYqtKQhPaF
— An Event Apart (@aneventapart) November 30, 2017
Happy #BBD17 from the Iowa UX, Inclusive Design, & Accessibility meetup! pic.twitter.com/pTKqdjoHIh
— Andrea Skeries (@Artistic_Abode) November 30, 2017
It’s Blue Beanie Day, so here is some kind of web standards family portrait from @drewm and me. #bbd17 pic.twitter.com/Mhasy1CKd2
— Rachel Andrew (@rachelandrew) November 30, 2017
Happy #BlueBeanieDay! Thanks to all who create, promote and adopt web standards and accessibility. And thanks to @zeldman for giving a voice (and hat) to the issue. https://t.co/OYZjm78K5C #BBD17
— Jason Wolf (@jwolfnbaa) November 30, 2017
At Mediacurrent, we believe that accessibility is a way of thinking, and not a set of criteria to be tacked on at the end of a development project. Today we celebrate Blue Beanie Day in support of web standards and web #accessibility! #BBD17 #a11y pic.twitter.com/HIU0vYSV5R
— mediacurrent (@mediacurrent) November 30, 2017
I’ve got mine on! #BBD17 pic.twitter.com/hYoeX6tdqs
— Maire (@mairebrarian) November 30, 2017
Happy blue beanie day #bbd17 to all who support #webstandards and thank you to @zeldman @meyerweb & @aneventapart for providing me with my beanie years ago. pic.twitter.com/VwfSgkzxea
— Sherry Merry 🎅🎄🕯⛄❄ (@slycreations) November 30, 2017
Spending #bbd17 traveling to Nashville and #wcus to help build a better web for everyone. #webstandards #a11y pic.twitter.com/li9KiYngdO
— Morten Rand-Hendriksen (@mor10) November 30, 2017
Our thoughts on Blue Beanie Day and why Echidna is a proud supporter of web standards and accessibility: https://t.co/vQRaBjAly2 #bbd2017 #a11y #bbd17 #bbd2017 pic.twitter.com/WUMzRz4BCH
— Digital Echidna (@DigitalEchidna) November 30, 2017
Happy #bluebeanieday! Has it really been TEN years!? The high in Orlando today is 81°, so I put on my virtual beanie. #bbd17 https://t.co/m5HONXEVw6
— Jason Beaird (@jasongraphix) November 30, 2017
Hope you’ll join me in celebrating Blue Beanie Day!
I wasn’t aware of this! I was largely away from Twitter today.
Today is St Andrews Day in Scotland. Maybe next year I can combine the two days and wear a saltire beanie!
Yes, I remember it’s St. Andrews Day. I hope you had a good day, Claire. Hope you’ll be able to join next year!