Our web community is mourning one of of our own, web designer, author, speaker, and teacher Christopher Schmitt, who died April 10, 2020.
Dear Friends, I have sad news. @teleject died suddenly in our home yesterday. Natural causes, not COVID, still waiting on an official cause of death. One thing I do know is how much he loved so many of you, and how happy he was to help others or to make them laugh. More later. pic.twitter.com/SY8EcaHZSw
— Ari “Social Distancing Pioneer” Stiles (@ari4nne) April 10, 2020
His books, podcasts, conferences, articles, and online events were known to designers, developers, accessibility professionals, user experience specialists, content strategists throughout the web community.
Many people in the web community remember his CSS-only version of the United States flag.
Our last conversation was a week ago when we chatted about the online accessibility Knowbility workshop he was hosting and I was attending.
My Memories of Christopther
I officially met Christopher via Twitter, over 10 years ago.
But I knew of his books, writings, and involvement with the web community long before that.
His CSS Cookbook was one of the books I used regularly in the mid-2000’s. And my InterACT with Web Standards is dog-eared and filled with post-it notes.
I really came to know Christopher well through his and Ari Stiles Environments for Humans organization, which presented online webinars and conferences for usability, web design, and accessibility.
As an organizer for Refresh Detroit and Michigan User Experience Professionals, I coordinated and hosted dozens of Christopher’s online events for our members.
Thank you @ari4nne and @teleject for a wonderful Accessibility Summit. #a11ysummit pic.twitter.com/zDV05Q1DbL
— Deborah Edwards-Onoro (@redcrew) September 11, 2013
And chatted with him frequently about events and speakers.
After several years of email and Twitter messages, I was thrilled when I finally met Christopher in person at the 2013 In Control conference in Orlando, Florida.
What a treat to finally talk with him in real life!
Though I haven’t seen him in person since 2014, we stayed in touch online with email messages and Twitter conversations about web design, online events, and our lives.
Christopher was a kind, friendly, and generous person.
An inspiration to designers and developers starting their careers as well as long-time veterans of the web community.
He will be missed.
