---
title: "New versions of both Firefox and Chrome arrive"
publication: "Frontend Focus"
issue: 420
published_at: "2019-12-11"
canonical_url: "https://frontendfoc.us/issues/420"
---

This week's HTML, CSS, browser, and frontend news       

#420 — December 11, 2019 

[Read on the Web](https://frontendfoc.us/issues/420)   

Frontend Focus 

[![\](https://res.cloudinary.com/cpress/image/upload/w_1280,e_sharpen:60/v1576067061/iknkklgrlvoebc8j0cep.png)](https://24ways.org/2019/zs-still-not-dead-baby-zs-still-not-dead/)  

[Z’s Still Not Dead Baby, Z’s Still Not Dead](https://24ways.org/2019/zs-still-not-dead-baby-zs-still-not-dead/) — A fun look at five CSS properties, including `background-blend-mode`, that can add “_depth and richness to your designs_”. 

Andy Clarke   

[Firefox 71: A Year-End Arrival](https://hacks.mozilla.org/2019/12/firefox-71-a-year-end-arrival/) — Introduces a _“plethora of new developer tools”_ including the web socket message inspector, console multi-line editor mode, log on events, and network panel full text search. 

Chris Mills (Mozilla)   

[Chrome 79 Released with Tab Freezing, Back-forward Caching, and Loads of Security Features](https://www.zdnet.com/article/chrome-79-released-with-tab-freezing-back-forward-caching-and-loads-of-security-features/) — Version 79 shipped yesterday with support for predictive phishing, real-time Safe Browsing detections, and a built-in Password Checkup tool. Here’s [a video from Google](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0OB0_bO5I0) running through what’s new. 

Catalin Cimpanu   [![\](https://copm.s3.amazonaws.com/7aa1844a.png)](https://www.ably.io/blog/practical-strategies-for-dns-failure/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=frontend-focus&utm_campaign=cooperpress) 

[DNS Issues? Five Practical Strategies to Avoid Single Points of Failure](https://www.ably.io/blog/practical-strategies-for-dns-failure/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=frontend-focus&utm_campaign=cooperpress) — This year, several high profile outages have proven the adage that no provider is too-big-to-fail. This article details safeguards against DNS outages, including a deep-dive into major outages, their cause, and their impact over the last 20 years. 

Ably sponsor   

[Six Web Performance Technologies to Watch in 2020](https://simonhearne.com/2019/2020-predictions/) — The author argues not to place big bets “on 5G and HTTP/3 to make things faster” as there are a range of other technologies that he believes will have a bigger impact on web performance over the next twelve months. 

Simon Hearne   

[Accessibility Testing by People with Disabilities](https://www.24a11y.com/2019/accessibility-testing-by-people-with-disabilities/) — Reviews the challenges associated with accessibility testing and how you can go about formally including testers with disabilities to further improve your testing processes. 

Becky Gibson   

[A Roundup of Web Development 'Advent Calendars' for 2019](https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2019/12/web-design-development-advent-roundup-2019/) — The idea of having developer-oriented 'advent calendars' where one article is posted on each of the 24 days of advent has really caught on. So if you want more reading, fill your (Santa) boots here.  

💻 **Jobs**  

[Front-End Developer / UX Developer - in Berlin, Germany or Remote](https://virtualq.softgarden.io/job/5542027?l=en) — One of Germany´s fastest growing Tech-Startups is looking for a Design-Driven Software-Enthusiast. 

virtualQ   

[Find a Job Through Vettery](https://www.vettery.com/tech?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=cooper-frontendfocus&utm_term=tech&utm_content=grouped&utm_campaign=ad-77580) — Make a profile, name your salary, and connect with hiring managers from top employers. Vettery is completely free for job seekers. 

Vettery   

[Technical Content Producer (Interim) at Ably (London, Remote OK)](https://jobs.ably.io/o/technical-content-producer-interim) — Ably builds tools and cloud infrastructure for the realtime internet. They need a developer/tech writer on a temporary basis to coordinate, outsource, and review the creation of technical content for a developer audience. 

Ably  

📙 **Articles, Tutorials & Opinion**  

[`prefers-color-scheme` in SVG Favicons for Dark Mode Icons](https://blog.tomayac.com/2019/09/21/prefers-color-scheme-in-svg-favicons-for-dark-mode-icons/) — Chrome will soon be supporting SVG favicons, meaning you’ll be able to use CSS and the `prefers-color-scheme` media query to serve up a favicon that’s unique for dark mode users. Here’s [a little demo](https://dark-mode-favicon.glitch.me). 

Thomas Steiner   

[Beautiful Scrolling Experiences – Without Libraries](https://24ways.org/2019/beautiful-scrolling-experiences-without-libraries/) — A look at the relatively new CSS Scroll Snap spec and how it can control the scrolling behaviour of a web page (to a degree) – without resorting to heavy libraries. 

Michelle Barker   

[Take Your Front-End Skills to the Next Level](https://www.bignerdranch.com/catalogue/1-full-stack-and-react-essentials/) — In our 4.5-day course learn how to craft responsive web apps, build performant backends, & simplify design through maintainable user interface components. 

Big Nerd Ranch sponsor   

▶[Building Responsive Layouts in The Browser](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1POS8yPqa8&feature=youtu.be) — Una Kravets presents this well-rounded introduction to building a responsive layout, and how the browser can help with just that. 

Google Chrome Developers   

["Link In Bio" Is A Slow Knife](https://anildash.com/2019/12/10/link-in-bio-is-how-they-tried-to-kill-the-web/) — Thoughts on how the ‘link in bio’ phrase (often seen over on Instagram) can be seen as a subtle, and yet pervasive, attempt to “kill the web”. 

Anil Dash   

[How to 'Fight Back' Against Google AMP As A Web User and A Web Developer](https://markosaric.com/google-amp/) — There continues to be a push back against AMP from the developer community. If that includes you, this post is something of a quick guide to avoiding using it. 

Marko Saric   

[How DNS Works](https://howdns.works/) — A fun little comic that explains in a straightforward manner what happens when you browse to a website. 

DNSimple   

[Understanding the Difference Between CSS Resolution and Device Resolution](https://medium.com/@elad/understanding-the-difference-between-css-resolution-and-device-resolution-28acae23da0b) 

Elad Shechter   

[Tried & True Productivity Tips from 25 React Experts](https://www.telerik.com/kendo-react-ui/react-best-practices-and-productivity-tips/?utm_medium=cpm&utm_source=frontendfocus&utm_campaign=kendo-ui-react-blog-productivity-tips-pp&utm_content=brieflink) 

Progress KendoReact sponsor   

[Create A JAMstack Site with Open Authoring Using Netlify CMS](https://dev.to/remotesynth/creating-a-jamstack-site-with-open-authoring-using-netlify-cms-5ab5) 

Brian Rinaldi  

🔧 **Code, Tools & Resources** 

[![\](https://res.cloudinary.com/cpress/image/upload/w_1280,e_sharpen:60/nmot7xmlhvidt1obj1ke.jpg)](https://github.com/leongersen/noUiSlider)   

[noUiSlider: Lightweight Range Slider with Full Multi-Touch Support](https://github.com/leongersen/noUiSlider) — Pretty powerful and flexible. There’s a [full page of examples.](https://refreshless.com/nouislider/examples/) 

Leon Gersen   

[OpenLayers: High Performance Frontend Mapping Library](https://openlayers.org/) — A system for putting dynamic maps onto your pages that can render map tiles pulled from various sources, vector data layers, markers, etc. Supports both Canvas and WebGL as appropriate. Examples here. 

OpenLayers   

[Falco: Helps Monitor, Analyze, and Optimize Websites](https://github.com/theodo/falco) — This open-source performance tool can audit your site automatically, delivering WebPageTest results/reports to action against. 

Theodo.FR   

[Find Out Who Can Use Your Color Combination](https://whocanuse.com/) — A tool that brings attention and understanding to how color contrast can affect different people with visual impairments. 

Who Can Use   

[ResponsiveViewer](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/responsiveviewer/inmopeiepgfljkpkidclfgbgbmfcennb) — A Chrome extension for testing responsive sites. Shows multiple screens in one view. 

skmail   

🗓 **Upcoming Events**  

[Flashback Conference, February 10-11 — Orlando, Florida](https://cfe.dev/events/flashback-conference-2020/) — Looks at cutting-edge web dev, browser APIs and tooling, but adds the understanding of how they’ve evolved from the past to the web of today.   

[FrontFest, February 15 — Madrid, Spain](https://frontfest.es) — A Spanish conference, now in its fourth year.   

[Frontend Developer Love, February 19-21 — Amsterdam, Netherlands](https://frontenddeveloperlove.com) — Three full days of talks from 35+ global JavaScript leaders from around the world.   

[CityJS Conf, March 27 — London, UK](https://cityjsconf.org) — A 'JavaScript festival' across London.            

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