I'm blessed in some ways because I was born in Poland. Living in Europe wires you differently about diversity. And that perspective led me to build something that could save your business 27% of potential revenue.
Hi, my name is Tom Smykowski. I've spent 19 years building production systems and scaling SaaS platforms to millions of users. On this blog I write about engineering, accessibility, and building products that work for everyone.
I have to admit, I'm blessed in some ways because I was born in Poland. It's quite a big country in Central Europe. It's easy to fly from here to Barcelona, Paris, Madrid, Stockholm, Oslo, and to Croatia too.
Living in such a place teaches you about the diversity of the world around you. I wouldn't learn so much about it if I drove 20 hours in any direction and everyone would speak the same language and be part of roughly the same culture. Being in Europe wires you differently.
The other day I was in Barcelona at El Gótico, and it was great. Old city, a lot of people, but still it has the true vibe of old Barcelona. You go to Poblenou and you have an entirely different vibe. Modern, beaches, startups, just like San Francisco.
That trip made me think about how people are different. And from the founder and engineer perspective, when you walk a pavement, the pavement can be ok, but when you drive with a car, it can be a bumpy ride.
In terms of equal access to technologies, nothing matters now more than internationalization and accessibility. Out of 100 people, 27 have problems accessing apps and websites because of lack of accessibility. That's potential revenue you're leaving on the table.
I built PACPP - a color palette algorithm that generates perfectly accessible palettes from the start. It conforms with WCAG AAA, APCA requirements, and goes beyond to handle conditions like anxiety-inducing colors and eye fatigue from too-high contrast.