Happy New Year!

# Happy New Year!

As the newsletter wakes from its long winter’s nap, let me wish 
everybody a very happy new year! What happened while I was away? Lots!

## WordPress 4.4 happened!

[WordPress 4.4 was released][1], bringing responsive images to the 
biggest CMS on the planet.

Predictably, this resulted in the biggest uptake in responsive image 
usage, ever. A month ago, one in every 2,500 pages sampled by Chrome 
used `w` descriptors. Now that number is 1 in 500 and [quickly 
climbing][2].

So, once again, let me thank [the team behind the effort][3]. To Joe 
McGill, Tim Evko, Jasper DeGroot, and everyone else who lent time and 
energy to respimg-in-WordPress: thanks for making the web a faster, 
better, and more responsive place.

(And for an excellent technical overview of how 4.4 actually goes about 
it’s responsifying, read [this post by Fränk Klein over on the WP 
Best Practices blog][4])

[1]: https://codex.wordpress.org/Version_4.4
[2]: 
https://www.chromestatus.com/metrics/feature/timeline/popularity/524
[3]: 
https://github.com/ResponsiveImagesCG/wp-tevko-responsive-images/graphs/contributors
[4]: http://wpbestpractices.com/wordpress-4-4-responsive-images/

## So did `picture` in WebKit (sorta)!

The [`picture` bug in WebKit][5] is now `RESOLVED FIXED`, and WebKit are 
announcing that [`picture` “has landed”][6].

This is true! But, if you’ll allow me to over-extend the metaphor, the 
implementation is still taxiing towards the gate.

`picture` in WebKit (which you can test by downloading [WebKit 
Nightly][7]) currently has some issues with double-downloads, and 
doesn’t yet respond to viewport changes. Luckily the implementation 
will have plenty of time to mature, as it (probably) won’t be ported 
over to shipping Safaris until their next major version bumps in the 
fall.

But! In the Fall! Mobile and desktop Safari will (probably) ship with 
complete responsive images implementations! And the last big gap in 
respimg support will be filled. Huzzah.

[5]: https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=116963
[6]: https://twitter.com/webkit/status/672430609491431425
[7]: http://nightly.webkit.org

## 2016: Year of the Container Query?

The end of 2015 brought a lot of new thinking and tinkering on the 
evergreen topic of Element/Container Queries. Tommy Hodgins and Maxime 
Euzière have registered [elementqueries.com][8]; in addition to housing 
their [EQCSS Javascript library][9] there, they’ve used the domain to 
publish *loads* of [demos][10] and collected [a comprehensive list][11] 
of element/container query resources. Check it out!

And [over on 24 Ways][12], Jonathan Snook gives a very nice executive 
summary of the what and why of container queries, surveys the current 
landscape of prollyfills and experimental implementations, and shows how 
Shopify is actually prollyfilling Container Queries in production (!).

[8]: http://elementqueries.com
[9]: https://github.com/eqcss/eqcss
[10]: http://elementqueries.com/#demos
[11]: http://elementqueries.com/#further-reading
[12]: https://24ways.org/2015/being-responsive-to-the-small-things/

## Grab bag

- I wrote a thing! About [automating responsive images using 
Cloudinary’s on-the-fly resizing  features][13].
- A couple of Performance Calendar posts went deep on topics near and 
dear to the RICG’s heart: [Colin Bendell on chroma-subsampling][14]; 
[Tobias Baldauf on lazy loading][15].
- `alt` text is vital, and a *truly* responsive image will adapt all the 
way down to no-image-at-all. [Chrome for Android just shipped a “no 
images” preference][16].
- [Placeholder images in spaaaaaaace!][17]

[13]: 
http://cloudinary.com/blog/responsive_images_with_srcset_sizes_and_cloudinary
[14]: 
http://calendar.perfplanet.com/2015/why-arent-your-images-using-chroma-subsampling/
[15]: 
http://calendar.perfplanet.com/2015/immaculate-imagery-with-lazy-pictures-bpg/
[16]: 
http://www.theverge.com/2015/12/1/9827386/google-chrome-android-data-saver-image-blocking
[17]: https://spaceholder.cc

See you in a few weeks!

—eric