# must-watch-css: A Curated List of CSS Conference Talks from 2014 to 2026 > must-watch-css is a CC0-licensed Markdown list of well-received CSS conference talks, organised by year from 2014 through 2026, covering CSS Grid, flexbox, custom properties, animations, performance, and tooling. It is a reference for front-end developers who want to locate talks by recognised speakers on specific CSS topics rather than sifting through conference archives. **AllThingsSmitty/must-watch-css** — CSS talks you have to see 📺 covering CSS Grid, flexbox, custom variables, performance, frameworks, Sass, tools, and more! - Repository: https://github.com/AllThingsSmitty/must-watch-css - Stars: 4,881 · Forks: 239 - Language: Unknown - License: CC0-1.0 - Published: 2026-09-23 · Updated: 2026-09-23 · Language: en - Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/allthingssmitty-must-watch-css ## What must-watch-css Is and Who It Serves must-watch-css collects links to CSS conference talks that the maintainer and contributors consider worth watching. The repository is a single README file structured as a numbered list, with each entry giving the talk title as a hyperlink, the speaker name, the conference or channel where it was presented, and the video duration. The entries are grouped by calendar year, with the most recent year at the top. As of the last push on 2026-09-24, the list runs from 2014 through 2026. The repository carries the Awesome badge, indicating it is part of the Awesome list project, which applies a quality standard to curated lists of this kind. The target reader is a front-end developer who already has some familiarity with CSS and wants to go deeper on a specific topic, such as CSS Grid layout, scroll snap, blend modes, or CSS algorithms, by watching a recorded conference talk from a named speaker rather than reading documentation. ## How the Repository Is Organised The repository contains five files at the root: README.md, CONTRIBUTING.md, CODE-OF-CONDUCT.md, LICENSE, and a .github directory. The README is the entire product: it is a numbered list of talks grouped under year headings, with the most recent year at the top. Each entry follows a consistent format: a hyperlinked talk title, a colon, the speaker's name, the conference name, and the video length in mm:ss format. The most recent entry, from 2026, is 'Modern UI Patterns' by Una Kravets from CSS Day 2026, running 53 minutes and 40 seconds. Earlier years have more entries; 2015 has the highest count in what is visible in the README. The talks themselves are hosted on YouTube, Vimeo, and a small number of other sites. The repository does not mirror or re-host any video content; it only links to the original sources. ## Topics Covered Across the List The talks span a wide range of CSS topics that have been prominent at front-end conferences over the past decade. CSS Grid is covered by multiple talks, including Rachel Andrew's 'CSS Grid Layout' from Frontend NE in 2017 and Benjamin De Cock's 'CSS Grid in Production' from dotCSS in 2017. Flexbox appears in Zoe Gillenwater's 'Enhancing Responsiveness With Flexbox' from CSSConf EU in 2015. Custom properties appear in Lea Verou's 'CSS Variable Secrets' from CSS Day in 2022 and David Khourshid's 'Reactive Animations with CSS Variables' from JSConf Iceland in 2016. Animation and motion design are addressed in Val Head's 'Motion Design with CSS' and Steven Roberts's 'CSS Animation - Beyond Transitions'. Performance and architecture topics appear in Patrick Hamann's 'CSS and the First Meaningful Paint' and Harry Roberts's 'CSS for Software Engineers for CSS Developers'. PostCSS, Sass, and tooling are present in Andrey Sitnik's 'PostCSS: The Future After Sass and LESS'. SVG animation via CSS appears in Sara Soueidan's 'Styling and Animating Scalable Vector Graphics with CSS'. The list also includes talks on CSS methodology, browser compatibility, and maintainability. ## Using the Repository: Browsing and Cloning The simplest way to use must-watch-css is to read the README directly on GitHub, where the hyperlinked talk titles are clickable and open the video on YouTube or Vimeo. For offline access, cloning the repository gives a local copy of the README with all links intact: ```bash git clone https://github.com/AllThingsSmitty/must-watch-css.git ``` After cloning, the README.md file can be opened in any Markdown viewer. Because the repository is licensed under CC0-1.0 (Creative Commons Zero), it has no restrictions on use, redistribution, or modification: the entire list is in the public domain. Contributors can add talks by following the CONTRIBUTING.md, which describes the format for new entries and the pull request process. ## What the List Leaves Out must-watch-css is a curated selection, not an exhaustive archive. Many well-regarded CSS talks are not in the list, either because no one has submitted them, because the maintainer did not accept the contribution, or because the talk predates the list's starting year of 2014. The repository does not include paid or paywalled conference recordings, and it does not attempt to cover every CSS conference. The list also does not include tutorial videos from YouTube channels, courses, or screencasts: it is focused on conference-style presentations. For topics that emerged after the date of a given talk, the talk may not reflect the current state of browser support or CSS specification. A 2017 talk on CSS Grid, for instance, describes the feature as newly shipped, while the same feature is now fully supported across all major browsers. Anyone using an older talk for reference should verify current browser compatibility separately. ## Similar Resources and How must-watch-css Differs The README includes a tip linking to the companion repository must-watch-javascript from the same maintainer, which follows the same format for JavaScript conference talks. Both are part of a broader pattern of 'must-watch' curated lists on GitHub. A distinct alternative is the MDN Web Docs CSS reference, which provides structured written documentation rather than video talks. The MDN reference covers syntax and browser compatibility in depth but does not offer the conference talk format that shows an expert reasoning through a problem in real time. must-watch-css occupies the specific niche of locating talks by known CSS speakers on topics that benefit from the conference presentation format, where the speaker's choices and trade-offs are visible in a way they are not in reference documentation. ## Conclusion must-watch-css is useful to any front-end developer who wants to find conference talks on specific CSS topics without digging through individual conference archives. It is not a course or structured curriculum: the talks are sourced from different years and conferences, so they reflect the state of CSS at their recording date. Someone learning CSS for the first time would benefit more from a sequential tutorial. The last push was on 2026-09-24, showing the list receives regular additions as new talks emerge. ## FAQ ### Is must-watch-css free to use and share? Yes. The repository is licensed under CC0-1.0, which places the content in the public domain. There are no restrictions on use, modification, or redistribution. The individual talks it links to are hosted elsewhere and carry their own terms. ### How are talks added to must-watch-css? The repository has a CONTRIBUTING.md that describes the process for submitting a new talk via pull request. Each entry must follow the format visible in the README: a linked title, speaker name, conference name, and video duration. The repository also has a CODE-OF-CONDUCT.md. ### Does must-watch-css include talks on CSS Grid and flexbox? Yes. The list includes multiple talks on CSS Grid, including Rachel Andrew's CSS Grid Layout from 2017 and Benjamin De Cock's CSS Grid in Production, also from 2017. Flexbox appears in Zoe Gillenwater's Enhancing Responsiveness With Flexbox from CSSConf EU 2015. ## Sources - [AllThingsSmitty/must-watch-css on GitHub](https://github.com/AllThingsSmitty/must-watch-css) - [Issues](https://github.com/AllThingsSmitty/must-watch-css/issues) - [License: CC0-1.0](https://github.com/AllThingsSmitty/must-watch-css/blob/master/LICENSE) - [README](https://github.com/AllThingsSmitty/must-watch-css/blob/master/README.md) --- Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/allthingssmitty-must-watch-css