Let's leave the web better than we found it.
Work togetherSparkbird Works is...
▸ a solo web development studio + consultancy
Behind Sparkbird Works is Annie Pennell, an expert frontend engineer with over 8 years of experience building web applications and websites for start ups of all sizes. So yes — that means that “we” is actually Annie, her backyard birds, and a network of trusted partners available for collaboration as needed.
▸ a champion of web accessibility
We believe that the web should be equally accessible to all, and that building with users of all abilities and circumstances in mind is a fundamental part of the web development process. Accessibility isn't a ticket relegated to the backlog for “someday”; it’s a functional requirement that’s met in every pull request.
▸ working toward a more sustainable web
The internet is a huge source of carbon emissions, which is a fact still largely unknown even within the software industry. We work to reduce the carbon footprint of the web by building performant websites and applications.
▸ based in Richmond, California, and available globally
We’re located just a short ferry ride from San Francisco, but remote work is our specialty. We’re available for projects anywhere in the world.
▸ currently accepting new projects!
We’re now accepting new projects for 2024 and are open to collaborations and consultations of any size or scope. If you’re interested in working together, please get in touch. We’d love to discuss what you have in mind!
Testimonial
Hiring Annie as a frontend engineering contractor at Voura was one of the best team decisions I’ve made in my career.
She quickly shipped customer-facing UI while elevating the quality of our codebase and building a design system all at the same time. After only a few months, we had reusable components that allowed us to easily add new functionality and user experiences at the drop of a hat.
Outside of her technical skills and speed of development, Annie is an amazing collaborator and communicator. I would recommend for anyone needing frontend engineering help to hire Annie. Your project will get done at a very high level and your engineering culture will more likely than not change for the better!
John Keck
Voura, Founder and CEO
Services
Frontend engineering for web applications and websites
- Scalable applications built from the ground up
- New feature development
- Maintainable design systems and component libraries
- Code migrations and refactors
Consulting, implementation, and team training
- Web accessibility (a11y)
- Design systems and component libraries
- Sustainability in web design and development; lower the carbon intensity of your projects to reduce environmental impact and improve web performance at the same time
- Localization (l10n), internationalization (i18n), and translation integrations
- Sanity.io CMS integrations
Career support and advising for early to mid career folks
- Navigating life after college (“help! I got a humanities degree!”)
- Landing your first job out of a coding bootcamp
- Making tough decisions and evaluating what’s next
Testimonial
She helped to carve clarity out of ambiguity and ensure that we not only delivered on time, but with the highest quality possible.
Annie is by far the best front end developer I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. She brings a high quality of excellence to everything she does. She is always thinking about the end user and how to ensure that the front end scales. She thinks both systematically as well as holistically. Annie has a keen eye for design and there were times where I couldn’t tell the difference between my Figma files and production.
She challenged and grew my understanding of accessible and sustainable design. Her comments during reviews were so thorough and thoughtful - I can’t say enough. Annie truly levels up anything she works on.
Billy Hollis
Voura, Founding Designer