Jelly UI: Soft-Body Physics for Native HTML Form Controls
Jelly UI: Soft-body physics for native HTML form controls
I built Jelly UI, a dependency-free Web Components library that brings soft-body physics to native HTML form controls. With 40 custom elements, it offers tactile, squishy interactions for buttons, sliders, and inputs while maintaining full WCAG AA accessibility, dark mode support, and RTL compatibility. Just one script tag transforms your interface into a playful, responsive experience.
"Real form controls meet soft-body physics."
HN discussion
- Critics argue that the soft-body physics introduce unacceptable input lag, causing controls like sliders to detach from the cursor and fail standard usability expectations.
- The author defends the project as an artistic experiment built for joy rather than utility, acknowledging that practicality is merely a bonus.
- Commenters highlight severe accessibility failures, noting that the animations conflict with 'Reduce Motion' settings and create visual confusion for color-blind users.
- Technical analysis reveals that the high CPU and GPU usage stems from animated SVGs and moving DOM elements in the page header rather than the form controls themselves.
- Users report inconsistent behavior across different components, where buttons deform differently based on click location or fail to trigger when the cursor moves outside boundaries.