I needed an online CV that was more than a static PDF — something that reflected my technical skills directly, worked on any device, was available in the three languages relevant to the Swiss job market (Spanish, English, German) and let a recruiter download the CV in their preferred language.
The project also had an explicit academic requirement: build it without frameworks, demonstrating command of the fundamental web technologies.
01Static multi-page architecture
4 independent HTML pages instead of a SPA. Each page has its own <title> and <meta description> for SEO. Deployed straight to GitHub Pages with no build step and no toolchain.
02Custom 33-line i18n system
A bespoke internationalisation engine using data-i18n attributes and localStorage to persist the language across pages. No external libraries. Covers ES/EN/DE with around 60 translation keys per language.
03CSS with design tokens
A system of CSS variables in :root acting as a design token system. A single 910-line stylesheet for the 4 pages, organised into commented sections. No preprocessors.
04Mobile-first responsiveness
Hamburger menu with IntersectionObserver for scroll reveal, Flexbox and CSS Grid for layout, two breakpoints (768px and 480px). Tested on iPhone SE, iPad and desktop.
05CV downloadable in 3 languages
A dropdown selector serving three different PDFs (ES/EN/DE) from /docs/. Each PDF is optimised for its market, with the same content adapted culturally.
06Deployment on GitHub Pages with a custom domain
Automatic CI/CD via git push to main. The domain josepalacios.site is registered with Porkbun, with 4 A records pointing to GitHub Pages' CDN and automatic HTTPS via Let's Encrypt.
This project is where I learned most about the difference between code that works and code that is well made. The i18n system could simply have been three versions of the HTML — but designing it as a translation engine taught me to think about separating data from logic even in small projects.
I also learned that 80 % of the time in a real web project does not go into writing code, but into design decisions, testing on real devices, fixing regressions and documentation.
About the attached report