Last updated: 3 July 2026

Manual for beeps

I prefer you call me beeps. My government name is Kimberly Grey. On some work systems, my name is recorded as Beeps Grey.

I am agender and use it/its pronouns. They/them is also acceptable in a pinch.

I am a frontend developer on the GOV.UK Design System team.

Notices

If you’re interested in a general overview of what I’m up to lately, see my /now page.

I’m currently undergoing investigations related to a number of health issues, including:

severe hypertension
hearing loss
thoracic outlet syndrome (aka, my arms keep going numb for some reason)

I also have occasional appointments relating to gender transition.

Consequently, I have quite a lot of hospital and GP appointments. When I can, I schedule these to be on my non-working day or, if they’re more substantial, will move my non-working day to cover them off. Medical appointments will be listed in my calendar if they land during work hours.

Due to lethargy introduced by having severe obstructive sleep apnea, I may sometimes struggle to maintain energy levels and need to take breaks or stop working earlier than normal. I also experience episodes of microsleep, where I will suddenly fall asleep without warning for short periods of time.

Conditions I like to work in

I deal with a lot of anxiety and dysphoria and will rarely (if ever) show my face on camera or in profile images. On days where it’s particularly bad, I may also refrain from speaking and solely use written communication instead. If we’re meeting in person, please ask before taking any photographs with me in them.

I prefer to work from home. Having a fine level of control over my environment helps me to concentrate, easily remedy distractions, and permits me to more readily take a break if I feel I need it.

My partner also works from home two days a week. He works in a heavily phone- and meeting-based job, often dealing with sensitive customer information. If this is the case, I may also have to avoid contributing vocally.

My working hours

I currently work compressed hours at home and will typically be online between 8am and 7pm. My non-working day is Wednesday, unless otherwise noted in my calendar.

When working from the Bristol hub I tend to work a truncated day of 9:30am until 4:30pm, due to commuting time, awkwardly scheduled trains, and generally struggling to work in that environment.

Lunch breaks are typically 1pm to 2pm, but time and length may vary from day to day.

Working locations, non-working days and annual leave are all recorded in my calendar, which I try to keep accurate but is prone to change at short notice.

Best ways to communicate with me

I vastly prefer asynchronous methods of communication. They give me time to digest any questions, perform any research I might need to do, and to refine my response. Slack is preferred over email or Teams. Text-based communication also helps given my difficulty taking notes.

I can sometimes get distracted and forget to respond to something, so if it’s been a little while, feel free to remind me of things.

If you’d prefer a phone call, drop me a message first asking if I’m able to do so, rather than calling out of the blue. There are many situations where I may be unable or unwilling to speak right away.

Best ways to provide feedback

Preferably give any feedback to me directly, ideally via Slack private messages. If you’d rather provide feedback anonymously, I have a form for that.

Be upfront. A cryptic ‘we need to talk about something’ will just trigger my anxiety.

Be constructive. Knowing how I could remedy an issue, rather than just telling me that there is one, will go a long way to resolving it faster.

Things I need to work effectively

Information. If there’s a deadline, a problem, something I’ve neglected to think of, or similar—just tell me. I can be a bit like a horse in blinders sometimes, so being upfront with what you already know can be really useful. The same applies if I’m overstepping my bounds or veering too off-track.

Time to think. I prefer having time to research and formulate answers rather than being expected to provide them immediately.

Time to code. I’m a developer because I like writing code and solving practical problems! Endless meetings, paperwork and people management are just not what I’m good at or enjoy doing, and I’ll get bored and exhausted pretty quickly.

Things I struggle with

I’m neurodivergent and have a fair amount of anxiety. This can naturally affect how I approach and handle work and interpersonal situations.

I despise presenting at and facilitating meetings. They basically combine all of my issues with dysphoria, real-time communication and anxiety into one thing.

I have audio processing issues and am partially deaf in one ear. I find it really difficult to listen, read and/or write simultaneously, so I avoid volunteering for note taking duties. I also struggle to understand strong accents or pick voices out of a noisy environment, so I may need you to repeat things sometimes.

I’m often overly-conscious about ‘butting in’ during meetings, and will often wait until there’s an extended period of quiet before raising a hand or speaking up. Prompting me to contribute can sometimes help, but usually if I have something to add to a busy discussion, I’ll add it to the text chat.

I’m pretty bad at ‘small talk’ and remembering names, though the latter is only really an issue when in person, as there isn’t a name label floating next to you then!

Things I like to work on

The visual side of frontend development (the front of the frontend). I can write tests and tooling, but it’s not something I’m overly interested in. I’ve dabbled in JavaScript frameworks, but they’re not a passion of mine. For me, building the bits that an end user actually sees and interacts with is the most interesting part of the work.

Web accessibility is something I’m really interested in specialising in, generally. It’s probably my strongest area of specialisation after frontend development generally.

Inclusive design, especially with regards to LGBTQIA+ specific use cases.

Internationalisation. I really want to add right-to-left language support to Frontend at some point!

I could do with getting better at implementing web performance. I’ve got plenty of theoretical knowledge but haven’t had much opportunity to use it.

Other things I enjoy

I’m generally just a fan of design! The mashing up of aesthetics with functionality is a running theme in a lot of my interests. This includes architecture, interior design, urban planning, vexillology (flag design), print design, brand design, typographic design, and—of course—website design.

This interest has extended to enjoying simulation and management games. I play a lot of games in the vein of The Sims, Cities: Skylines, Factorio, Transport Tycoon, and Prison Architect.

I’m a huge Star Trek fan and can probably ramble about it for hours. I’m not the fervent kind of fan—I don’t really do ‘favourite’ captains or ships, I think nu-Trek and the JJ Abrams films are fine—but I think we can all agree that Deep Space Nine is the best one. (“In the Pale Moonlight” is just a wonderful episode.)

I follow the Formula 1 circus. I’ve only gotten into it in the last few years, so my historic knowledge isn’t very deep, but I try to catch every qualifying and race. I’m again not a fervent fan or hater of any particular drivers or teams, but I do hope Alex Albon gets another chance in a top team.

I’m weirdly into psephology: the statistical analysis of elections and election results. This will only ever come into play around the time of UK general elections and US presidential elections, at which point there will be all nighters with energy drinks and spreadsheets.

Contacts

I actively maintain a website with a blog and other random stuff I like to publish: beeps.website (you’re on it right now!)

You can find other social media channels the contact page.

Other bits ‘n’ bobs

I don’t really consider myself to be human, which is reflected in my pronouns and preferred name. You can consider me to be transhuman, posthuman, alterhuman or otherkin. I don’t really know how best to explain it myself, it’s just what I am.

I’m LGBTQIA+, being aromantic, asexual and agender. I consider myself to be transgender and take feminising HRT.

My preferred name, beeps, can be written however you want. I tend to write it entirely in lowercase as a stylistic choice, but I really don’t mind if it’s ‘Beeps’, ‘BEEPS’, ‘bEePs’ or whatever.

I’m a furry. I’ve been involved in the fandom since 2005, and a lot of my early web development experience was from volunteering on various fandom projects. I continue to do that volunteering, offering free accessibility audits and being on the web teams for ConFuzzled and BristolFurs.

Random trivia

I’ve been slowly learning Swedish since mid-2025. 🇸🇪
I built my first website during Easter break in 2003, when I was 11. It was about The Sims.
I have a book dedicated to me. It’s a history book about the medieval history of the north of England.
Things I’ve written have been quoted in Design Week, Brand New, and .net Magazine.
Things I’ve made have somehow ended up on BBC News more than once.
Fun near death (or near serious injury) experiences include nearly drowning in the sea, swimming off a waterfall, and falling off a cliff. All three times I was rescued by a family member.