> for example ‘universal’ which starts with a vowel but is pronounced with a y sound and therefore would go with ‘a’ not ‘an’

I spent a good minute with this sentence. For me, "universal" is pronounced with a j sound, not a y sound; a y sounds is pronounced with a w sound, a letter which happens to be pronounced with a d sound; indeed thanks, English.

(The word "yes", to me, is indeed pronounced with a j sound, the j being pronounced with a d sound.)