Designing With Web Standards

Web standards are a set of best practices for building websites.

Just like there are standards for building solid, long-lasting houses, there are standards for building websites so they are more stable and viable for the future.

A site built with web standards is a sound investment and will add value to a business, increasing its longevity and sustainability.

Standards-based sites are faster and more search engine friendly. They also are more scaleable, more accessible to those with disabilities and render more consistently across browsers. Read more

Website Accessibility Checklist

Web accessibility refers to the practice of making websites usable by people of all abilities and disabilities. When sites are correctly designed, developed and edited, all users can have equal access to information and functionality.

A growing number of countries around the world have introduced legislation which either directly addresses the need for websites and other forms of communication to be accessible to people with disabilities, or which addresses the more general requirement for people with disabilities not to be discriminated against.

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The Benefits of a Professionally Designed Website

My cousin/nephew/brother/neighbour’s dog is a web designer – why do I need you?

Although it plays a big part, effective web design isn’t just about the aesthetics – it’s also about the code behind the website. Your website may look professional, but how does it perform within search engine results?

Whereas well written, standards-compliant code will boost your search engine rankings, badly written code can have the opposite effect, causing information to be technically unavailable to search engines, despite being visible to most of your visitors.

Additionally, your code may have left serious security loop holes, or cause your website to display incorrectly in some web browsers. Remember, not everyone uses Internet Explorer and not everyone uses a PC! Read more