The KISS principle is the most important principal in using any technology such as the Internet. It stands for "Keep It Simple, Stupid". There is a tendency to over-complicate websites, simply because it is tempting and easy to do so. However, the result is slow, difficult to use and error-prone. The KISS principle, when applied, leads to simple, easy to use and reliable websites.
My website design approach starts with the principles of Standards-Based Design. The emphasis is on making the web accessible to everyone, not just the "Temporarily Able-Bodied" (TABs) - i.e. those with perfect visual and manual function.
It is still surprisingly commonplace to find websites that only work in one browser - typically Internet Explorer and even then only the Windows version for PCs. These companies are losing customers as a result.
What do you want your website to say about you?
I design websites that are independent of both the browser, type of computer and operating-system that the user has chosen. This means they will work correctly with Internet Explorer, Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Opera, Safari, Netscape and Google Chrome on Windows, Macintosh and Linux.
Standards are always concerned with backward-compatibility and continuity. Therefore, by using standard-based design, I increase the chances of the technology continuing to exist for many years and therefore the chances of your website functioning correctly without needing redesign.
In general, all features of any website I design will conform to these standards unless there is a very compelling reason not to.
I use verification tools to check for conformance to these standards.
In general I avoid proprietary software: all my design work uses open-source standards. This is part of my future-proof design philosophy.
My reason for doing this is that proprietary technology can be dropped on a whim by the company it belongs to, leaving your website unsupported. Furthermore, large corporations are quite happy to change the design of their products with no notice because they are marketing-driven, and marketing requires constant change regardless of the cost to you.
Open-source technology is driven by a desire to make things function well. There is an emphasis in the open-source community for defining standards to ensure continuity. Therefore, by using open-source technology, I increase the chances of your website working correctly and continuing to do so in the future.
The open-source approach I use is known as LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP) and is the most common approach used on the web - so it is tried and tested. The Linux/Apache combination accounts for about 2/3 of all websites and MySQL/PHP are used in all of those websites that use dynamic content.
My insistence on standards for accessibility, portability and future-proof design means that I do not use any website design tools. I hand-craft web pages so that I can guarantee that they are correct and standards-compliant.
This may seem strange, since such tools apparently make the job easier and quicker. Surely that should mean higher productivity? They do not - it is just as fast to hand-craft a website. Furthermore, I believe that hand-crafting is necessary because such design tools tend to be concerned with visual appearance at the cost of correctness. They often generate non-standard websites that can be slow, prone to problems, are non-portable and definitely not future-proof. In short, not good enough. Sadly the majority of websites on the Internet suffer from these problems.
I believe that the website belongs to you, the customer, not me, the designer. I therefore use an approach that is open and understandable, which makes the website truly yours. As mentioned in the section on Features, I can use dynamic techniques that allow the website to adapt to both changing content and new content, minimising the need to call me back to make changes.
I am a supporter of charitable, voluntary-sector organisations and have worked as a volunteer myself.
I am very interested in bringing my skills to this sector of the UK's essential services. I offer discounted rates for designing websites of any organisation working in this sector.
If you are interested in using my website design services, please contact me.