Our web design goals

All of our designs are developed with these goals in mind, but the techniques can be used on an existing design to make it more usable for more people, too. See our case studies for an example or two.

We believe the visitor to your site comes first, so every web page should:

• Be fast loading, both code and images optimized.
• Have easy to use, intuitive navigation.
• Be usable in any browser. This does not mean it must look the same.
• Be usable with scripting disabled. This does not mean don't use scripting, just don't rely on it.
• Be usable with image loading off.
• Be usable with plug-ins disabled.
• Be usable without a mouse.
• Adapt to the visitor's window size.
• Adapt to the visitor's text size.
• Have sufficient color contrast for good readability.
• Not use fast animation or blinking text, avoiding gratuitous animation.
• Not open new windows, especially without warning the user.
• All of the above, and still be nice to look at.

Using web standards

We hand-code every page, use semantic, structured markup, and validate to current specifications (that's techno-speak for using modern coding and development techniques). This best ensures future compatibility so the site will be usable for many years to come, as well as be easier to maintain.

These development techniques can make attractive designs that adapt to a variety of browsing situations, so you can reach more of your target audience.

Hand-coding ensures the pages are code-optimized for fastest downloading and easy maintenance.

What about Section 508? What about “Bobby”?

Section 508 of the Americans with Disabilities Act is intended to provide a minimum set of criteria for making web content accessible to disabled users. “Bobby” is an automated tool for checking a web page against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

We stay up-to-date regarding web accessibility recommendations, however, we do not blindly follow a list of checkpoints. Some recommendations, while well-intentioned, may not make sense in context, or can actually create accessibility problems rather than avoid them.

We strive to meet the spirit of these guidelines, which we think is more important than following the letter.

The bottom line is: we believe in access for all. Our goal is to make that a reality.