portfolio websites
Simian Webworks offers a friendly, efficient web design service, specialising in bespoke sites which are clear, colourful and easy to navigate.
Design services:
- Basic websites: For as little as £250, you can have a 5 page site designed to meet your requirements.
- Larger websites: At present, I design static sites, suitable for sites up to about 10 pages, though by using templates, larger sites can easily be constructed.
- Website maintenance: I maintain many of the sites I have designed, and offer a competitive rate for existing customers. In addition, I have taken on maintenance of websites designed elsewhere.
- Additional features: If you want your site to be a bit more interactive or a bit more fun, there are a number of features that can be added, for example: visitor reply forms, a slideshow of images, links to sound files or animated buttons.
For more information, visit the Portfolio page.
Design principles:
The key to a well-designed website is usability. A visitor to your site should be able to find the information they need as quickly as is practical. I follow the guidelines below in the design process:- Make the design process a collaborative process - so the client gets a site that does what they want it to do.
- The design should reflect the image of the client or business. I can use existing artwork to design a site that fits in with other publicity materials. Often, my clients bring images or ideas that I then develop.
- Usability = accessibility - a site which is designed to ensure maximum access for disabled people, is also more accessible generally. I design according to World Wide Web Consortium Web Accessibility Initiative guidelines.
- I often use 'liquid' design so that the web page resizes itself to fit the browser window. This minimises having to navigate around the page using scroll-bars, and makes the page more compatible with both older smaller VDU screens, and newer smaller PDAs.
- Extensive use of Cascading Style Sheets:
- 'Semantic markup' helps standardise how a site displays, and ensures compatibility with current and future browsers, as well as rapidly developing technologies, such as PDAs and mobile phones.
- Using CSS for menus ensures they appear first, before any decorative image backgrounds.
- Use of CSS for positioning in 'table-less' sites.
- I follow the standards laid down by the World Wide Web Consortium, and use their validation service to ensure compliant HTML and CSS.