Posted On March 18th, 2010 Author Kyle Racki
Filed Under Business, Development, 0
Many of the web projects that we bid for specify in their RFP that the vendor must build with web standards as specified by the W3C. However, in the past, some of our clients have wondered why sites we produce do not always validate, and some clients have even been challenged by losing bidders that they apparently made the wrong choice in a web partner. We were once even told that because a website didn’t validate, it would not rank highly in search engines!
The attempt of this post is to set the record straight and dispel the myth that web standards and validation are the same thing (though they are closely related).
Without getting into the intricacies of web standards, it is important to note that web standards have been devised by the W3C to separate content, presentation and behavior. HTML tags are “marked-up” around textual content in a semantic manner (using tags to describe the meaning and format of the content), and in a separate file, CSS is used to instruct the HTML how to look (ie: fonts, colours, layout etc.). For a more detailed, but completely simple and comprehensible explanation of web standards, see the post on Boagworld.
The W3C offers a validation service for free that will automatically scan a web page for inappropriate HTML tags. This makes sure that critical things like missing closing tags are spotted and corrected by the web developer. Validation is very useful and an important check to make before launching a website, but is it the same as building a site with web standards?
Remember that the ‘wrong’ way of building websites was often with HTML tables for layout, image tags for headings, and inline style-sheets. The ‘right’ way is with semantic HTML separated from presentation code. However consider this; You can build the old way, and your page will still validate, as long as your tables are correctly written, your image tags have alt attributes specified and your inline style-sheets are correctly formatted. So for anyone who says validation is some sort of certification or that it is official “proof” that a website is built to standards—the validator would in effect be approving a badly constructed website, and incorrectly stating it is built to standard.
Conversely, a properly coded, web standards-compliant website may be missing an ALT attribute on an image (which basically describes the image to users who have images disabled in their browser). Or the parameter that opens a link in a new window (target=“_blank”) may be in use. Because of these minor offenses, the web page generates validation errors. Should the errors be corrected? Probably, but sometimes it is the lesser of two evils to use degraded tags that break validation, while keeping the intended functionality of your website. (For all you geeks out there; I know you can use javascript to open links in a new window, but it’s not my point. Once a website is in a CMS, clients will often add images with ALT, or use the target parameter, in which case it’s out of your hands).
The point is, a non-standards based website may validate, while a beautifully coded, standards-based website may not validate. Validation is a best-case-scenario checklist, and not the be-all-end-all decider or whether or not a website was built with web standards.
Posted On March 11th, 2010 Author Kyle Racki
Filed Under Headspace News, Business, 6
Here at Headspace, we have been asked why certain websites do not appear as nicely as they do int IE7 and up, Firefox, or Safari. Here’s why; Since last year, we have been early adopters of the opinion that IE6 should not be supported any longer.
IE6 is a 9 year old legacy browser that is unstable, insecure and does not properly support modern web standards. About 95% of the population do not use IE6 (and unfortunately the 5% that do are often government departments that only upgrade computers about once a decade).
In fact, to emphasize this point, Google announced recently that they are phasing out support for IE6, as is stated in their official blog.
This will speed up IE6’s already rapidly approaching demise.
Our position at Headspace is that all the websites we produce should be accessible in all devices and browsers, and platform independent, which is why we build with web standards as specified by the WC3. Accessibility means that the website functions properly (ie: links can be clicked on, forms can be used, and the text can be read either visually or with an assistive device, like a screen reader). What is wonderful about this approach is that technically, a website built in standards can be viewed on IE 2.0—it just won’t be pretty. However it is still accessible, the user will not be greeted with an error message, he will be greeted with unstyled paragraphs, headings and links.
At Headspace, we do not guarantee that websites we produce will visually render the same in IE6 as they do in modern browsers. Part of this is simply because the cost to do so would be large and eat up a portion of our client’s budgets that could be used on more valuable site features instead of the comparatively low ROI of supporting a legacy browser—one that only a small portion of the population uses.
It seems 2010 is the year Internet Explorer 6 will finally die. We’re hoping that others see the value in moving on, and I sincerely hope that Google’s influence will help put the final nail in the coffin of this old, unstable, and stubborn browser. It seems now the web can move forward.
Posted On January 17th, 2010 Author Kyle Racki
Filed Under Business, 4
For many web professionals, there are as many web-based applications and resources in one’s toolkit as there is traditional desktop software. I thought it might be helpful to share some of my favorite web-based resources with you. Keep in mind I’m not saying that any of these are definitely the best that can be used, they are simply my favorite. It is subjective to say any app is the best, so feel free to share your preferred applications in the comments below.
Project Management
Basecamp - For project management, Basecamp has little competition. It has defined the standard that many web apps are now measured by, and the creators have even built an open-source framework around the technology used to make Basecamp. We just love the simplicity, the great messaging/commenting system, to-do’s, milestones, and file-library functionality. Keeps us and our clients on our toes.
Email Marketing
Campaign Monitor - I have never used a better email marketing tool than CM. The templating system easily allows us to create editable newsletter templates for our clients, and even let’s them manage their subscribers, and view reports, seeing who opened and where they clicked on the campaigns. There is also a great feature which allows you to test your campaigns in a variety of email clients, and lets you know if it will get caught in spam filters.
Site Metrics
Google Analytics - The monster that is Google knows how to kill it’s competition, and one of the best examples is Google Analytics. Easy to install, and free to use, GA gives you advanced metrics, allowing you to see how many visitors are coming to your site, which are new or returning, where they are coming from, keywords they are using in search engines, where geographically they are located, which pages they click on, for how long…. the list goes on. This info is absolutely critical in calculating ROI for our clients.
Invoicing
Less Accounting - Less Accounting’s name says it all, you get to do less of what you hate doing. Great for freelancers (although adminittedly a bit slow and buggy as of late, which I am assured the developer’s are correcting), Less Accounting is a little lite for professional accountants. However if you want a tool to manage invoices and receivables, LA has a new and improved interface that makes it nice and easy.
Sitemaps
SlickPlan - A tool I learned of only recently, SlickPlan is awesome! It takes the pain and tedium out of creating sitemaps and flowcharts, allowing me to concentrate more on the actual structure of the websites or applications I’m planning. Best of all, it’s free (for now) and paid for by advertising. I use it for every new project.
Content Management System
ExpressionEngine - What can I say, we have completely adopted EE as our CMS of choice over the past couple of years. ExpressionEngine is the most well rounded CMS I’ve gotten my grubby hands on, being flexible, clean and modular, having a great support team, a fair price, virtually error-free code, a loyal third-party community of add-on developers, I just love EE. Our clients tend to love it too, as it hides a lot of the options some other CMS’s are plagued with (cough, Joomla!), and keeps the CRUD functionality straight-forward for novice users. For more advanced custom applications, we ues EE’s nerdier sister, CodeIgniter.
Honorable Mentions
While the aforementioned apps are my favorite and most critical for our business, the following applications deserve a mention. And yes, I know, not all of the following are technically speaking, ‘web applications’ and are more like ‘websites’, but enough semantics, on with the names:
- Before beginning a PPC campaign, or even organic SEO strategy for a client, we first check the keywords to see what the search volume is, how competitive they are to rank for, and get some ideas on alternative keywords for more targeted, long-tail approaches. There are tons of SEO tools out there, but the Adwords tool is great to get a high-level snap shot before you begin.
As a web designer, we use a lot of lorum ipsum, the classic ‘Greek Text’ substitute for content, when you need to style copy that doesn’t exist yet. Better Lorum Ipsum lives up to it’s name, allowing you to choose short sentences, long sentences, bulleted lists etc. It’s surprising how often I refer to this site when designing.
- Another simple yet surprisingly useful tool. I often have to create passwords for clients that are secure, and Good Password quickly and automatically generates a secure password in just a few seconds. Better than mashing the keyboard.
- A great design tool, Kuler is an Adobe product (and possibly the best example of link-bait ever!) which allows you to experiement with different colour combination. It beats simply messing around in Photoshop for two main reasons; a) it auto generates complimentary, triad, monochrome and analogous combinations, helping you instantly find colour combos that ‘work’. b) Kuler shows user-created favorites, and and is great inspiration when working on a brand project where you need a new palette and all you can think of is orange and blue.
- Okay, I know, Istock is just a cheap stock photo site. But more correctly, it’s the leading stock photo site, and it’s quality can at times rival the expensive rights managed stuff. It’s also a great resource when you’re just looking for examples in a mock-up or mood-board to show the general theme or style you’re going for, even if you don’t use the photo in the end. More than photos, It’s also rich with icons, illustrations and textures that can be great to just get the creative juices flowing at the beginning of a design project.
- Finally, the trinity of server management, Media Temple is our host of choice for the flexibility it offers, Plesk is the standard interface for managing domains, email accounts, and server files, and PHP MyAdmin is for managing databases on said server. The latter two are pretty standard on most hosts, but are nonetheless, critical for running a web business.
Hope this helped give a little insight into how we work and the tools we use. What are your favorite (and essential) web applications critical to running your business?
Posted On December 24th, 2009 Author Kyle Racki
Filed Under Design, Business, 30
So recently, a rather bold individual walked into our offices and proclaimed how 99designs has made our jobs obsolete, and now any company can get top-quality designs at bargain basement pricing. How true is his claim?
For those who don’t know, 99designs works this way:
- You the client have a project. You upload your brief and your budget to 99designs (your budget may not even be enough to rent a motel room for a night)
- Thousands of designers can compete, uploading designs for you to review
- You choose from a bunch of entries, maybe even hundreds, possibly thousands, and provide feedback
- You pick whichever one you like best, and pay the designer
Sounds great doesn’t it? Finally, a way to avoid shelling out thousands of dollars to a designer or firm, and a way to get exactly what you want.
Why it’s bad for designers
For ethical and sustainability reasons, spec work is bad for the design industry. Designers do not sell products, they sell their time creating products. In other words, the service of designing. This is similar to how lawyers do not sell successfully won cases, they sell their time preparing and consulting with their client with the hopes of winning said case.
To ask a designer, who would normally charge money by the hour or by the project, to give away free design work “competing” to win a project is like asking a carpenter to build you a chair with the hopes of getting paid if you like it. Would you pull 8 hours of shift work with the hopes that you would get paid if your employer is pleased with your performance?
99designs is bad for the design industry as a whole because it cheapens the profession, literally and figuratively. It perpetrates the notion that graphic design (web design etc.) is easy, and all you need is the right software and a ‘good eye’ to be able to do it effectively. The fact of the matter is, good design is not easy. More than just making nice-looking graphics, it requires problem solving ability, strategic thinking, knowledge of business, communication skills, knowledge of art history and popular culture to name a few skills. Good designers require years of training and work-experience to hone their craft and be able to deliver strong, effective design.
Therefore, to poison a clients’ mind with the idea that it is simply a matter of splashing digital paint on a computer screen and letting them decide which option they want to pay for destroys the credibility and profitability of our profession. By the way, did I mention that the budgets on 99designs are horrendously low? If a professional designer were to actually take the proper amount of time to work on any given project, at these prices, they would make more money flipping burgers.
You may ask why so many designers even bother if there is no money in it. I will explain that next.
Why it’s bad for clients
One might say that it is the designers’ choice whether or not he wants to take part in a design competition website like 99designs, and so you can hardly fault the clients for wanting cheap work if there is a professional designer out there willing to give it away.
Let me explain this with a question; What would your initial feeling be if you were to walk in a pawn shop and see what appears to be a high-quality item priced for less than 1% of what it would cost in a store? If you said you would think it’s stolen or counterfeit, then my point has been made.
So who are these people out there giving away their services for free in the hopes of getting paid, and how can they afford to feed themselves canned chick peas, let alone enjoy a comfortable living? I would put them in the following categories, and keep in mind, the term ‘designer’ is used loosely:
1) The Kid
A whiz with Photoshop and Corel Draw, this mid-pubescent designer works in the safe comfort of his parents basement and uses the competitions as a way to kill time between rounds of Unreal Tournament, and hone his understanding of lens flare effects. He’s using the 99designs projects in his portfolio to apply for design college where he will actually learn about graphic design. Is this who you want designing your corporate identity?
2) The Mass Producer
This designer believes it’s all a numbers game. She has built up such a massive library of design templates over the years, that to submit for a competition is like pulling out 2 year old Halloween candy from a barrel and dumping a handful into a new treat bag. There is no strategy, uniqueness or customized problem solving here. Just stock icons, textures and illustrations with “YOUR NAME HERE” replaced with… your actual company name. So much for “the best possible design to meet your needs”, as stated on the 99designs website.
3) The Hack
This designer just plain sucks. Having a slight understanding of design software but no understanding of design, this guy makes countless amateur mistakes like squished-type or vertically stacked words, and overused 3-D effects like drop shadows, reflections and lens flare. To him, typography is a study of maps, kerning has something to do with corn on the cob, and Paul Rand makes a brand of guitars or something. This designer needs 99designs because frankly, he couldn’t get a job designing popsicle-stand signs for the neighborhood kids even if he was paid in frozen Kool-aid. The children would just point and mock.
4) The Thief
This designer knows what good design is, but just doesn’t have the skill or patience to actually do it himself. So he finds good examples of design and rips it off. From awards galleries to Wordpress Themes, no lovely design is safe from his money-grubbing hands. What you think is an amazing design for your company brand is actually already in use by someone else, maybe even your competitor. You may not find out right away, but your customers sure will. You’ve just paid for counterfeit goods.
Okay, while I’ve clearly had too much fun writing these description, I think the point should be clearly evident; Just because in your opinion, the designs look professional on 99designs, it does not mean it is. Anyone who told you that 99designs is the same as hiring a design company or professional freelancer is simply wrong.
Professionals take time to understand your business problem. They research, they brainstorm, they get inspired, they concept and sketch before they even open Photoshop. Their finished work is not just attractive - it is original, it’s customized for you, and it strategically communicates your message to your target audience in a way that will make them remember you and buy from you. They may actually create work that you do not personally like, but unbeknown to you is precisely on target and will be effective. In fact, a professional designer could, and should challenge your perception of what good is.
Closing arguments
In many ways, I don’t envy clients. When shopping for design, they are being asked to spend money before they’ve seen a finished piece. They are buying in faith that the finished product will be good. Sure 99designs is tempting because it gives you multiple design options quickly and cheaply. Don’t be fooled. You’re better off going to a local design school (community or private college) and at least giving the students some experience. The results will probably even be better.
Especially if you are a company with a proper amount of marketing money, don’t be cheap. Hire a reputable designer or firm who will work with you. Pay them for their work. Remember that most successful companies—from Fortune 500’s to locally-owned private companies—have used good design to get to where they are. Rest assured, they did not use 99designs.
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