Technical Questions about Web Design

What coding is involved?

Web design is based on HTML, or HyperText Markup Language. HTML is a computer language created specifically for creating web pages. It's the basis of all web pages. HTML has been largely replaced by XHTML. XHTML is largely the same as HTML, but it is a stricter language allowing for fewer mistakes. This strict nature is what allows XHTML to be interpreted correctly by more computers world wide meaning that more people see your site the way you want them to see it. For this reason, any good web designer should now be using XHTML, and not the older HTML.

Good web designers should also be using Cascading Style Sheets, or CSS. The purpose of CSS is to allow for precise placement of the elements of your web site. The other method commonly used to layout a site involves using 'tables' and spacer images. This alternative method is not as flexible or reliable as the use of CSS and you may want to question the designers reasoning in using tables.

Depending on the nature of your project, the designer may also choose to use other languages. Server side languages such as PHP or ASP run on the web server to create your sites web pages dynamically as visitors request to see them. This allows for a much more flexible and interactive site. JavaScript is a client side language, meaning that it runs on the viewers computer. JavaScript allows for interactive sites that can engage the visitor. Your web designer should be able to discuss these languages with you and decide if they are appropriate for your site.

Are there standards to meet?

Yes. But meeting them is optional. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) sets out world-wide standards for code used in creating web sites. When designers follow current W3C recommendations your site is better understood by the viewers web browser and looks much more like what you wanted it to look like. Beyond that, following W3C recommendations will help 'future-proof' your web site. As computers have evolved, so has the coding and techniques used to create web sites. Many methods that were used extensively a few years ago are no longer recommended by the W3C. Without this recommendation, the companies building web browsers are free to interpret these outdated methods in any way they choose – or not at all, meaning that your site may not be viewable at all in a future web browser. Current W3C standards are likely to be fully supported for quite some time to come, saving you the time and expense of having to make drastic changes to your site in the future.

The two most important standards everyone involved in web technologies should be aware of are the newer XHTML standard (not to be confused with older HTML) and CSS. If your designer does not understand and use these standards you may want to look for a designer.

What software is used to create web sites?

There is a huge variety of software available for creating web sites. From simple text editors that require the web developer to hand code everything, to sophisticated tools that automate everything. No matter what software the developer uses, they must have a strong knowledge of HTML. None of the automated software programs are perfect and most will create code that does not meet W3C guidelines requiring the developer to change the code appropriately. The two most common professional level software packages available are Dreamweaver and Go Live.

When hiring a web developer, you should be extremely cautious of those that use Front Page. Front Page creates a style of code that is very unique and does not always work well in browsers other than Internet Explorer. It can often take significantly more time to modify the code created by Front Page in order to make it W3C compatible then would be required to code the entire site by hand in the first place.

How fast will my site load?

Page loading time is dependent on the file size of the page. A text based site that uses CSS to style the pages and few images will have a very small file size and load quite quickly. A page that has a large number of photos and graphics, or uses graphics to layout the page will take a long time to load as the browser has to download many, large graphic files. Remember that the average visitor will wait only a few seconds for a site to load before moving on, if your site takes too long to load, no one will visit it.

What about Flash media, sound, video and other media?

These interactive elements of your site can go a long way in keeping visitors coming to your site. However they come with very large file sizes that will significantly increase the time a visitor has to wait to use your site and typically are not very friendly for disabled users. For these reasons it's important to keep the amount of flashy media and fast loading content in balance. Make sure before using alternative media that they are the best solution for your problem and not just being used for the sake of using them.

What about disabled users who wish to use my site?

A number of provisions are necessary to make sure that your site is usable to a disabled user. These include making sure that all images have an 'alt' attribute (a text description of the image), that the site still works correctly if scripts and applets are disabled, and that any dynamic content is available in some other form. Your web designer should be familiar with these concepts and know how to implement them.

Coincidentally, many of these measures are the same ones that make your site accessible to users using older web browsers.

The Artstract Co. is a strong proponent of modern, accessible web design. All our sites are extensively tested for compliance with W3C guidelines on XHTML and CSS as well as abidance by the standards set out in the Web Accessibility Initiative to aid disabled users. We strive to make our sites as light weight as possible to decrease site loading and restrict the use of Flash, JavaScript, and other resource intensive media to just those areas where it is the best solution. We use PHP and My SQL technologies extensively to help build your site faster and make it easier to update in the future. We strive to use technology efficiently so that you don't need to understand it, it just works.