Nowadays it seems anyone can get themselves a copy of Microsoft FrontPage and call themselves a freelance web designer, without any talent or understanding of the technology, and completely unbeknownst to the clients that they charge for their questionable services.
These so called web designers use GUI software such as FrontPage or Macromedia Dreamweaver to create websites in the same way as they would a Word document, with complete disregard to web standards. So how can you tell a good designer from the crowd?
Choosing a web designer that conforms to W3C web standards is a good place to start. Anyone can use the W3C Validator to check if a web site adheres to these standards by entering a URL. Whilst this may not guarantee a good site, it at least shows that the designer is competent in their work.
There are many advantages to adhering to web standards, such as:
- Increased search engine rankings
- Faster download speeds for sites from eliminating unnecessary code
- Increased user base (through PDAs, mobile phones etc)
- Compatibility across multiple browsers
Professional designers take into account users with accessibility issues. A large percentage of Internet users have a disability, and may have to use devices such as screen readers to view web sites. Sites that are developed in Flash for example may look attractive, but are not visible to these users. Embedding text within images should never be used for this same reason. Professional designers cater for these users, with methods such as using 'alt' tags for images to describe an image for users that can't see them.
Javascript is a technology that is often exploited through bad designers that use it for the sake of it on a page, not because it is needed. Many of the functions Javascript is commonly used for (such as rollover images) can be achieved through more effective methods such as CSS or server side scripting. Using Javascript for navigation is particularly a negative point for a website, as it makes it less visible to search engines, and for any users which have Javascript turned off in their browser (which is increasing by the day) no pages other than the original page can be accessed.
Recently XML and RSS have joined Javascript as technologies being used improperly. Using a technology just because you can does not show your competence as a designer, using it only when it is appropriate does.
Clever use of colour scheme is also essential to a site's professional image. A site should primarily use under 5 colours in it's palette. Colours should not clash or have visibility problems. This goes for text, backgrounds, headings and links. Links should use methods such as underlining so they are instantly visible to a user as links. They should also use some kind of indicator when the cursor is placed over them to reinforce this.
Screen resolution of users is another area which is too regularly ignored by incompetent designers. Designing to a particular resolution can depend on the audience that will be using it, but for a site with mass appeal it should be perfectly visible on a 1024x768 resolution which is most common at present. However 800x600 resolutions should not be written off as obsolete as many users all over the world still use this setting, which may be the safest bet to design for with a large user base in mind.
A common belief is that by using CSS based layouts, sites are less attractive and eye-catching than sites out there using older methods such as tables. This is incorrect, as CSS based layouts are much more robust and can replicate anything that can be achieved using tables.
Many of these points may seem like common sense but there are literally millions of web sites out there that ignore the simplest rules to making a good website. Ways To Spot A Bad Designer
- Invalid HTML/XHTML pages
- Layouts using outdated methods such as tables
- Colour schemes that clash or utilise a large colour palette
- No use of CSS
- Ignorance of accessibility
- Sites that display incorrectly across different browsers
- Text embedded in images instead of being direct content
- Navigation using Javascript/Flash
- Focus purely on site look, not it's content
- Do not take computer specifications and circumstances other than their own into account when designing sites
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