Web Design, Website Design, Web Designers, norwich, website design norwich, web design norwich, website design norfolk, norfolk, e-commerce design, affordable web design

Web Design (A Short History)

The initial development of web design started in the 1990s. The Internet’s initial web sites were written in the computer language called HTML (HyperText Markup Language). Despite numerous differentlanguages and software having been developed over the years HTML has remained a strong and popular language chosen by web designers for over 9 years. When used with other forms of medium webdesigners are able to to crearte upto date and dynamique web designs. With this in mind HTML5 is being developed and. anticipated.

Web Site Design & Web Development

Today there are a variety of features available to Web designers to develop not only attractive but interactive web sites. Web designers use two catagories when designing and building a web site.

Design

The web designer or company takes on the responsiblity of designing and delivering an appropriate and attractive web site which encourages the user to explore the site fully , To enable the designer to do this a variety of software, programmes and medium are available[A variety of these are listed below] .The first and main objective of any web site is that it meets the requirements of its client and target audience convincing them that they have not only chosen the right website but also a safe and secure site In doing so it is anticipated the targeted audience would then become customers ,subscribers or donaters depending on the type of site that has been developed.

Hand Drawn designs - and conceptions are used to quickly produce layouts and visuals for the design.
Adobe Dreamweaver - Is used to construct the web site as it is being constructed for the Internet. Some designers even use Dreamweaver to help them with the design process of a web site.
Adobe Photoshop - Can be used to produce mock-ups and ‘Internet Ready graphics’.
Adobe Illustrator - Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics editor which is used in producing mock-ups, graphics and design elements.
Adobe Flash - Flash has become a popular method for adding animation and interactivity to a web site.
CSS - Cascading Style Sheets. CSS is used in conjunction with HTML to design and style the web site from a separate file. The use of CSS brings many advantages including advanced design features, lower file sizes and a universal styling document that updates the presentation and design of the site automatically from a single document.

Development

Prior to developing a site a design is required. A web desgin can be as simple or as detailed as the client chooses and the designer or in some larger or more complicated situations a design team are able to deliver . This is done by using a mock up or HTML skeleton. Once the design is in place development can begin. The designer/team develop the site using HTML in the simple case of a one page site. For more indepth and complicated sites design templates to develop data based websites.Listed below are a variety of languages available to the webdesigner/developer which maybe chosen to develop/ maintain a clients website.

HTML - Hypertext Markup Language is the basic language for presenting a web-site.
XHTML - is the markup language with the same depth as HTML, but XHTML also conforms to XML syntax.
XML - is a custom language for creating custom markup.
RSS - Stands for 'Real Simple Syndication' and is a popular format for publishing frequently updated articles and stories like blogs.
ASP.NET - Is the Windows Framework used for dynamic applications.
PHP - Is a free (released under the PHP License) scripting language for constructing dynamic web sites.
MySQL - Is a Open Source Database platform (available under terms of the GNU General Public License) and used in conjunction with PHP and other languages to store and retrieve data.
AJAX - is a coding nickname for the combination technique of XML and Javascript for making rich internet applications.
Javascript - is an established client-side scripting language commonly used by web site developers.
Perl / CGI - is an aging scripting language that was developed originally for NASA in 1987.
Actionscript - is a scripting language primarily used within and to integrate Flash. The latest version of Actionscript is 3.0 but 2.0 is still widely used worldwide. Web Design Software - 3rd Party And Open Source.

Web Design Software (3rd Party and Open Source)

Open Source is fundamentally software that has been developed by teams of people and is then available for use free on the internet. Open Source software covers a diverse amount of web design applications which are listed below.This includes software which is used for blogging and e-ommerce .

Wordpress - This is an Open Source blogging platform that requires at minimum, a basic understanding of HTML to install. Wordpress is updated frequently by its' developers and is available worldwide to the public.
Magento - This is a free E-Commerce shopping cart application that literally has everything you need to be selling online.
EKM Powershop - Is an 'off the shelf' third party shopping basket application. Creare have been using EKM Powershop for several years and are very familiar with their interface.
Paypal - Is becoming one of the most popular and safe methods of sending and receiving money via the internet. Creare have experience with integrating and utilising Paypal.
Google Checkout - A rival to Paypal, Google Checkout is Google's offering to paying online. Creare are able to integrate Google Checkout into static and e-commerce web sites.

Web Site Accessibility

IT is of paramount importance for the client when selecting a web designer or company to develop a website that the client takes into account the practicalities and the ease of use for its targeted customers, who will be using and navigating the site . This can be done by asessing from the web designer/ company that their main objective is to supply this through accesability and'crossplatform' support. The following should be available if this is the case .

Increase the font size on your web site.
Narrate the text on your web site.
Navigate around the site with Ofward and Backward buttons.

Web Design Compliance & Standards (W3C)

The main body which governs the web is known as'The World Wide Web Consortium' (W3C) - Web designers who adhere to the guidlines set out by the W3C can assume that their websites will benefit by having higher search engine results. Increased browser compatability and incrase collaboration between web designer and developer. This governing body has laid down guidelines to ensure that your webdesigner uses Industry standerd coding and make verification tools available. XML SOAP and SSML are a small selction of other languges which are also governed by the W3C

The main W3C standards that we employ are XHTML and CSS. To see if your web site has been constructed using these guidelines you can visit their website.