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We establish your needs and discuss any potential solutions as well as potential funding sources.
With your ideas in hand we collate our thoughts and produce a project overview for you to approve.
To give you a better understanding of what we are proposing, we prepare a wireframe design of the site and site map.
Things are really moving forward at this stage and you start to get a clear understanding of how your site could look.
As writing the content often takes a long time to get right. You can either write all the content yourself (known as copy) or we can work with you to write it.
Once we have completed the website's initial design we will present it to you with an explanation of what inspired it. At this stage you will provide any feedback you have on the design (Good, Bad and Ugly!).
Hopefully we got it right on our first attempt and we don't need to rework any of the visuals but sometimes you have feedback that warrants a change. We repeat Steps 6 and 7 until you are happy.
Once you are happy with the look and feel of the website we have you sign off the design.
The additional pages are designed including any internal pages that require a specific design -all in line with our initial concept that you signed off.
This is where the design is brought to life, we take the static graphic and make it interactive adding links, buttons and sometimes shopping carts!
Once the development is complete, we present the system to you and overview it's functionality, how you manage it (if it has a Content Management System or administration control) to ensure you are happy with every aspect of the site.
Although we will have already tested the site fully -on different platforms (i.e. Windows, Mac and if relevant mobile), we need you to look through the site, show it to your friends and family and if suitable, suppliers and clients to get their feedback. If all goes to plan we're ready to launch!
3 , 2 , 1, We have Lift Off!
Time to take our money and run? Not at all, we monitor the site's progress for at least 2 months after it is launched -often longer to ensure it's running smoothly. If we notice any issues we let you know and immediately sort them out.
Producing a website is a broad subject that requires a wide selection of skills but in essence covers two key areas: Website Design and Website Development. Due to our in-house experience and strategic industry partnerships we are able to offer you a complete service from start to finish.
Working with you we will produce a project brief that covers the design elements you feel should inspire the look and feel of your website. Once the website design brief has been completed we will then produce a selection of design visuals for you.
With your feedback on these initial visuals we will work with you to further refine the site’s design, once you are happy with the website’s design you will be asked to sign it off.
After your approval has been received for the website’s design we will begin the next –and– exciting stage of making the pretty designs “work” with the website’s development.
More often than not, website development takes the bulk of the website production time because once the site has been designed it needs to be prepared for the internet and then optimised to ensure the resulting solution is accessible, functional and easy to use.
The technology used to develop your website will depend on the platforms you intend to host the website on and your audience but it will more than likely be based on Microsoft’s ASP.Net framework and if relevant utilise new frameworks such as AJAX to produce a more complete solution.
Believe it or not anyone can (and does) use the internet regardless of whether visually impaired (even blind), mentally/physically handicapped or in perfect health. Everyone has access to your website. That doesn’t however mean they can use your website.
Making your website accessible however is not just about access for the less-abled. As technology advances, your website is not only accessible to an almost infinite combination of users but also on an almost infinite combination of devices, browsers and screen sizes to mention a few. All of which should be considered when developing a website.
By taking into account website accessibility for humans you also make your website more accessible to search engines. The result: a website that everyone can use, can easily obtain very positive natural search engine rankings and doesn’t exclude users based on browser or ability.
More recently, the government has got involved and the UK Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 (DDA) states:
It is unlawful for a provider of services to discriminate against a disabled person [...] in refusing to provide, or deliberately not providing, to the disabled person any service which he provides,or is prepared to provide, to members of the public.
In the same way shop fronts need to be accessible (e.g. offering a ramp for wheel chair users) your website is now governed by the same laws and should be accessible.