About Web Site Evolution

This page will expain in more detail about Web Site Evoultion's e-commerce, web development and design services.

Gareth Houston MSc.

Photo of Gareth Houston of Web Site Evolution Sheffield I Graduated from Sheffield Hallam University with a Computer Studies Masters just over two years ago. Ever since then, I have been running my own web design and development business.

I am currently based in Bradway, south Sheffield.

Freelance and Alliances

I am a freelance web design and developer. I frequently work along side other freelancers and small web related business. This has allowed me to offer a wide range of services and skills from a variety of freelancers, all with their own specialialities. In the future I will be looking to form more alliances and partnerships to further expend the services I can offer.

Client Base.

I have a wide range of clients from a variety of industries, from decking services to top brand surf gear. Most of my clients are small to medium size business requiring e-commerce solutions (selling products or services online). Many of my clients are Local UK based companies, but I have also built up an international client base with clients from North and South America. Visits my portfolio page to see examples of my recentwork.

Committed to Web Standards

Web Standards have been over looked by many web designers and developers, but its becoming increasingly clear that creating web sites and applications that follow web standards and good practice are the future of web design and development.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), along with other groups and standards bodies, has established technologies for creating and interpreting web-based content. These technologies, which we call 'web standards', are carefully designed to deliver the greatest benefits to the greatest number of web users while ensuring the long-term viability of any document published on the Web. Designing and building with these standards simplifies and lowers the cost of production, while delivering sites that are accessible to more people and more types of Internet devices. Sites developed along these lines will continue to function correctly as traditional desktop browsers evolve, and as new Internet devices come to market.WebStandards.org (2002).

I am committed to learning as much as possible about web standards and their implications. I create, as standard, web sites that conform to W3C standards and try and incorporate as much good practice as I can.

This web site has been devloped as a valid Strict XHTML 1.0 document with Valid CSS. The site has also passed an accessablity test based on WAI W3C recommendation.

Committed to Increacing Web Site Usability

I believe one of the most important factors in the success of any web site is its ease of use. Usability is one of my first concerns when developing a web site. Many of the best known web sites are pupular because they are userfrienly. There is no point having a site which looks great if no one can use it!

The basic principles of usability, centring around ease of use and clear thinking about a site's total design, are as important as ever. (Dr Nielsen, 7 December, 2004).

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Policy

My policy is to provide search engine friendly web sites as standard. Any web design I do will take into account current search engine guidelines and good ethical SEO web design practices. Find out more about SEO on my services page.