My training
I trained as a designer at Griffith University, Brisbane and learnt on the job in full-time and part-time web design work over the past seven years.
My approach
If content is king, then user-centred design and accessibility are heirs to the throne!
Content
Perhaps the best piece of advice I received about web content is that "people don't read on the web - they scan". With this in mind, I write and edit web content to be concise, clear and well organised.
User-centred design
I design sites with the user in mind with usability - identifying audience needs, the logical and consistent placement of navigation, and appropriate functionality are the priorities.
Accessibilility
With the exception of my first website built eight years ago, all websites I build conform with W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (Priority 1+) and Australia's 1992 Disability Discrimination Act.
Beyond these requirements, I also take extra steps to improve accessibility with the inclusion of alternative text-sizes, high contrast text, and pages built without the use of tables.
Skills
For websites it's HTML, CSS and Flash, small-scale CMSs like Content Made Simple or blogs. For graphic and print design it's Photoshop, Illustrator, Fireworks and InDesign. Multimedia skills include audio and video editing.
