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Do Web designers need a body?
I consider myself a “Web developer”, but what does that really mean nowadays? Titles in the Web are a dime-a-dozen: “designer”, “developer”, “engineer”, “creative”, “producer”, “webmaster” and many more. Whenever I respond to someone that I’m a “Web developer” they instinctively think I singularly design Web sites. But they’re wrong. So very, very wrong. I actually program more than I design these days for Centation.
I guess it all comes down to the fact that if you work with computers you are still thought of as a geek. It’s a stigma the industry hasn’t really done anything to deny or remove. Gone are the days that “those guys who do stuff with computers” live in the basement of their mothers home, never going out for fear of sunlight. And the reason people still think that, could it possibly because there is no governing body for the industry making people aware that this is no longer the case? Would it really make a difference?
In my view, no. As there are more people growing up with computers the label of “geek” will inevitable soon fade out. People understand that in fact computers aren’t that complex anymore. They’re now user friendly. You don’t need to work your fingers down to the bone typing commands into a terminal―you simply point and click. But the idea of a body for the Web is definitely an interesting thought.
Anyone can set up a company that provides Web development. Even a 16 year old with a couple weeks experience making sites in Dreamweaver who’s never even stumbled upon on the terms HTML or CSS and thinks Java is a nice cup of the brown stuff. And that, in my opinion, in what’s wrong with the Web. There are too many Web cowboys out there. I see them everywhere. They’re easy to spot, not just from the visual aspect of their site but from their inaccurate copy and horrendous code (Hello those funky Microsoft Word tags, seriously, what’s with those?) and because they will ultimately have some kind of music playing in the background which you can’t turn off. Or they’ll maximize your browser and use Flash to open up into full screen mode.
We’ve spoken to a few companies that come to us for a quote only for them to say “My friend’s son who made a Web site for his Aunt Jane’s Sunday morning coffee club has offered to construct our site for £50. Can you beat that?”. No, of course not. That’s like asking your friend who just bought a calculator, giggled as they tapped in “5318008” to do your taxes. We’re not that worried about losing the project, though. They’ll come back in a couple months or years saying their site is awful asking us to develop it properly. But it devalues the work we do.
This is something a body could help with. When you suddenly had to be CORGI qualified to install/maintain peoples gas (such as boilers) in the UK it meant any cowboys who weren’t qualified suddenly found it hard to get work. Nearly everyone now knows you must be CORGI qualified. It bought respect back to the profession.
There’s always a “but”. And in this case there are quite a few. The Internet is open and free for anyone to upload their site, and this is what’s great about it. I can host some information for the whole world to view, and it should stay that way. Also, Web design is all a matter of opinion. It’s like an art gallery. Some people will walk past a piece of art and scoff, whereas someone will be memorised and pay a fortune for it. It’s the same with the Web. Take for instance the newly redesigned Carsonified and BE sites, I think they are both awful but someone somewhere must have said “That’s exactly what we want, great job.” This proposes the question: how would you decide who becomes accredited and who doesn’t? As just proved there is no right or wrong answer as there is in RICS for surveyors or ACA for accountants. And this is why there will never be a governing body. And that’s good. I think.
| Date posted | July 25th, 2009 |
| Comments | Disabled |
| Categories | Web Design |
| Author | Christopher Hill |
I'm Christopher. A twenty-something graduate, star gazer, aspiring triathlete, vegetarian, reader and writer, cinemaniac and lover of life in general