About

About the author: Randall G. Leighton is a web developer, writer, mathematician and yogi. He blogs about life and the business of creating websites at NeonBlueWS.com. Follow him on twitter @NeonBlueWS

10/16/2009

Welcome!

I’m still moving in so please pardon the mess. There’re still boxes to put away, furniture to move around and things to buy. You know how it is. But, please feel free to look around and offer any suggestions.

This About page is pretty sketchy, but will continue to grow.

I like bright colors. I also have a thing for old fashioned printers ornaments. So, you’re likely to see a lot of both on this blog.

On a personal note, I am not disabled. However, I’ve been fortunate enough to have worked with and known quite a few people with disabilities. It has made me aware of how lucky I am and of how difficult other people’s lives sometimes are. I think it’s important for any designer to take their needs into account. Web designers in particular need to be aware of color blindness. What looks like a bright, contrasting color to you might blend into the background through someone else’s eyes. Remember, you aren’t creating the page for your viewing.

If you have a website or are thinking about getting one you’ve been through a lot and deserve something special! What am I going to give you that’s so special? How about an insiders look into the minds and black hearts of web professionals. I’ll tell you all the questions they might ask you, so you’ll avoid wasting time with unnecessary phone calls, emails and meetings. I’ll warn you of communication pitfalls that are as costly and annoying as they are common. I’ll tell you why your web professional split on you and how to avoid that in the future. Moreover, I’ll tell you what services are worth paying for and what are outright snake oil. I’ll even help you decide if you should you just do it yourself. Why am I doing this? Because I want you to have a better website with less hassle.

Freelance designers and developers, I want to help you develop your business by understanding the marketplace and potential clients, client communication issues you may encounter, provide you with various forms specific to your fields (no pun intended) and whatever else I can think of. No tutorials will be appearing, but I want to provide you with some of the more esoteric resources I can come up with. Also, the more client types I can educate the easier our jobs will get and we can provide a better product with the same effort and time frame.