Web Design and Related Job Opportunities
Related Job Opportunities : The term Web Design refers to a whole range of capabilities, disciplines and skills in designing, producing and maintaining websites. As the term indicates, it includes many areas of web design – authoring, graphics, user experience and user interfaces, search engine optimization, standardization of codes, proprietary software and many more aspects. Web design primarily relates to the design process concerning the front-end design that involves web layout and content rollout (referred to as client side). In that sense, some areas of web design have an overlap with web engineering when you broadly refer to web design or development because professional web designers are required to possess great degree of knowledge regarding web accessibility guidelines.
The History of the Web and its Evolution spanning two decades
The history of web design is fairly recent; however its impact is seen from a technological standpoint linking it other tech areas such as graphic design and user interface. In the two decades or so since the Web made its debut, it has greatly impacted everyday lives; can you imagine the Internet without graphics, music and interactive language?
In the early 1980s, Tim Berners-Lee, an independent contractor employed with CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research came up with the idea of a project based on a concept known as ‘hypertext’ – the term ‘hypertext’ refers to the display of text on a computer screen or any other electronic device with linked references to further text that can be revealed level by level progressively depending upon the readers requirement – which would facilitate information to be updated and shared among colleagues and fellow workers. The prototype he made was called ‘Enquire’. A moderately successful user experience followed and opened the door to a world of opportunities.
In 1989, Berners-Lee seized the opportunity of merging hypertext with Internet; lo and behold, the Worldwide Web came into existence although it took a further two to three years before viewing of information or web pages was made possible by a line-mode browser.
In 1996, Microsoft came up with its first browser, a competitive usability tool with its own tags and features. The world woke up to terms like HTML mark-up, plug-ins, widgets, midgets, motion graphics and many, many more.
The Browser wars
Intense competition between Netscape and Microsoft peaked during the 1990s. Open Source Licenses allowed thousands of web developers to write codes to improve software programs creating the Web Standards Project and browser compliance with HTML and CSS standards. In 2000, when Microsoft came up with Internet Explorer, it was the world’s first to have standards compliance supporting HTML 4.01 and the PNG Image Format. Around this time, AOL bought over Netscape Navigator and Microsoft has had virtual monopoly ever since.
The New Era
The 21st century brought in significant changes in web usage and the way people utilized the web; more user friendly capabilities have modified the way websites are designed today. The end of the ‘browser war’ brought new elements into focus. Open Source Software that is more adaptable and suitable to the new standards makes development faster and these new options are increasingly being considered to be better in some aspects than Internet Explorer.
Job opportunities
The two primary job categories involved in website creation are Web Designer and Web Developer. The job specifications for each vary between organizations and the functions that are required; overall, designing and programming responsibilities include coloring, content, layout, typography, along with knowledge of programming languages like CSS, Flash, HTML, JavaScript, PHP and others.
Other jobs, which go hand in hand with web designing and web development include:
• Graphic Designing
• Internet Copywriting
• Internet Marketing
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) content tech writers
• User Experience (UX) Designers
There are several web hosting providers that provide you with many options for designing and hosting websites. The chief criterion to select a web host includes features offered, prices and the company’s reputation for providing trouble free connectivity and service. To cope with competition, many hosts provide web hosting promo codes or coupon codes or hosting coupons that offer many additional features like unique domain names, website building tools and anti-spam software.
