Website Design Services

Since 1995, Kenneth L Barbalace (KLBProductions.com) has been designing award winning websites using industry standard best design practices and recommendations. Websites we design are optimized for search engines, load quickly even across slow Internet connections and look & function correctly across the broadest range of web browsers possible. We can even recommend a web hosting provider who is extremely reliable to host your site for you.

Dynamic Websites

Typically websites we design today are dynamic database driven sites that can be maintained by the customer using custom web site maintenance tools. These tools, which a customer accesses via a private webpage address, allow the content of the Web site to be updated without using special software or having any knowledge of HTML. This reduces the overall cost of ownership for a Web site as the customer does not have to hire us each time they need to update the content of their site. Because these tools are Web page based, no special software is needed (e.g. HTML editors, etc.). If desired, even images can be uploaded directly to the site without editing (e.g. from digital camera).

Website Promotion & Search Engine Optimization

A well designed website is of little value if it can't be found. Using the combination of years of experience and special software, we develop cost effective plans to gain maximum exposure for websites we develop. Some claim that there are thousands of search engines on the web, however, there are only a few dozen search engines that really matter. We know which search engines matter and know how to best optimize websites we develop to ensure optimal placement in those search engines' search results. Websites we develop have a proven track record of gaining first page placement in search engine results for the key phrases that matter most to them. Using special software, we can even track the progress and success of a website promotion plan we develop.

Web Server Environments Supported

We can design sites for either the Apache/PHP or Microsoft IIS/ASP/VBScript Web server environments using MySQL, Microsoft SQL 2000 or Microsoft Access databases. In general we recommend that our customers who plan to host their site with a Web hosting firm, have their site develped using the Open Source Apache/PHP/MySQL environment because the cost of Web hosting is much lower for this environment as opposed to choosing a Microsoft solution. If on the other hand a customer plans to host their Web site on their own computers or deploy an internal Intranet and they have primarily a Microsoft server environment, we will often times recommend that they choose to develop their site in a Microsoft environment.

Design Standards

Currently our sites are designed to the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) HTML 4.01 Transitional and CSS specifications and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (WCAG 1.0). In addition throughout the design process, our websites are rigorously tested against a wide range of browsers including:

• Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE) v5.5, v6.0
• Netscape v4.77, v6.2, v7.1
• Opera v6.05, v7.1
• Mozilla v1.4
• WebTV 1.6 (using WebTV Viewer for Windows)
• MSN TV 1.8 (using MSN TV Viewer for Windows)
• Lynx

This testing insures that our websites function and display correctly across the widest range of Web browsers possible. Websites we design display identically on up-to-date Web browsers (e.g. MSIE 6, Netscape 7, Opera 7 & Mozilla), degrade gracefully on older or limited browsers (e.g. Netscape 4.77, WebTV) and are fully accessible for those with visual impairments (e.g. using IBM Home Page Viewer, or dynamic braille display). By testing against a text only Web browser like Lynx, we can approximate the experience an individual with a disability may encounter using a dynamic braille display.

Designing for Accessibility

As a general practice, we design sites for "Priority One" compliance of the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (WCAG 1.0) and encompass almost all of "Priority Two" and "Priority Three" recommendations. This means that sites we design are accessible (as defined by WCAG 1.0) by individuals with disabilities like blindness. In most cases we are able to make sites we design Priority One compliant without writing special alternative pages.

At this point in time, laws regarding Web site accessibility are for the most part unclear. If, however, a site meets one of the following two criteria, it must be designed for at least Priority One compliance:

• The site is a U.S. federal government site (currently existing sites do not need to be retrofitted, but relaunches must be);
• Any site belonging to an institution that receives funding from the Assistive Technology Act State Grant program, which includes most states and many educational institutions.

Although most sites are not at this time required to be accessible, laws surrounding this issue are evolving and designing for accessibility from the start could save on an expensive redesign later. In addition it will show a good faith effort that could avoid expensive litigation as individuals try to find creative ways to apply the American's with Disabilities Act (ADA). Most importantly, however, by designing a site to be accessible, one is showing that they are a responsible member of the Internet community and want to make sure their site is accessible by everyone including those with disabilities.

More information and resources regarding accessibility laws can be found on our Accessiblity Resources page.