We use standards-based XHTML, PHP and CSS to enhance the user experience through increased accessibility, visual presentation and download speeds.
Browser compatibility
Current, standards-compliant design and coding
Validation tools and accessibility
Website / email hosting and administration
Website analytics
Browser compatibility
We design websites to fit the universal minimum resolution of a laptop screen (800 x 600 pixels). Our browser support guarantees our sites will work in 99% of all browsers in use in North America. We fully support these browsers:
- Windows Internet Explorer 6.0 (1999) and later (current version is 6.0)
- Windows Firefox 1.0 (2004) and later (current version is 1.5)
- Windows Opera 7.0 and later (2003) (current version is 9.0)
- Windows Netscape 7.0 (2002) and later (current version is 8.1)
- Windows Mozilla 1.5 and later (current version is 1.7)
- Windows AOL Explorer 1.0 (2005) and later (current version is 1.5; this is IE 6 with modifications)
- Mac OSX Safari 1.3 and later (current version is 2.0)
- Mac OSX Firefox 1.0 and later (current version is 1.5)
Users of these browsers will have full site functionality but will have a reduced visual experience:
- Windows Internet Explorer 5.5 (1998) (current version is 6.0)
- Mac OSX Safari 1.2 and earlier (current version is 2.0)
We do not guarantee full compatibility with these browsers:
- Windows Internet Explorer 5.0 and earlier - Microsoft support ended in 1999; all current versions of Windows require deliberate user choice to retain older browsers
- Windows Netscape 6.x and earlier - Netscape discontinued all pre-8.0 versions in 2005 due to bugginess
- Windows Mozilla 1.0 and earlier - buggy browsers used principally by developers
- Mac IE for OSX or Classic - no Microsoft support and not compatible with current OS for testing
- Any other browsers have so little usage that testing sites in them cannot possibly be worth the vast expense required.
Read more information on browser statistics
Current, standards-compliant design and coding
In the beginning, there was just one browser for everyone. Today, users are surfing the web with a multitude of browsers, including Internet Explorer, Netscape, Opera, Mozilla, AOL, Mosaic, Lynx, Safari, and many others. But wait! It doesn't stop there. Users are also working on different platforms; Windows, Mac, UNIX and handheld devices. How can you make sure your website will work on all of these browsers and platforms? You can't. Newer browsers are getting better at complying with web standards, but trying to make your website work in all of them will eventually defeat your ultimate goal - usability. However, you CAN code your site to be web standards compliant.
Rely on standards
Neekdesign develops websites to strict, up-to-date design and coding standards as set by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and endorsed by all browser manufacturers including Microsoft, Netscape, and Opera. These standards ensure predictable rendering across browsers and platforms, visually rich presentation layers, enhanced usability through clear coding and fast downloads, and ease of creation and maintenance.
Our tools include extensive Cascading Style Sheets (including CSS-2 for positioning and layout), lean, modular Extensible HyperText Markup Language (XHTML) and rigidly tested PHP for back-end functionality and interactivity. Our use of these tools means that your site will look great in any standards-compliant browser, will load fast, and is capable of capturing and manipulating a wide array of data from your customers.
CSS for your site's look and feel
CSS is the code that gives your site its unique palette, typeface, and layout characteristics. By leaving formatting and design code out of our XHTML, we can quickly construct modular pages and implement most design parameters in a single CSS file that is then applied to every page on the site. Don't like the font used for headlines on each page? A single line changed in the CSS file changes all of them.
Your site will be designed with CSS in mind for palette, typefaces and layout characteristics that provide a modular coding strategy for ease of maintenance and application integration.
XHTML for backward and forward compatibility
We code to XHTML™ 1.0 Transitional specs rather than the older HTML 4.0 (which was never approved by the W3C governing body). This means our HTML code is tight, lean, well documented, and thoroughly tested in both white-box and black-box environments. The code will execute in older (4x and higher), current (7x) and future browsers.
PHP and MySQL for a rich dynamic and interactive user experience
PHP is a server-side language used to manipulate data, files and forms and to do other interactive tasks. In conjunction with the powerful open-source database MySQL, PHP allows us to capture valuable customer information on your website, create a more personalized and interactive experience for your customers, and to provide you with pertinent customer data.
Validation tools and accessibility
Neekdesign.com is written in XHTML 1.0 and CSS-2 that conforms to the W3C specifications (commonly referred to as “web standards”):
The W3C and the Web Design Group provide online tools that validate the HTML used on a web page:
Please see these sites for more information on CSS, accessibility and code compliance:
Website / email hosting and administration
There are now thousands of inexpensive and feature-rich web hosts. We can help you consider a number of factors such as operating system, included applications and ecommerce tools, security, customer service, reliability, and ease of upkeep.
- Unix - Unix is the Internet's stable backbone, insuring peerless security and stability, as well as state-of-the-art server software.
- Apache web server - More than half of all the sites on the Internet rely on the fast, transparent and secure Apache to deliver their pages to their customers.
- Standard and web-based email accounts - You can access your mailboxes and user profiles either via the web or using your regular email program such as Outlook or Eudora.
- PHP and MySQL technologies - PHP is a server-side language used to manipulate data, files, forms, and to do other interactive tasks. MySQL is a powerful open-source database used for various backend features. Neekdesign makes extensive use of both.
- Upgradeable account services - you should be able to easily and cost-effectively add bandwidth, space and/or additional services to your account.
- Ease of website setup and maintenance - your web host should make it easy to access all the parts of your website for quick changes and major revisions.
Website analytics
Your website statistics are available from most web hosts. If you require more in-depth stat services, we can recommend a number of excellent applications including an extensive and free service from Google Analytics.