Web Design
Reality Squared Services offers a full range of web design services, many of which are detailed on the pages that follow. Whether you just need a few touch ups to an existing website, or you need a complete site designed from the ground up, we deliver quality work at reasonable prices.
Hand HTML Coding
Reality Squared Services codes all HTML by hand using a simple text editor, rather than and HTML editor that does the work for you. HTML editors are notorious for adding unnecessary code to pages, making them far more bulky than they need to be. In addition to this, many HTML editors do not properly follow the official HTML guidelines set forth by the World Wide Web Consortium, which can cause pages to display incorrectly in some browsers. Coding by hand allows more control over page layout, and leads to faster loading and better looking web sites.
Hand coding HTML is not for everyone. It requires thorough knowledge of all the tags and attributes that are used to create the overall look of each page of a website. But wouldn't you rather trust your website to a company that understands how HTML works instead of one which relies on an editor to do the work for them?
CSS Coding
Cascading Style Sheets, or CSS, allow the attributes controlling page layout to be defined in an external file, which is read by all the pages on the site. This allows site-wide changes to be made instantly without wasting time re-editing every page on the site. If the color in the CSS source is changed, then the color throughout the site is changed instantly.
CSS also allows remarkable control over the layout and positioning of text, giving more flexibility to your site, and allowing you to lay it out exactly how you want it to look. For instance, the overlapping content, menus, and sidebars on this site would be almost impossible to achieve without CSS.
CSS is supported by all current web browsers, and it can be a tremendous benefit to any web site.
Server Side Includes
Server Side Includes, or SSI, allow pages to draw in current information from external files at the time they are loaded. This dynamic content could be something as simple as a menu or a page footer, or something as complex as a script that generates random content.
For instance, the main menu located on the left side of the page is stored as a separate file on the server. Every time that a page on this site loads, it pulls the menu from that file. If we need to add, remove, or change a link in the menu, we only change one file and the menu changes throughout the site. This takes far less time and work than individually updating the dozens of files that can make up an entire site.
Another example is the copyright information and the Last Modified date which appear at the bottom of every page. They are also generated by SSI. The copyright text can be changed instantly by modifying one file. The Last Modified date is automatically calculated for every page, based on the last time the file was saved.
Server Side Includes can easily make your site more dynamic and interesting. They also save time in updating, and saved time is saved money.
Matched Color Scheme
Have you ever been to a website that you could hardly look at? Have you seen sites that use colors and graphics that clash so violently that it makes the page nearly impossible to read? Well, you won't get that here. With years of experience with design, we will develop a color scheme that blends well and is pleasing to the eye.
One aspect of color selection that many web designers fail to consider is the selection of colors that your visitors may not easily see. For instance, the color that links turn when they are clicked on and the color of the page background before a background image loads can add greatly to the overall professional look of your site. As with many things, your visitors may not notice these attributes if you get them right, but they will certainly notice them when you get them wrong.
Again, using this site as an example, you will notice that text links appear to light up when you click them. This simple effect is easy to achieve, and all too often overlooked by many designers.
In the end, your choice of colors will help or hurt the impression your website gives. Reality Squared Services can make your colors work for you.
Web Browser Compatibility
A web site is only good if it can reach the broadest range of visitors possible. There are many different web browsers on the market, and it can be difficult to be sure that everyone can view your page. Many budget web designers only test websites in one browser, and may not be aware of problems with the site that appear in other browsers. Until your visitors complain, that is. If your site is designed to take advantage of all of the latest tricks that Microsoft Internet Explorer offers, then it may not look right in Firefox or Safari. If your site was designed to be standards compliant, it will look great in Firefox, but the design may break down in Internet Explorer due to various known issues that browser has with following the rules.
Reality Squared Services takes care of these issues for you by using HTML and CSS code that is fully compliant with all W3C standards. On top of this, we can add special features for specific browsers, so that your site can play to the strengths of other browsers and avoid their weaknesses. Using these techniques, your website is guaranteed to be viewable in the way you intended, and by the largest audience possible.
Fast Load Times
Have you ever gone to a website, only to wait an eternity for the page and graphics to load? It is frustrating to the visitors, and it leaves a poor impression of the website. In most cases, this is easy to avoid.
By using the latest graphics software and hand coding HTML, we can reduce the size of your website's graphics and pages without sacrificing quality. Your site will still look the same, but your page load times will be significantly faster, which will be a welcome relief to your modem visitors.
Fully Tested
Before your website ever reaches the Internet, it will be run through a battery of tests to be sure that it is as solid as it can be. These tests include HTML and CSS validation of every page to ensure that all code is 100% compliant. In addition, spelling and grammar are checked, all custom scripts are thoroughly tested, speed tests are performed to be sure the site downloads as quickly as possible, and every link on the site is checked to be sure there are no mistakes.
Reality Squared Services tests every aspect of your website before your users ever see it, to be sure that there is nothing wrong with it once they do.
