Re: professionalism

Gee, I went to sleep and in those few hours I missed a major debate!  I
hate these time zone differences :)

OK, lets at it!  You will notice I have changed the subject heading.	

At 13:15 9/10/98 -0700, Kynn Bartlett wrote:
>Ann, I don't think it's purposeful.  I think it's ignorance and
>incompetence.  I think the vast majority of "professional web
>designers" don't even know what the standards are, what they do,
>how to use them, where to find them, or why they're good.

It is saddening how many people grab a tool like Microsoft Word and claim
to be a web designer.  (OK, I'm taking an extreme view here :)

>These people are simply unaware that the HTML they are writing
>is seriously broken.  They figure that if it works on the handful
>of browsers they have on their computers, then it "works."

Alas so!!  This contrasts however with those that are aware of
non-validating code and choose such programming as a means of enhancing
their pages for a limited proportion of their audience.  Obviously the
extent of such non-compliance will relate to the proportion of the intended
audience and the cost involved in such coding.  In other words, cost
effectiveness!  There, that nicely accommodates most of the ADA objections
of the members on this list that have little relevance in Australia :)

(Clarification - I mean the ADA has little relevance.  I firmly believe in
designing for maximum audience myself)

>These people are sorely mistaken and need our help.

This comment certainly applies to the "newbie" professional web designer.
I seems to me that most of you are really arguing the same point (in other
words agreeing with each other) but from different perspectives.

Lets define what it takes to be a professional web designer!

No, let me restate that - that is too controversial.  Let us instead try to
define what qualities a "web designer" should have.

No, still I think I am still being too limiting!!

I believe we have reached the stage where "web designer" is not a
sufficient classification to cover all the roles required within our
industry.  I would argue that web development has progressed to a stage
that we really need a number of roles within that field.

Perhaps we need:
* Site designer
* Page designer
* Graphics designer
* Programmer and database integrator

I realise that some of these duties can be performed by more than one
person, but we are reaching the stage where web design can't be totally
achieved by one person.  The knowledge base is getting too broad and
changeing too quickly.

OK!  Have I missed any essential categories?  What should the knowledge
requirements be for each category?


Chris Higgs <c.higgs(at)landfood.unimelb.edu.au>
Institute of Land and Food Resources
University of Melbourne
http://www.landfood.unimelb.edu.au

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