Methodology

dotLaunch specializes in the design and development of websites, from initial briefing & concept development to site launch. We design and build sites that range from small 5-page commercial and charity websites to large multi-page government websites. 

:: Design Methodology

:: Code Methodology

:: Project Management Methodology

Design Methodology

Concept Design
Our goal is to design websites that are pleasing to the eye, have energy and freshness which excite and engage both client and audience, using the latest technologies & tools.

Audience Targeting
We design our sites with the target audience in mind. Our first question to clients is always 'Who is the target audience, and what do you want them to get from your site'?  

The three-second rule...
The default nature of the web-surfing world is that of  "immediate results" and "short attention spans".  We want to make sure we elicit the desired emotional response from your existing and potential clients within the first three seconds.  That is exactly what marketing is: eliciting the desired emotional results through media.  We base our design on what we want your targeted audience to feel, whether is is high-tech, new technologies to low-tech, corporate comfort.

Ease of use
Our sites are always easy to use and navigate.  We make sure that the lowest common denominator can always access your site.  What this means is, we do cross-browser compatibility, we use standardized applications & plugins and we provide a clear, concise navigation method on each page, so your customer is always sure where they are at, and where they are going.

Working with the client
We involve our clients in every step of the design process. We present each stage online for the client to inspect and provide feedback on. We encourage clients to show our mock-ups to colleagues and a small selection of target audience users. This allows the client to do informal user-testing throughout the process. 

We are also happy to work with Web Usability experts. On larger sites, we actively encourage usability testing at set stages throughout the process if time and budget are available. We can provide contact details for Web Usability experts if needed, but do not include this as part of our service. 

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Code Methodology

Accessibility
We follow W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Our sites: 

• Use correct DOCTYPE.

• Use CSS-driven relative font size for general content - which allows users to control the size of the page content.

• Have alternative text for all images and decorative/positioning graphics include null "ALT" attributes - which is important for text-based or screen-reading browsers.

• Provide additional navigation aids.

• Have meaningful page titles.

• Identify the content language.

• Have detailed and descriptive metadata.

• Provide hidden links in the top of each page to allow users with text-based or screen-reading browser to jump to the preferred content on the page.

• Where possible, present main content first within the source (regardless of how the page is displayed) - again for text-based and screen-reading browsers.

We generally run our sites across a number of web-based accessibility checkers during the development phase. However, we discourage clients from focusing on a particular checking system (such as Bobby) at the expense of other checkers or good coding practices. 

Stability
We do extensive testing when building sites, to make sure all pages maintain consistent layout and style across a wide range of browsers and platforms, including text-based, hand-held and Web-TV browsers. Whenever possible, our sites are designed to be completely accessible for older browsers such as Internet Explorer 4+ and Netscape 4+. 

Validity and Compliance
Our sites currently use valid HTML (4.01 Transitional) or XHTML (1.0 Transitional) and CSS 2.0. All pages and CSS files within our sites are checked and validated using W3C's online HTML and CSS Validators. 

Coding for the future 
The future of web development is based on W3C standards, which are moving towards CSS and XHTML. The aim is to separate style (look, appearance, colors, fonts, layout) from content. With this in mind, we are able to code for our clients, depending on their target audience, whether it is backwards compatible coding or current & forward compatible.

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Project Management Methodology

Our Commitment
Through proactive project management, the dotLaunch process ensures effective communication by providing clear, concise documentation at each stage of every initiative. Our clients can rely on current, accurate information to make informed presentations, decisions, and commitments. Each of our clients is assigned their own Project Manager throughout the process of the development or redevelopment of their website.

Your Personal Project Management System
Along with your own Project Manager, your project status will be available to you via your Online Project Management Site.

We invite you to check out the Project Management Demo.
Use demo as both the username and password. Select your company (Demo Company) and the select your project. Give it a try! 

Go to the Demo>

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