jobs.ac.uk - Great jobs for bright people
  • Find a Job
  • Find PhDs
  • Career Advice
  • Jobs by Email
  • Recruiters
  • Your Account

  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

career-advice.jobs.ac.uk

Secondary Sidebar

jobs.ac.uk Career Advice

  • CV and Cover Letter Advice
    • CV Tips
    • Free CV Templates
    • Cover Letters
    • Personal Profiles
    • CV Resources
  • Jobseeking and Interview Tips
    • Jobseeking Tips
    • Academic Interviews
    • Professional Interviews
    • Jobseeking and Interview Resources
  • Career Development
    • Academic Careers
    • Research Careers
    • Professional Careers
    • Working in Industry
    • Career Development Resources
    • Global Careers
    • Working From Home
  • Women in Higher Education
  • Resources
    • Academic Case Studies
    • Professional Case Studies
    • Interview questions tool
    • Job Profiles
      • Health and Medical
      • Engineering and Technology
    • Blog
    • Vlogs
  • Webinars
  • Country Profiles
    • Africa
      • Egypt
      • Ghana
      • Kenya
      • Nigeria
      • South
    • Americas
      • Canada
      • United States of America
    • Asia
      • Bahrain
      • Brunei
      • China
      • Hong Kong
      • India
      • Japan
      • Kazakhstan
      • Malaysia
      • Qatar
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Singapore
      • South Korea
      • Turkey
      • United Arab Emirates
    • Europe
      • Belgium
      • Denmark
      • Finland
      • France
      • Germany
      • Ireland
      • Italy
      • Netherlands
      • Norway
      • Russia
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • United Kingdom
    • Oceania
      • Australia
      • New Zealand
  • Studentship Advice
    • PhD
    • Studentship Resources
    • Vlogs
  • Sections
    • CV and Cover Letter Advice
      • CV Tips
      • CV Templates
      • Cover Letters
      • Personal Profiles
      • CV Resources
    • Jobseeking and Interview Tips
      • Jobseeking Tips
      • Academic Interviews
      • Professional Interviews
      • Jobseeking and Interview Resources
    • Career Development
      • Academic Careers
      • Research Careers
      • Professional Careers
      • Working in Industry
      • Career Development Resources
      • Global Careers
    • Resources
      • Academic Case Studies
      • Professional Case Studies
      • Interview questions tool
      • Blog
      • Vlogs
    • Country Profiles
      • Africa
        • Egypt Country Profile
        • Ghana Country Profile
        • Kenya Country Profile
        • Nigeria Country Profile
        • South Africa Country Profile
      • Americas
        • Canada Country Profile
        • United States of America Country Profile
      • Asia
        • Bahrain Country Profile
        • Brunei Country Profile
        • China Country Profile
        • Hong Kong Country Profile
        • India Country Profile
        • Japan Country Profile
        • Kazakhstan Country Profile
        • Malaysia Country Profile
        • Qatar Country Profile
        • Saudi Arabia Country Profile
        • Singapore Country Profile
        • South Korea Country Profile
        • Turkey Country Profile
        • United Arab Emirates Country Profile
      • Europe
        • Belgium Country Profile
        • Denmark Country Profile
        • Finland Country Profile
        • France Country Profile
        • Germany Country Profile
        • Ireland Country Profile
        • Italy Country Profile
        • Netherlands Country Profile
        • Norway Country Profile
        • Russia Country Profile
        • Spain Country Profile
        • Sweden Country Profile
        • Switzerland Country Profile
        • United Kingdom Country Profile
      • Oceania
        • Australia Country profile
        • New Zealand Country Profile
    • Studentship Advice
      • PhD
      • Studentship Resources
      • Vlogs

Web developer and usability consultant

About you?

What is your background?

 I have a degree in Psychology with minor in German, and am currently studying for an MA in Contemporary Religions and Spiritualities. After graduating, I worked in various temp jobs (some in HE), learnt to write HTML, then went into teacher training (PGCE in Information Technology) and completed my NQT year. I then got a job as IT Co-ordinator in an HE institution, but this was too general. I then developed the website of an academic department here at Bath, before getting a job as web developer. I have also been a usability consultant since the beginning of this year, as I have a long-standing interest in usability and have attended training on it.

What initially attracted you to your job?

I wanted to work for a boss who understands web and IT issues. I enjoy using IT for communication, so good information architecture, and non-gimmicky good design, are important to me

Define your job?

A Web Developer is mainly a back end developer. Web developers would have most of the skills listed above with the exception of the layout and design and graphics knowledge. In addition a web developer should have the following skills:

* excellent CSS skills

* thorough knowledge of HTML (the different types and standards)

* excellent cross-browser compatibility knowledge

* firm knowledge of JavaScript

* expertise in at least one object-oriented language such as Java, C++, C# or VB (I lack this one)

* expertise in at least one flavour of server side scripting such as JSP, ASP, PHP or Cold Fusion

* firm grasp of internet protocols & standards

* expertise in some form of database such as SQL Server, MySQL or Oracle

* firm grasp of architecture design and implementation as it applies to the web

* expertise in XML, XSLT, XSL-FO and related technologies and standards

* an understanding of content management systems and related issues

As a usability consultant, I carry out heuristic testing and usability tests with users. I am still developing this aspect of my role.

What are the key issues facing your sector?

The key issues facing web development are the need for interactive, usable and accessible websites, and the need to make content creation available to all web users. Some exciting developments here are Web 2.0 technologies, including wikis, blogs and content management systems.

How does government legislation affect your job?

Important legislation includes the Disability Discrimination Act and the Special Educational Needs Discrimination Act as they apply to web standards on accessibility

What attributes do you need/ what are you looking for when hiring someone in your role? 

Team members will:

Communication

• Deal with all staff in a professional manner. Liaise with customers to provide progress reports and respond to staff queries within appropriate timescales.

• Keep up to date with team projects and initiatives through the Webdev wiki, and contribute to the shared knowledge on the team wiki.

• Have an adaptable approach to communicating with non-technical staff to convey complex information. 

Projects

• Take steps to ensure that agreed processes are followed when undertaking a new project.

• Be able to plan project milestones and prioritise work to deliver to project deadlines.

• Maintain an understanding of other projects and offer advice, feedback and expertise where possible.

Development

• Keep up to date with current Web technologies, trends and best practice.

• Provide a high standard of supporting project documentation (requirements, wireframes etc.) to detail client expectations and deliver an agreed application.

• Understand the importance of different testing methods and implement these in their projects; keep up to date with new techniques.

• Consider the ‘broader view’ when developing applications and software in order to avoid niche solutions. 

Team

• Use initiative to improve the teams’ tools, procedures and working practice.

• Research new technologies and present findings to the team.

• Seek to offer support to other team members and recognise each other’s contribution to the team.

• Consider the strategic aims of the Team, Department and University when undertaking tasks.

• Be proactive in the sharing of ideas, new technologies and best practices with fellow team members

What are your tips/ advice for those starting out?

 Look at Open Source technologies; make sure your skills are transferable.

 

Technician

Share this article

Reader Interactions

You may also like:

What You Should Include in a Personal Statement
Academic Jobs in the Health and Medical Sector
Overcoming Barriers and Challenges for Women in Universities

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Follow us

Latest Jobs

  • Faculty Position in Urban Planning and Design [Open Rank]

    Urban Planning and Design, Xi'an Jiaotong - Liverpool University

    Location(s): Suzhou

    Salary: Competitive salary in the market


  • Faculty Position in HeXie Management Research Centre (Open Rank)

    HeXie Management Research Centre, Xi'an Jiaotong - Liverpool University

    Location(s): Suzhou

    Salary: Competitive salary in the market


  • Associate Lecturer: MBA

    Guildhall School of Business and Law, London Metropolitan University

    Location(s): London

    Salary: £49.74 per hour


  • Associate Lecturer: MBA

    Guildhall School of Business and Law, London Metropolitan University

    Location(s): London

    Salary: £49.74 per hour


  • Research Assistant / Postdoctoral Research Associate (0.474 Fte)

    School Of The Arts Department Of English , University of Liverpool

    Location(s): Liverpool

    Salary: £30,503 - £42,155 pro rata


  • 'Professor of Immersive Design

    University of Hull

    Location(s): Kingston upon Hull

    Salary: £61,000+


Footer

jobs.ac.uk - Great jobs for bright people
  • Find a Job
  • Find PhDs
  • Career Advice
  • Jobs by Email
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Accessibility Statement

Copyright © jobs.ac.uk 1998 - 2022

  • Find a Job
  • Find PhDs
  • Careers Advice
  • Jobs by Email
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Accessibility
jobs.ac.uk - Great jobs for bright people

Copyright © jobs.ac.uk 1998 - 2022