Website design and build

These days, I work primarily as an accessibility consultant; I rarely take on website builds, and I don’t actively look for that kind of work anymore. That said, I occasionally make exceptions, usually for clients I already know, or when a build forms part of a broader accessibility engagement.

If we do work together on a website, here’s how I approach things.

How I work

I’m remote-first and tend to communicate asynchronously; email, shared documents and simple project boards usually work best. Even so, a quick chat is often the fastest way to move something forward, and I’m always open to jumping on a call when it makes sense. I can also travel when there’s real value in being in the room together; usually for things like workshops, kick-offs or key reviews.

I take a consultative approach and care deeply about the end result. That sometimes means challenging assumptions or suggesting alternative approaches: always constructively, and with your goals in mind. At the same time, your ideas are always welcome; no one knows your business better than you.

I keep meetings to a minimum to protect momentum and make the most of everyone’s time. You’ll get a clear proposal up front, including timescales, responsibilities and scope; no surprises later on. I prefer to work in short, focused bursts with regular check-ins to keep everything on track.

Design and development

I design and build fast, accessible, responsive websites that look great and work well across a range of browsers and devices. I don’t use off-the-shelf themes or page builders; every site is built from scratch, tailored to your needs.

I use clean, semantic HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, typically with Eleventy as the framework. This approach keeps things lightweight, fast to load, and easy to maintain.

My background is in frontend development and user experience design, so I bring a strong focus on structure, usability, and performance, as well as accessibility, which is baked in from the start.

Content

You’ll provide the content, and I’ll help make sure it’s structured and presented clearly. I use Decap CMS for content management in Eleventy, but I don’t make everything editable by default; instead, I’ll work with you to understand what you’ll want to update regularly, and make those parts manageable through the CMS.

Making every bit of content editable takes time, and therefore costs money that most clients don’t need to spend. For anything less frequently updated, I’m happy to make changes myself, either ad-hoc or as part of a retainer.

Timelines

We’ll agree a realistic schedule at the start of the project, based on the scope of work and your availability to provide content and feedback. I’ll stick to the deadlines we set, as long as things keep moving on your side too.

If the timeline slips, we’ll revisit the schedule and make adjustments. This can happen for all sorts of reasons; missing content, delayed sign-off, or unexpected changes are common ones.

Changes and scope

Before we start, we’ll agree exactly what’s in scope. Small tweaks and refinements are expected along the way, but anything that significantly changes the direction or size of the project may need a separate quote or additional time.

If it looks like we’re heading beyond the original scope, I’ll flag it early so we can work out the best way forward.

Handover and ownership

When the project’s done, you’ll get everything you need to take the site forward—code, assets and any relevant documentation. You own the site outright, and you’re free to host, maintain or extend it however you like.

I can also set up hosting if needed; I typically use Netlify for its speed, reliability and ease of use.

Ongoing maintenance is available if you need it, whether that’s making updates, fixing issues, keeping dependencies up to date, or just being on hand when something comes up. We can work this out on an ad-hoc basis or as part of a retainer. The most effective websites I’ve worked on have come out of long-term, collaborative relationships.

Next steps

I’ll always be honest about whether it’s the right time to start. And if it’s not, I’ll help you figure out what needs to happen first.

Think this sounds like the right kind of approach, and you’re confident it’s a good fit? Get in touch!