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Web Development

Qoben, Ben Siemerink, web and database application developmentQoben makes web applications and web sites that work for all visitors and users. There can be many differences among the users: the browser, the operating system, the screen size, the available font types, the font size, script permissions, etc. Therefore it is important that the web pages adapt to this variety and that they are displayed correctly and work flawlessly under all those circumstances. You would be surprised to know how many web pages are corrupted by simply choosing a slightly larger font size in your browser. Qoben takes all users and their personal settings in account. Therefore all Qoben web products comply the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)'s standards and are tested in the most-used browsers:

Valid HTML logo Valid CSS logo Camino browser icon Google Chrome browser icon Firefox browser icon Internet Explorer browser icon Opera browser icon Safari browser icon Seamonkey browser icon

Web creation can be divided into two parts of equal importance: design and development of the functionality.

Design

The design, like the whole web site, is like a shop window: it carries out your organisation's or personal image. If there is a house style, then the two should match. Qoben creates the design in cooperation with the client to garantee that it complies with the requirements and wishes.

During the design phase Qoben cooperates with the visual artist MarĂ­a Vogels. Her artistic advise on composition, colour and style makes the web design unique and elegant. And that is a striking feature for your web presence.

Development

Web development includes the creation of web applications: programs that allow the user to perform actions and interact with the web site. Examples are: consult databases; read and write email; Internet shopping, blogs. They must have a logical design from a user's point of view and flawless operation. Qoben makes sure they have that.

Quality for Everybody

Qoben creates web sites that work for everybody, independent of monitor size, font size, web browser, operating system and the visitor's personal settings. That is fundamental, because you want to present a good image on your web. Therefore, Qoben delivers high-quality work and avoids the typical mistakes that these days are so common on many web sites, including the most "professional." A few examples:

Non-dynamic Sizes

Detail of a web page that is designed with fixed sizes.

This is the most common mistake: the web page is designed as if it were a printed leaflet. Everything on the page is given a fixed size and position: the content area, the menu, the font size, etc. The result is perfect as long as the visitor uses exactly the same set-up as the designer.

The whole idea of web sites is quite the opposite: to reach as many people as possible, not just a few of them with the same set-up.

At the right you can find an adapted example that has been taken from a graphical design studio's own web site. The inset with the green border shows how it was intended; the one with the red border shows how is looks like on a different computer with slightly different font settings. In this particular case the two menu options at the bottom right do not even work, although they are visible.

Weird Symbols

Details of a web page with weird symbols instead of text.

This problem is common in every language. Any accented letter, mathematical symbol or punctuation can be shown incorrectly. It can also happen to characters from other alphabets, such as the Cyrillic, Hebrew, etc.

It is a typical problem for web sites that use databases and forms. It is important to develop such sites as one whole. And Qoben has extensive experience in databases, web applications and especially in the combination of them.