Re: UKNM: Those who write HTML for food...

[Robb Masters]

Jamie Unwin said:

> Maybe this is why so may web companies 'focusing on production alone' are going under,

> if you charge �500 for a page of HTML, sooner or later someone within the organistaion

> is going to question this cost (my 14 year old son/daughter can do this, we

> can do this internally etc.) and possibly feel (a) ripped off (b) lose trust in the company due to this ??


If, hypothetically speaking, my 14 year old son/daughter could use 

Illustrator and Photoshop, I wouldn't give him/her the job of 

designing our corporate id (unless they had a superb design talent).

Few people would.


While I agree that �500 for an *average* page of HTML is exorbitant,

what many organisations who take the in-house approach fail to realise

is the difference between good and bad HTML. For example, good HTML

would work across a variety of browsers, platforms, etc., provide 

appropriate information to bots, and so on. But if an organisation

gets someone who doesn't appreciate its intricacies to create pages,

and then simply previews them in their own browser they're unlikely

to realise the potential problems.


While, as someone said, "HTML is a doddle", *good*, reliable, platform-

independent, fast HTML isn't.


Furthermore, if they "in-source" the programming, they're unlikely to

go to new media specialists for graphic design, information design,

etc., so the final result is likely to be an unnavigable, unattractive 

site that's slow to download, works in few environments and doesn't 

get indexed by search engines.


Whatever we charge for HTML, design, strategy, etc., it's going to

cost companies more than it would cost them to do it in house or to

get their kids to do it. It's our job to justify that, why on

occasion an HTML page might cost �500, and the pitfalls of 

in-sourcing.


So if this is related to the failure of production only houses, it's

probably a failure to justify their costs as opposed to simply charging 

too much.


Regards,


Robb

-- 

Robb Masters

rmastersredkite [dot] com

Project Manager

Red Kite New Media   http://www.redkite.com/