1. Validate HTML/CSS

While it may not be necessary to have validating HTML/CSS it does help when someone tells you your website doesn’t work right. Validated HTML/CSS gives you a good basis to know you’ve done everything you can to make sure the pages display for everyone the same. It also shows you are serious about your design and your website. Anyone can write code, but it takes a greater knowledge to be willing to face validating it and finding issues and fixing them until its valid. You can also get a cute little badge or link to display proudly on your site which will help build a professional reputation as a good web designer.

2. Check Browser Compatibility

There’s more to web browsing than the Internet Explorer/Firefox battle. There are different versions of browsers, and people don’t upgrade just because a new version is available. Many users will stop at one they really like and not upgrade for some time. Which means you need to check your design in Internet Explorer 5, 6, 7 and Firefox 2 and 3, Opera, Netscape, etc. The more you can try the better you will be able to know how your page is viewed and whether or not you need to address issues with the coding or offer alternatives for certain browsers.

3. Submit for Feedback

Joining and utilizing an online design community is a great tool when you are working on a design. From feedback on the color scheme to the placement of key elements, to how the final design is displayed for different people an online community gives you a limitless amount of people to help test your design. Even if you have lots of friends, they may not have time to check out your site and give you feedback, let alone specific feedback about your CSS stylesheet or the misplaced end tag that’s ruining the page. They all use different browsers on different computers with different configurations. An online community can help you fully test a system if you are a freelancer and not an agency that has full testing facilities and staff.

4. Spell check/Check Grammar

Check it once; check it again, ask a friend to check it a third time. While it’s easy to overlook common spelling mistakes there is no reason to let them slip through to your final step. Don’t be afraid to tell people to be honest and brutal. The English language isn’t easy and its better to get it right and have it perfect than to have someone spare your feelings and have it at only a mediocre standard. It not only affects your clients reputation but also your own. The best way to get your message across is in clear concise terms that can’t be confused and a design that accommodates this easy user viewing.

5. Check Links

Check all internal and external links, and do it regularly. The internet is never static. Pages change, things get renamed, and websites get taken down. Make sure there isn’t a dead link leading to nowhere on your site by checking them regularly. And remember to do the same whenever you change pages on your own site. Internal links are just as susceptible as external links. This includes links in the navigation menus, footers, links in the text and a dedicated links page. Any badges, buttons or banner exchanges should also be checked to make sure they still exist as well.

Tags: checklist, checks, completion, freelance web designers, validation, Web Design, web development