Why you should hire me…

…an honest discussion.

A proven track record of success.

The website I built for MUSC’s awareness campaign, Changing What’s Possible – Harper’s Story, won one of only 13 Grand Golden CASE Circle of Excellence Awards issued in 2018 out of 3,000+ entries. The judges pointed out “the presentation of the story on the web through a micro-site was also very well done and made accessible and understandable to individuals without a medical background. Judges particularly liked the inclusion of a glossary of medical terms with each chapter of the story”

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04-22-2021 | Uncategorized

Agile for 5 year-olds

Children’s stories are full of hidden lessons, society’s values, and of course whimsy. One of my favorite tales is of a little mouse who visits a human’s home and asks for a cookie.

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07-20-2020 | Programming, Web Design, Web Trends

10 years a designer…

…give or take.

Last week Facebook was been taken over with a new challenge: “How hard did aging hit you?” The initial goal was to post your first profile picture on Facebook along side your most recent. In theory, it should show off how much you’ve changed, like a high school reunion, it’s a ‘looks’ contest. In reality, 10 years isn’t enough time to drastically change a person who is already in adulthood. What’s really changed: our technology.

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01-03-2019 | Uncategorized

An Event Apart

An Event Apart In the early 2000’s, when I was a young web developer I found “A List Apart.” The blog answered my first hard question as a web designer worried about universal accessibility. How do I create a dropdown menu without Flash or JavaScript. I read the Suckerfish and Son of Suckerfish tutorials, successfully created my menus and was hooked. I continued reading, learning and expanding my horizons with new CSS methods.

Over a decade later, when I got to pick my first professional conference, there was no choice, my response was automatic. I was going to An Event Apart! (more…)

05-20-2016 | Web Design, Web Trends

Update to the Palmetto State

As I hinted in my last post, moving to Charleston would entail quite a bit of change for my career as well. I remained with Infinity Insurance through the summer and began my search for position with a local company in the early fall. As luck would have it a position within the Medical University of South Carolina was open.

This September I will join the talented team of communicators in the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs as their web developer.

09-28-2014 | Uncategorized

The Rise of One Page Design

The release of CSS3 and HTML5 has brought about a new trend in web design: the One Page Design. As the name implies the One Page Design is just a single webpage that contains all of the websites content. Oftentimes the One Page Design has a navigation bar at the top of the page, just like any other site you might frequent, but instead of each menu item linking to a new page the navigation shoots you down the page, to the appropriate section.

Why the popularity?

The web is faster now. I don’t just mean your internet connection, but browsers are more efficient too. New standards mean that pages load faster. Designers have more tools for optimizing images and rendered content. All of this means that having a page that scrolls on for centuries won’t make your hourglass spin for days while the page loads.

The rise of mobile internet access also means adapting to that audience. Pew cites that 63% of adult cell owners us their mobile phone to go online and 34% go online MOSTLY with their phones. Mobile users will find single page websites easier to navigate. Scrolling with your thumb on your cell phone device is second nature, and you never have to wait for a page to refresh.

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07-12-2014 | Web Design, Web Trends

Hello South Carolina

Goodbye Birmingham, I’m moving to Charleston!

This year sees my husband transitioning from medical student to doctor. After 4 years at the University of Alabama School of Medicine (UAB), I couldn’t be more proud of him and the work he has done to advance his career. He spent the better part of this past winter interviewing across the south east for residency, and he matched at the Medical University of South Carolina.

We are both very excited to embark on the next phase of his career. See you in the Palmetto State!

04-26-2014 | Alabama

IronMan

Client Story: KaramFoundation.org.

An amazing non-profit organization that provides much needed supplies to those affected by the war in Syria.

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03-24-2014 | Freelance, Web Design, Web Hosting

Defending the Glitch

Screenshot of HealthCare.gov

The launch of the healthcare.gov site has shined an interrogation style spotlight on the often over-looked world of Mountain Dew, Corn Chips, and Snicker bars, the world of web development. As a basic PHP developer myself I feel like my brothers at keyboard are being unfairly crucified for mistakes that are sadly industry standard!

On the first days of the failed site Obamacare proponents were pushing a story of site overload. Similar to when Oprah shares the girl next door’s blog entry on her website, the girl next door’s blog crashes. Why? Volume. A webserver can only handle so much traffic, and when it reaches capacity it gets gridlocked just like the Red Mountain Expressway in 5:00 traffic. No one goes anywhere.

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10-29-2013 | Healthcare, Programming

Google Cart is Checking Out

It was good while it lasted.

Webmasters around the globe, get ready for the scramble, Google Checkout is going the way of the dinosaur! That once simple, easy to integrate ecommerce solution is no more. As of November 20th, 2013 if you are using Google Checkout, you had better change to something else.

Google Checkout was introduced in 2006 as a way to simplify online purchasing. Create one profile and use it everywhere Google Checkout is accepted. No need to retype your address and payment information. Sound familiar? Yep, sounds a lot like Paypal.

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08-22-2013 | Web Trends