Boston, MA – On December 12-15, 2005, Skylar Design attended a national web design conference in Boston, MA. There were at least 500-700 attendees, many representing companies, non-profits, and educational institutions all over the United States.

The conference focused on areas we specialize in: CSS design, web standards, accessibility, usability, and interface design and development. There were a total of eleven nationally and internationally recognized presenters at this particular conference, all recognized as experts and authors on subjects stated above.

At the close of the conference, there was one hour left for what they called, “Deconstruction.” Basically, a panel of three experts was given the task to select seven attendee websites and publicly critique them. The three reviewers were Jim Heid, Jeffrey Zeldman (keynote speaker), & Kelly Goto.

About the Reviewers

• Jim Heid is one of the most experienced technology writers and instructors in the world.
• Jeffrey Zeldman is an internationally known Web designer and book author, a chief architect of the web standards movement, and the creator of some of the Web’s best-known brands. His personal site has welcomed over 24 million visitors and is a daily industry read.
• Kelly Goto, principal at GotoMedia, a San Francisco-based consultancy specializing in merging the disciplines of strategy, branding, and research into compelling user experiences. Kelly has consulted with many high profile clients including Adobe Corporation, Macromedia, and the FDIC.

Of the seven that were chosen, Skylar was designated as one of the top sites. Areas that were critiqued: XHTML code (code which passes W3C validation standards), overall presentation, compatibility within a multitude of modern browsers and operating systems (PC vs. MAC), use of imagery, strong brand, creativity, accessibility (ability to be viewed by a variety of audiences), use of copy, and the portfolio.

This has opened the door for some unique opportunities for us for the year 2006. As always, we are so grateful to the Skylar Family. Without your support, Skylar Design would only be a dream. We’re looking forward to what’s ahead in 2006.