How to embark on a web designer career in the UK

Web designers are the professionals responsible for the look and usability of a website. Some of the tasks faced by a web designer may overlap with those of similar careers, including multimedia programming, web architecture and graphic designer.

What does a web designer do?

A web designer is therefore required to possess a broad range of computer science and graphic design skills to carry out their role. Find out more about how to work in web design jobs. Duties
A web designer is responsible for the visual appearance, layout and ease of use of a website. Work activities may include: -Liaising with customers to find out why the website is required, who the website’s target audience is, who the company’s competitors are and the way in which they want their website to look -Gathering ideas and conducting research into a company -Producing a draft design, or several designs, that may be attractive to an organisation’s target audience -Presenting draft designs to the client for perusal -Writing web pages in a range of codes, including HTML, XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, ColdFusion, .Net or Flash -Using code-generating programs to create web pages -Deciding on the way in which images and other visual material will be presented on a website -Ensuring that a web site is accessible to a range of ages, backgrounds and disabilities -Testing the final website for functionality in a variety of different browsers and at several different resolutions -Fixing any errors encountered during the testing phase

What skills are required for web designer jobs?

Skills required
Web designers are required to possess knowledge of the graphic design packages which will aid them in producing basic layouts and images for the web. E-commerce and server side technology skills are helpful, as is an understanding of Internet security.

What training is required to become a web designer?

Training courses and qualifications
A degree is not required to work as a self-employed web designer. However, companies seeking in-house web designers may prefer candidates with a degree to their name. Web design and development courses are available at a number of UK universities and colleges at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. To enroll on an undergraduate web designer course, five GCSEs at grade C or higher and at least one A level are likely to be required. The qualifications required to enroll on web design courses vary between education institutions.

What job prospects and working conditions can prospective web designers expect?

Careers Web designers may work in-house or may be employed on a freelance basis. Freelance web designers are able to set their own working hours and rates of pay. Web designers with experience can expect to receive higher salaries than those starting out in the profession. As users benefit from faster Internet access, web designers possessing knowledge of multimedia and interactive design are likely to find themselves in high demand.