Should Web Designers Need Required Certification
Something had been whizzing around in the back of my mind all weekend and on Monday morning I posted it on Twitter – Should web designers sit a fit to practice examination like other professions such as Law and Architecture?
Before we get started I think I need to clarify two points:
- When I refer to a web designer I mean someone who deals with front-end code, not someone who sits in front of photoshop all day.
- The examination should be a bar exam for entry level.
The reason that I stated a bar exam is because I believe that these exams should be for beginners covering basics like HTML and CSS. Whether you have further examinations for different levels is for another discussion.
Why Do I Think We Need This?
We’ve been pushing standards based web design for a while now and that’s great but the truth of the matter is that the majority of clients don’t particularly care whether you’ve lovingly built their site with carefully constructed code or if you’ve built their site with tables and font tags. The only thing they care about is that it functions like the brief and that it looks nice.
The above paragraph will no doubt be met with the usual response of "it’s our job to educate them" but I don’t know whether I believe in this. Do you want to know how the bridge you travel across everyday was built or how Subway sourced all the produce for your lunch?
I believe that the best approach would therefore be to make an opt-in examination, this way there is no pressue put upon the community but what trading web designer wouldn’t want to take an exam to prove that they know how to create a proper functioning website? Obviously some customers will still go for the person who offers a "full website" for £500 but then the client will have no excuse for what they end up with.
Opinions Please
I’ve outlined some of the thoughts that have been floating around my head but I wanted to keep it quite open as I didn’t want to alter anyones thinking. I’d love to read your suggestions or improvements on all of this and whether it is something you believe to be realistic or something that will sadly remain a pipe dream.
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Who I am
My name is Jack Osborne and I am a Glasgow–based designer and writer. You should follow me on Twitter.
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What I do
I am a front-end developer with proficiency in; accessibility, design, semantics, usability & web standards.
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Where I do it
I am currently working freelance and I am available for hire. Feel free to get in touch with me if you fancy a chat.
I was thinking the other day about this and considered some sort of mark of certification for designers to put on their website.
Just so consumers know the difference between a fully trained web designer/developer and someone just saying they can do it, before handing over £2000 for a website.
Overall I’d say you don’t need a certification. But if you really think about it, maybe we should have this as a requirement. Most people know how to do fancy gradients but doesn’t understand what makes up good design. That being said, I feel that it’s YOUR responsibility to create semantic mark-up. Your job isn’t to “educate the client”, but to do the service you are being paid for. Be honest about your work and that will only make you more valuable in your profession.
- Henry
@Matthew – Whilst I agree that a mark of certification for your website would be a good idea, as it lets people see clearly whether or not you have passed the exam, I feel that this particular solution could easily be copied. Although we, as a community, would be able to spot the fraudsters the general public would not and this would mean that we have gone full circle.
We need a way for both people in the web business and general public to easily distinguish whether or not you are certified. My suggestion would be a piece of custom javascript that you are presented with after passing the examination. But then what happens if the end-user has javascript turned off? Hmm, this answer seems to be raising more questions.
@Henry – I love your comment and I’m in total agreement when you say that it’s our job to be honest, I wish more people were like that.
@Jack — Could it work the same way as the ‘Gas Safe’ registration in the UK? People working in the web industry would just be assigned a code, which is verifiable on a website.
I think this would be the most obvious way.
Having to sit a “fit to practice” exam before being able to sell your services sounds like a great idea to me, but it would be so hard to track (theres countless forums and other websites out there where people sell web design services) I don’t think it’s a viable solution.
I’m currently at university obtainling my “web design & development” honours degree (and have done it for 3 and a half years already mainly for that piece of paper at the end – not to learn) so that it will hopefully set me apart from all those people who say they are web designers but still make table layouts using spacer gif’s.
I agree, Jack.
And it’s funny you should mention this, because I’ve been working on a similar article, but from a different angle (dribbble shot). My article is more about university education VS self-education.
But without getting sidetracked on that, I do fully agree with what you are saying. I was trying to find a link there to an article on David Airey’s blog about there being some proposal for Graphic Designers to get “Chartered”, the same way Accountants are. The details are fuzzy in my memory, but I read an article about there being some proposal put forward suggesting this. Being Chartered might help clients understand the quality of your work much easier.
It is almost impossible to explain to the average Joe client in the street what differs the “quality” of your work from the fraudsters. When it comes to things like Logo design it’s also pretty similar – the fraudster designers don’t do any research, they just churn out logos that look right (even when they don’t).
@Nick – I don’t know if I would make the examination compulsory, I was thinking more along the lines of just simply setting yourself apart from the others and making it obvious to the client that you are qualified.
I too have this special bit of paper but I think it all depends on your luck because so far it hasn’t really opened up any doors for me that my level of ability wouldn’t have. Besides, the stuff you learn and University in regards to building websites is terrible. It’s also weird that you should bring this up as I’m writing an article on this very subject.
@Mark – Look forward to reading the dribbble shot article, let me know when it’s live.
I will do, Jack!
You have a very good point there about that piece of degree paper… I have one of them too, and any of the interviews I ever had were always focused on what I can actually do, and can show I’ve done. The degree really doesn’t always carry the weight you think it does (at the time doing it). But obviously great to have.
You took the words out of my mouth about the Web stuff being taught at Universities being rubbish (in general). Some are the exception though, i.e. University of Ulster (Belfast) where the Standardista’s are from. I basically done the same degree as Lee Munroe/Paddy Donnelly, but at a different Campus. But in the Belfast campus where they studied, and the Standardista’s teach, there is a lot of good stuff happening at the moment.
It would be a bad idea for all the same reasons certifications, qualifications and awards are vacuous hyperbole.
Even if there was a certification I for one would never take it, so would I miss out on work? Doubt it.
The world is naturally self selecting of brilliance, so generally the only people who feel the need to have such accolades are just making up for their own mediocrity.
Bad clients and bad designers are the same people.
Where is my coffee?
A very good question Jack and one that will no doubt split opinion between your readers.
There is in fact some form of certification from the W3C (http://www.w3schools.com/cert/default.asp) that would show that the designer/developer in question at least knows the fundamentals of good code but as you said yourself, many clients don’t care about what lies beneath.
I would be willing to sit an exam to prove my skills however I think such an official regime would be fraught with all kinds of issues with the web being so easy to copy from.
I find it hard to find a position here because I can think of equal arguments both for and against your proposal.
@Jason vacuous hyperbole might be the coolest thing I’ve ever read. I’ll need to make you up a certificate, ha. Actually, I do agree with some of what you say.
I think what will in happen in the comments is that people further down the pecking order, and I include myself in this, would side with an examination whereas people further up wouldn’t be too bothered. Once you’ve made a name for yourself, or whatever you want to call it, why should you need to prove yourself further?
Also – Stay off the coffee man, have an orange juice.
@Steve – As you can see above, it already has split opinions. This post seems to be coming over a little totalitarian. Long live Emmanuel Goldstein.
I’m educated to degree level, but I would never suggest the qualification I gained shows me to be more “skilled” than anyone else, the proof as always, is in the work.
Why do you think that some sort of “exam” would be a different un-needed and ultimately pointless qualification as my degree (without the three years of awesome drug and drink filled living).
What I mean is, if you want a qualification to “prove your a web designer” then you can get it already, but nobody cares.
@Jack I agree that the degree doesn’t pull much weight if you don’t have a good skillset behind it. I’ve always been of the opinion that a degree should be able to get my foot in the door and my portfolio should be able to do the rest.
I also agree that what I have learned at university has been (for the most part) terrible. There have been a few good modules/tutors that I have learned from though. It’s also opened up a number of doors for me so far as I have been able to network through the university and have met people/done work for a number of pretty well known companies – namely the BBC and a number of Dundee and Aberdeen based web design studios.
Well, I look forward to reading that article from you anyway!
@Ben – I agree. Design is a subject that cannot be measured in qualifications. However, when I’m putting forward the idea of some sort of examination it’s not to compare other people, it’s just to show that we all have that basic grounding in the subject. Which a lot of people simply do not have.
Ironically I found out today that I didn’t get a small freelance job, it wasn’t that much cash but every little helps. After a short Googling session I discovered that I lost out to a person that creates their websites in tables. Surely this isn’t an acceptable practice for 2010? Hence why I feel that a bar exam for entry level would be a good idea.
@Nick – That is really cool that University has done that for you, I certainly wished that I had those opportunities.
Just found this via Twitter (unable to sleep). I can see the benefit of certification, but I can also see the abuse.. It’s a means for someone to get very rich..
At the end of the day I think talent and word of mouth will win out. I see countless graduates – (a form of certification?) – but the last two chaps I employed were uni drop outs. They had a solid folio, aced a little technical test and a string of satisfied clients behind them.
An upset customer will become your terrorist, and scream more loudly than anyone who gives you praise.
I think the main thing that Jack is getting at is that in an ideal world, there should be some way for a non-technical client to distinguish between the fraudster, and the skilled designer, in layman’s terms.
I wouldn’t worry too much about missing out on that Freelance project, Jack. Especially if that is the type of client you would have been working for (one who hasn’t a clue what is good and what is bad).
I do also agree with a lot of what Mr. Cale said above. And like you said… when you are practically a brand name designer, you wouldn’t have such issues or concerns.
The fact that architects can use that single word “chartered” and get almost immediate attention of the client is the thing I was getting at. For us… it is a lot more complex than that, when it really shouldn’t be!
I think web designers have got to chill. In every single industry in the world there are people who aren’t great at their job or who don’t put in the effort to become better — we call them cowboys. It’s obviously a lot more visible in the web industry because of the nature of the web, but in every walk of life, everywhere, you will find these people. They’re always going to be there, so just concentrate on doing your best work and caring whether you’re making the web a better place, test or no test.
It doesn’t seem clear-cut yes/no, and I wouldn’t expect one either.
The main thing I’d like to get from this is the the educating the client bit. It’s by far the hardest bit. I can barely explain co-workers what is I do. “Marking up websites using semantic HTML following web standards, which by the way isn’t a standard, but a set of best practises …uhm” doesn’t really cut it. It still gets referred to as black magic.
It would be wonderful not to have to do this, but the bridge analogy doesn’t quite fit since you’re not paying to cross the bridge (usually).
But when I pay $2000 to get my car fixed I want to know where all the money is going. And I prefer to know that in layman terms, not some mumbo jumbo about “the sideways double v-confubalors needing replacing”.
Perhaps that’s what the training should be for – not the web designing itself, but how-to educate others. The perfect answer should take less than 30 seconds to get across.
Bah! Beaten to it
Actually there are several places offering Web design certification, about 37,400,000 of them to be exact (only 548,000 if you want to stay regional)
The problem is not with getting people certified, that’s existed for a while for all different areas of our industry (Microsoft, Adobe, W3C, Zend, MySQL, etc all offer their own certifications) it’s do these really mean anything to the client? Can a client tell the difference between a reputable certification and a “anyone can get it, as long as they pay” certification?
I’ve toyed with the idea of getting the W3C/Zend/mySQL certifications myself, but then I realised the only person who would care that I have them is me, and I don’t care that much (not enough to pay to sit each, that’s for sure!).
All clients or colleagues care about is that my code works. Not what certifications I have
@X – What so you mean when you say rich? If you’re thinking along the lines of paying to sit the exam then this is not what I was intending, I was leaning towards a free exam, this way you are not going to single anyone out because some people just wouldn’t be able to afford an exam.
@Mark – You’ve understood exactly the angle I’m coming from. I’m not worried about missing out on the project, I was merely highlighting the fact that even with the push towards standards based design I still lost out to someone who designs in tables.
@Ashley – All very valid points. I’m really enjoying hearing the opinions from people who are on the other side of the fence. It’s part of the reason I decided to publish this post and not send it to the trash like 80% of my articles.
@Eystein – I’ve discussed this before, we need to be able to tell a clients easily, or as someone mentioned above in laymans terms. I don’t know if this will ever be achieved, especially at the speed the internet is progressing and with all the made up job titles we seem to be making up.
@Aaron – I think the problem with the aforementioned certifications is that they are all too specific for people to understand exactly what they mean. To be honest, I probably wouldn’t understand what half of them mean! I don’t think a bar entry exam would have these problems. Totally agree with the last part, as I stated in my article clients don’t care whether it’s semantic they only care that it works.