Professional Web Design, Web Development Services - Montreal, Quebec
Affordable web sites that are user friendly, accessible, and standards compliant.
Welcome.
Please feel free to browse around. On this site, you'll find my resume and a sample of web sites developed. I am available for part-time and freelance work. Non-profit organizations are very welcome, so are small businesses. I love promoting people in creative fields, and I don't mind answering any questions you may have, or making recommendations.
You can have a web site custom designed to your specific needs. Or if you prefer, you can
choose a template from our affiliate TemplateMonster.com - world's #1 website templates provider! They offer a gorgeous selection of web templates backed by their 100% satisfaction guarantee!
You can click the images below for an exciting preview, or to order!
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(Please note that clicking on an image will open a new browser window with no forward or back buttons. You can try out the template while remaining within the window. To close the window, you simply click the x at the far right corner of the window's title bar, or press ALT+F4. These windows may contain sound and animation, but you do have the option to hide the flash.
Content Management, copywriting, proofreading and editing.
Using some of the latest features to add visual interest and make your website more compelling.
Making your site more visible online using search engine optimization strategies, to help lead your clients to you.
The following are some of the applications I've seen or used, and would recommend. Can you believe that so many of the best applications online are free and open-source? They're also well supported and very popular. Check these out..
JQuery , cross-browser and lightweight Javascript library, free and open-source.
Wordpress, free blogging software with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability.
Joomla, one of the most powerful Open Source Content Management Systems on the planet.
Mambo, an award winning Content Management System that is rich with features.
Learn about the (OSI) Open Source Initiative. “The promise of open source is better quality, higher reliability, more flexibility, lower cost, and an end to predatory vendor lock-in.”
As a freelancer, I'm more interested in developing relationships with my clients than chasing after contracts. Because there's little overhead, I'm very affordable. If you need some help getting started; if you want to add some new features to your website or make it more accessible; if you want your website to do better on search engines; or if you just need someone to maintain your site or help you get started maintaining your own, I may be able to help.
User-Friendly and Accessible
When I develop web sites, my primary focus is on usability and accessibility. I try to use technologies that are accessible to as many people as possible, or that downgrade gracefully in the computer platforms and browsers that don't support them. So for instance, even if the people visiting your site have javascript turned off, or don't have the latest browser, they can still use your site, and have a good experience. The people behind many of the applications I use share the same philosophy.
NOTE: Although some of the templates on my site are mostly Flash, I would never recommend an all Flash site. Not everyone has Flash, or could download it on their computers. Search engines also find Flash sites hard to index. However, all Flash templates come with a non-Flash version, which could be optimized for search engines and accessibility.
Search Engine Friendly
Being friendly to search engines is another important consideration. You want to make it easy for search engine bots to crawl your site and find your keyphrases, important links, and great content. So you use the right structural markup to help search bots find the information you want. You also use CSS (Cascading Style Sheets ) to design the page, which you can then link to on a separate external sheet, instead of having it clutter up your web page. This has the added benefit of making your pages quicker to load, and can save you money on server space and bandwidth.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Optimizing your web pages for search engines means getting good listings on search engines like Google for the keywords and keyphrases you target. It's these keyphrases that you would use in the web page's title, description, headings, and even it's navigation and links. You also want to write relevant content that emphasizes these keywords. It should be one of your first considerations when creating a web site.
People want sites that provide quick and easy access to the products and the information they're looking for. Clear navigation is important, as well as accessibility, which has become an important feature. For U.S. Federal Agencies, it is mandated. Section 508 requires that Federal agencies make their information technology and web sites accessible to people with disabilities. When you follow accessibility standards, you make your web site more accessible to all users; not only for people with disabilities using assistive technologies, but also for those people using limited technologies or the newer technologies, like palmtop or voice-based computers.
One of the most sensible ways to improve usability and accessibility is to make choice available to users, so that most everyone has access to the information you want to share. Another option is to add features that downgrade gracefully in computer platforms and browsers that do not support them. It is my goal to make this a more usable and accessible web site. Please feel welcome to make any comments or suggestions to improve accessibility.
The web standards in existence today are recommendations for not just web designers, but software developers and browser makers as well. The reason behind standards is to have some guarantee that the web sites will work as expected, regardless of connection, platform, browser or device. It means that your web site will still hold up when used with emerging technologies that follow the same standards.
Currently, standards compliance is a best practice that has many other benefits as well. Search engines and alternative devices like screen readers depend on the tags on your web pages to do their jobs. When you follow standards, you make their jobs easier. Search engines find your pages easier to index, and your site becomes accessible to more people.
If you could use any of my services, or have any questions, you may visit the contact page to reach me. Whether you'd like a complete makeover, or just adding some features to your existing site, you'll find me very affordable.
E-mail this page 
E-mail: info@lucarinfo.com
