Profile: Jon Gibbins, MEng
November 5th Web Solutions owner, Jon Gibbins, is a Web professional based in the UK. Jon is a skilled designer and developer with several years' experience. Since first becoming interested in Web technologies in 1997, he has worked on websites for small businesses, non-profit organisations and charities.
As a university student, Jon researched and developed music software for disabled musicians in collaboration with a national UK charity. The project spurred a major interest in accessible technologies and he began to concentrate his efforts towards accessibility on the Internet.
Jon keeps abreast of latest Web accessibility issues and techniques through his industry memberships and contacts across many fields. He is an active member of the Guild of Accessible Web Designers (GAWDS), taking part in discussion of the latest Web Accessibility issues and solutions, as well as contributing towards the administration and advancement of the Guild. Jon is also a very active member of the Accessify Forum community, helping other people to better their skills as accessible Web designers. He also maintains a personal website at dotjay.co.uk.
Skills
Jon has strong Web development skills and is an advocate of best practices such as standards-based, accessible design. He is a good communicator and endeavours to work efficiently to meet the specifications of his clients. His specific areas of expertise include:
- CSS development — building sites and templates using valid markup and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
- Web accessibility — thorough understanding of guidelines, testing for accessibility issues and performing audits
- Cross–browser testing — testing sites in various browsers across different platforms to ensure appropriate presentation
- Web graphics — designing attractive websites using appropriate graphics formats
- Search Engine Optimisation — employing techniques to increase search engine rankings.
Technologies used:
- HTML, XHTML, XML (all standards–compliant and hand–coded)
- Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
- DOM Scripting (JavaScript)
- PHP programming
- MySQL database management system
- Apache Web Server
- ASP programming
- CGI using PERL
- Java and JSP
Jon also has interests in the following technical areas:
- Accessibility in user agents and other applications
- Assistive Technologies
- Computer assembly

