Veni Vortex creates new websites using cutting-edge standards such as HTML5 and CSS3. The use of these and other technologies makes Veni Vortex websites easy to use, regardless of how they are being viewed. Our sites look good on desktop web browsers, smartphones, other Internet-capable mobile devices (like Apple’s iPad and Amazon’s Kindle), and even the browsers built into things like Sony’s PlayStation 3.

We design websites using “progressive enhancement,” a method of designing webpages so they can be used by almost any technology, but they also take advantage of features included in more powerful programs (like the Firefox web browser) to make them look even better whenever possible. By using modern techniques such as this, rather than outdated methods such as “table-based layouts,” Veni Vortex sites are accessible, both by people and web robots, like the ones who crawl the web to build Google's and Yahoo!'s search engines.

In the words of Jeffrey Zeldman (author of Designing with Web Standards), “99.9% of all websites are obsolete.” By using modern technology, Veni Vortex websites are among the 0.1% which aren’t.

Web design can be very subjective, because there are many, many ways to layout a website. I follow a few basic principals when designing sites. First is to make sure that the design follows standard conventions, which people browsing the Web expect. For example, website navigation typically goes on the top or left side of the page, search box (if any) is at the top right, and the entire page is centered in the browser. Following these conventions makes the site as easy as possible for people to navigate.

However, these conventions hardly limit the appearance of the site. We use rounded corners,* shadows,* colors, fonts, and more to make websites not just functional, but beautiful. CSS3 allows websites we design to work well and look good at the same time.

Many websites need more than a simple design and content. By using JavaScript (with jQuery), amongst other technologies, Veni Vortex can build interactive websites. Interactive behavior allows for many things, such as changing a page’s content (e.g., a slideshow, and this website's quote of the day on the homepage), or expanding and collapsing answers in an FAQ. Interactive behavior can make a website easier to use and can allow it to do many things which older, static websites can’t.

Server-side technologies like PHP, combined with a database, allows for even more advanced features, such as allowing users to comment on articles, rate products, modify page content, or order items.