CV / Resumee

An overview of my skillset for prospective clients

I'm a web developer, programmer and author, specialising in advanced JavaScript programming and accessible website development, with more than nine years' professional experience in the field. A recognised authority within the web industry, my particular passion is for building highly accessible user-interfaces, using standards-based web technologies.

I am highly skilled and experienced at front-end development using HTML, CSS and JavaScript, and regarded by my peers as an expert in these areas. I also have a great deal of experience with back-end development using PHP and MySQL, and with intermediary technologies such as XML.

When you hire brothercake, you're not just hiring a person, you're hiring a wealth of hard-learned experienced, backed by a genuine passion and interest in producing the highest quality work, with a scrupulous attention to detail that is rarely found.

Through all my years in this industry I've always practised what I preach — I don't merely advocate best-practise, I exemplify it in all the work I do. And this is how I've gained the reputation that I have:

  • among the foremost javascript programmers in the world
  • a well-known and respected industry leader in the field of accessible web development
  • an accomplished author and speaker, with three books published, a fourth on the way, and numerous articles, papers and talks, on a whole range of web topics

Recent Employment

My most recent employment was as a front-end specialist working for SitePoint, a Melbourne-based online media and education provider. I was involved in the technical and commercial development of SitePoint's online properties, technical writing and editing, and internal consulting on issues of accessibility, usability and best-practise. I worked for SitePoint full-time between 2007-2008, and now contract for them on a freelance basis.

Development projects I participated in during my time at SitePoint include the re-development and subsequent re-branding of SitePoint Design Contests and the SitePoint Marketplace, research and experimentation into best-practise programming techniques, creating interactive tools and resources for other developers (such as Firefox add-ons), and ongoing upgrades and maintenance of sitepoint.com. All the while I maintained a visible presence in the industry, promoting SitePoint's interests as well as my own reputation.

I wrote several feature articles for SitePoint, and numerous blog-posts, becoming known for my off-beat, sometimes contentious, take on industry issues. I also contributed to a second book, The Art & Science of JavaScript, and began writing The JavaScript Ultimate Reference, a huge undertaking which is still ongoing, and expected to take many more months to complete.

Freelance and Contract Work

Before my stint at SitePoint I was working as a freelancer again, based in the United Kingdom. As a freelancer I've been involved with a large and diverse range of client projects, covering all the areas of web development in which I have experience.

My clients have included some of the most prestigious organisations in the world, including a multi-national manufacturer of network hardware, one of the largest telecoms companies in the US, a multi-national entertainment producer and distributor, several international charities, and one of the world's largest banks. I've also worked for numerous small and medium-sized enterprises in the UK, Europe, USA, Canada and Australia.

To give a few examples:

  • Design and implementation of a file-menu system to be used inside a server management application; for a major US networking company
  • Implementation of client-side templates for a major re-design of the company's websites; for a major US-based telecoms company
  • Complete construction of a web site for a New York fertility clinic, including front-end templates, and a back-end taxonomy and templating system
  • Implementation of user-interface components to be used within a CMS product; for an Australian software development company
  • Consulting on accessibility during the development phase of a new portal site; for a UK-based media company
  • Built client-side templates for several e-commerce stores, including those of a UK health charity, a global conservation organisation, and a major multi-national entertainment company; all outsourced by a UK-based web design and e-commerce agency
  • Wrote bespoke JavaScript menus and navigation systems for several international clients
  • Prototyping and proof-of-concept programming for a small UK business, who were developing an innovative new web application. They had a nebulous idea, and I was able to create a working prototype to prove their idea would work

I could go on ... but this should be enough to give you a sense of the kinds of projects I can undertake, and the kinds of organisations I've worked for.

So how can I help you?

Please do get in touch, and let me know what you need. My services are not the cheapest, but then you get what you pay for — professional, quality work that adds real value to your online estate.

A tall portrait photograph, showing me leaning back against a wall, smiling at the camera

“Without a doubt it's the cleanest, most well-commented code I've had the pleasure of working with, and I've certainly learnt lots from you/it”

“What makes you so good is that you do more than someone can envisage ... you play with a given task and create it how it SHOULD be made”

“You are very professional and great to work with”

“Thanks again for all your round-the-clock help. Things are shaping up nicely”

“Your customer service has been exceptional”

“This is incredibly high quality work all the way around ... I am now 100% sold on this whole outsourcing thing!”

“Thank you so much, James, for your patience and help”

“Your website looks like you could probably program a refridgerator to fly”

“Kickass script there b'cake”

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