molly.com
Tuesday 27 June 2006
Web Professional’s Code of Ethics
Many professional organizations publish policy and ethics documents relating to how they as individuals treat their clients, each other, how they manage fees, and the kind of treatment their professionalism deserves in kind.
In an effort to mobilize the Web community as professionals, and what it means to be a Web professional, I firmly believe that a code of ethics for our profession should arise out of a common group. I believe we owe it to ourselves, each other, our clients, and the profession’s integrity and sustainability at large to begin a time of new professionalism for ourselves.
A good example comes from the AIGA which publishes a policy document as it pertains to graphic designers. There are some great ideas there.
Do others in the field, or even outside of it, see value in collaborating on something like this for the Web community? If so, let’s get some ideas going here and maybe that can evolve across other blogs and sites into something really tangible.
Filed under: professional, policies, standards
Posted by: Molly | 3:24 am |
June 27th, 2006 at 4:06 am
Yes yes and yes.
I’ll give the content some thought first though… but YES.
June 27th, 2006 at 4:07 am
The Australian Computer Society Code of Ethics, and their Code of Professional Conduct and Professional Practice.
http://www.acs.org.au/index.cfm?action=show&conID=coe
http://www.acs.org.au/index.cfm?action=show&conID=copc
Do we have the power to disbar any accreditation of someone caught breaching this code for web designers? No? So unfortunately it would be a meaningless code. It needs bite.
The point being a profession such as medicine, law etc are well established institutions with years of study and research behind them. There are very few professions and computer professionals are really trying to establish a profession. Web development in many ways is a poorer cousin filled with many unqualified, self taught and many incompetant.
While we may act professionally it does not in itself make a profession of our craft. Unfortunately the term profession is often used in a casual way to term a skilled job.
Its fine to make a similar set of guidelines but in the end unless there is industry bite in their adherence people will sign on for the handshake and rip someone off the next day. God forbid people in the industry had to prove their resumes for example!!! Ha. Many people have languages on resumes simply from coding “hello world”…
sorry if that comment sounds negative as its not meant to be. I’m just afraid when I hear the term professional loosely termed as such there is a tendency, and I saw a lot of it about six months ago, for all sorts of people to call themselves professionals. Its not about whether someone makes a living at something or whether they act in best practice. A professional is a member of a registered professional body which has a code of ethics, and stringent conduct requirements - they can be debarred from practicing.
otherwise, yes this is circular so i’ll go to bed now, its really just a lip service to make a code…
anyway hope things are going well for you now.
June 27th, 2006 at 4:07 am
One thing I see a lot is people taking the work of others (usually JavaScript libraries or server code), removing copyright notices, and presenting it to clients/employers as their own work. At a place I used to work, I had to make modifications to a CMS “written” by my predecessor. After noticing things like multiple naming conventions and extremely awkward techniques for making components play together, I started to google and was able to identify three separate bodies of work by different people which had been rolled up together with a few (badly-written) pieces of glue code.
The stupid thing was that if the copyright notices had been left in place, there wouldn’t have been a problem with the use of any of this code (it was licensed for the ways it was used in this case). The boss would have given him credit for not wasting time re-inventing the wheel, and everybody would have been happy.
My code (primarily CSS, JS and XSLT) tends to be littered with comments explaining where I found a particular technique, or linking to detailed explanations of bug workarounds. This makes sense not only from the perspective of crediting the originator of an idea, but also in making my clients’ lives better in the long run - their in-house people who have to maintain my code can understand why I’ve done a non-obvious thing, and will probably learn a lot from the other content on the linked sites.
So credit where credit’s due, say I.
June 27th, 2006 at 4:20 am
I definetly think there is a bonus and am very interested. I have recently been talking about ethics on my blog and found some cases in my own work where I could have done with a clear definition. Having your own ethics is fine - but they are all different. For me, having a ethic code is just one more step towards my profession actually getting more ‘professional’ in many senses. I often refer to web standards as a code of ethics or bar level similar to other trades. It would be nice to have a general one that a large number agree to and you could stick to.
I think it would be of particular use to those people starting out. It is hard to form your own ethics and often takes years. If you could like in other professions have one to stand by I think it would make it easier for those joining. Many like me, who have been doing it for a while have their own code so I am not sure about the take up on that, I for one would but can’t speak for others. Very interested to see what comes out of this. There are so many grey ethical areas.
June 27th, 2006 at 5:55 am
This is definitely of value when so few web designers are on the same page, even after 15 years or so it’s still a relatively new field. A problem I see a lot is people not knowing what current rates are and grossly undercharging, which hurts everyone involved. (The Graphic Artists’ Guild should update their handbook a little more frequently perhaps)
June 27th, 2006 at 6:19 am
Couldn’t agree more with what nortypig has to say. There is a parrallel organisation here in the UK in the British Computer Society (BCS). The BCS have tread a long and tortured road to being recognised as a professional body, with ethics and code of conduct at it’s core. To that extent it is still largely ignored by those who hire or buy computer services. It is a shame. Such a body with teeth and the ability to strike off members effectively preventing them from practising would go a long way to raising standards in our profession. It sickens me when I see large “reputable” web agencies peddling a line when it comes to conforming to accessibility standards. Non validating, table based sites falsely claiming WAI accreditation are not uncommon. I am not going to diss any other “professionals” by naming names here; however I would like it if all practioners such as large agencies and one man bands such as myself were judged by the same set of rules and held accountable accordingly.
I fear it is going to be a long time coming in our particular line of work
June 27th, 2006 at 6:29 am
Yes, absolutely a long road, but why not start now? Organic movements are the most powerful sometimes. So while I understand the caution, which is well-placed no doubt, I’m also not willing to wait for someone else to pull it together. At the very least, let’s do it for ourselves.
Credit where it’s due is a good start.
It’s that sort of thing that SHOULD be a no-brainer but obviously isn’t. And this whole speak-for-free crap. I mean seriously, we can make change here, we’re the only ones who can or will. You expect others to do it for you? Ha.
June 27th, 2006 at 6:31 am
I think there is value to this idea. I think it would be good as an educator for clients and stakeholders. Telling them both what they should expect of us as their web proffesional and also what we expect of them as our client.
It is my experience that clients and stakeholders (project managers for example) would rather I cut corners to get something done. For example instead of spending time making the site “bullet proof” they would rather I simply set the font sizes it to absolute “because they only use IE on their network anyway” and “at least then they can’t break the design” but as an ethical web professional I I am put in a difficult situation because I don’t want to do that! I want to do things the right way and with a code of ethics I can say to such people “look at the WPCoE!” - “It is what I try to stick to because it is an accepted level of good practice” rather than pointing to some tech heavy web standards book or blog post.
There are lots of grey areas regarding the re-skinning of past work and code. There have been times when larger clients have essentially paid for R&D which is then sold on to other clients later, is that ethical?
Speculative work would be another good thing to look at in any WPCoE. Andy Budd wrote a nice blog post about it recently and there is a site dedicated to educating people about why it is bad. (http://www.no-spec.com/).
Looking forward to reading more ideas about this. I suspect the greatest value would be having an accepted level of good practice. Eventually these things filter through to clients and might force some of the under-cutting cowboys to get their act together?
June 27th, 2006 at 6:55 am
I love the sound of this Molly.
I don’t like the idea of having power and “bite” though. People not adhering to the code of of practice shouldn’t be punished. I don’t like the idea of politics being involved in a web professionals life (I’m probably thinking of a very ideal world though!).
Maybe a Code of Ethics could help people instead of controlling them and telling them what to do.
At what point does a person become a web professional? There will always be people messing around on the web and general IT folk working on corporate websites. There will always be those who don’t love web design like most people here and they may simply not care. I still don’t think they and their work should be disowned.
I guess what I’m saying is that there should be no teeth but soft feather pillows pilled up to encourage and help people to take notice of the code.
June 27th, 2006 at 7:50 am
You know I was against any kind of “certification” in the ILG discussions, however what I think is that from your position and WaSP’s position there is a chance to put together maybe a set of worldwide recognized rules.
I’m afraid there’s no way how to force people to adhere to these (same with recomendations, specifications etc.), but i believe it should help (as eg. MACCAWS did).
June 27th, 2006 at 7:59 am
I see what Nortypig is saying, and kinda agree with Scriven. There really should be a Code of Ethics, however how it is enforced or practiced is the another story. For me all things web design standards seem to be up to the designers descretion. They do not have to follow any “standards” or “best practice proceedures” as long as it the product functions to the clients expectations.
One way you could win folks over is to create an accreditation process and then make a list of accredited “companies” available to people looking for designers. Much the way Oracle or Microsoft do.
I think this would be great not only for a code of ethics, but also for all web standard ideals.
Hey if anyone can do this, you would be the person to get this going. I would be happy to help in anyway possible as I see this is a great idea to get the whole industry on the same page.
June 27th, 2006 at 9:54 am
I think it’s a great idea. I also think that it will only really have impact if people know about it and employers desire it — in the same way as you want your accountant to be Chartered or whatever, you want your Web Designer to follow the Code of Ethics (and arguably be certified in some way).
Obviously the first step is it being available to follow, the next is publicising it well enough for companies to start caring.
The risk we run is if we end up forking on this — multiple groups, multiple ethics codes, different standards being adopted. I say go ahead and get in early and be transparent enough to allow people to have their say.
June 27th, 2006 at 10:08 am
International WebMasters Association/HTML Writers Guild’s Code of Ethics:
http://iwanet.org/about/ethics.html
IWA Pro-Ethics Pledge:
http://iwanet.org/about/pro-ethics.html
June 27th, 2006 at 11:55 am
The ACM (Association for Computing Machinery - the biggest software/hardware), has a very good (and lenghty) set of Professional Standards.
General ACM Code of Ethics
http://www.acm.org/constitution/code.html
Professional Standards
http://www.acm.org/serving/ethics.html
June 27th, 2006 at 1:03 pm
I have long felt that there should be not only a code of ethics, but an organization of web professionals that provides not only a networking opportunity, but actually performs a service for those members.
The problem with being a freelancer is that often, you can’t afford things like individual health insurance, life insurance, etc. because the individual plans are so expensive. With an association comes the status of “group” coverage, saving money, and hassle for members if they wish to join.
I know for a fact that there are a number of other industries that do this through associations - for instance, auto dealers.
Just a thought.
June 27th, 2006 at 2:43 pm
I have it, I have it!
“DO NO EVIL”
Oops, already taken and not followed.
Just had to write it, sorry.
June 27th, 2006 at 3:05 pm
Maybe we should start a wiki for this?
June 27th, 2006 at 4:22 pm
I would be very interested in establishing a Universal code for us Earth-bound web designers and our galactic neighbors to adhere to. The obvious punishment for straying outside the boundaries of these rules would be complete ostracization from the group and the crazy gluing of ones fingertips together so as to prevent any violators from resuming their “unethical” practices.
Seriously, though, it is a grand idea. I already have the domain for it: professionalwebethicsandstandards.org or pweas.org…dabee, dabee, uh, dat’s all folks.
June 27th, 2006 at 4:52 pm
Having an organisation from which members can be disbarred and unable to practice is a bit extreme. Doctors can kill if they don’t know what they are doing, bad Web Design has far less dire consequences.
There is also a finer liner between doing web design for a hobby and a living. The web is by nature a very open place, plenty of amateurs with no interest in being web designers have published pages (hence Frontpage, Contribute, Dreamweaver etc.).
Should these people be required to hire a professional? Or maybe they can only design for ‘personal use’. What then happens when their friend wants a website built to a similar standard? Do they have to do the job pro-bono? Who would enforce that ?
June 27th, 2006 at 5:00 pm
Also, IMO the credibility any organisation has is inversly proportional to the number of letters that form the abbreviation of its name.
3 letters is good
4 letters is acceptable
5 or more letters with mixed capitalisation is ridiculous. Exceptions can be made for XML related technologies.
June 27th, 2006 at 5:47 pm
Hi Molly, I think the speak for nix issue is another one entirely in which we need to address the willingness of the 10 who would work for free or at least cheaper to replace us. Its more a social issue which reflects the idea we’re doing what any high school kid with FrontPage could do for them. And lets face it companies expect nothing simply because its been working so far. We need more of a No Spec campaign on that issue.
I’ll email you an academic essay I wrote last year (PDF 65K) called ‘Fast money the ethical grey area of computer professionalism’. It discusses among other things the global perspective of ethics - what is ethical in the US for example is not necessarily ethical in Malaysia. It may be interesting reading or you can just delete it as spam lol… is fine.
I’ll put the same PDF up on Pig Work ‘www.pigwork.info’ later after I have a shower, food and a real coffee, if anyone is interested. Maybe I’ll start putting more of my academic work online in coming months.
The point of the essay is to discuss the grey areas in relation to the two documents I linked to early in the comments from the Australian Computer Society.
This is an interesting conversation molly and we need to be discussing these types of issues even if informally. I’m just not sold yet another code of ethics is the answer. Join a relevant computer related professional body with an accepted code of ethics and promote the idea that anyone in this business SHOULD belong to such.
June 27th, 2006 at 6:49 pm
Hey all, great conversation so far! Thanks for your perspectives.
There are professional organizations. Most have failed miserably at providing this sort of thing however. While the World Organization of Webmasters has been in existence for a long time, and done some great things particularly with education and some govt., I feel for whatever reason, it’s not been able to fulfill the role of a truly high level professional organization. Such org’s not only provide a place for discussion of ethics, guidelines and best practices, but also look to finding resources for freelancers and others within the field - health insurance, software discounts and incentives, professional publications and so on. I’d love to see something like that really happen, but it does take a lot of money.
Certification? Been through that argument a million times. I don’t know anyone who can create great certs for our industry and iterate them fast enough to be up-to-date. Not to mention, who sets the guidelines and standards? I’ve reviewed a ton of so-called certs in my time and most of them are either out and out crap or have the best of intentions (like those from WOW) but fail at staying current, relevant, and bringing attention to the consumer sector. Much of this is budget, staff, etc - no one’s fault per se but I think certs right now are too difficult to manage properly and end up just being a piece of paper. Sure, that might get some folks a job, but does it really prove they can DO it?
Also, as for ethics and policy, I’m not saying there should be ANY “policing” - I certainly don’t think that’s the point at ALL. These are guidelines for PROFESSIONAL behavior, and can be promoted and adopted freely by those who support and agree. All those who don’t, or don’t care, or don’t need to care, don’t have to.
The Web allows for new paradigms, people. Let’s stop thinking everything has to mimic old-skool attitudes. We can be an open-standard policy. It’s there if you want it, but ain’t no one standing over you with a whip saying you better or else!
Norty,
Just a fine point: Tell that to web graphic designers who don’t necessarily see computing as having much to do with their actual jobs. Or the business folk, and project mgrs, and so on.
My point is that fundamentally web design is integrated, yet highly specialized. We need to represent ourselves as an independent profession, not be aligned with computer societies if we’re developers and graphic design societies if we’re designers (although that’s fine, too). That just keeps the separation going and discourages integration, which is my point, really.
I’m looking forward to reading your article when I have a chance.
June 27th, 2006 at 7:26 pm
mmm our server seems to be down for the first time in over a year… grumble… but the server guy, Brett, is no doubt onto the issue. Sorry if its returning a page not found at present lol…
Valid point taken on the multidisciplinary angle Molly. I think I agree with you in principle but more from the No Spec campaign angle rather than a formal code of ethics and an organisation. I think education is key, not only education of other developers but of clients, prospects and as many people who can be on these issues.
A sad example of how our world of standards in general may be taken and abused though is the walk down a supermarket aisle and have a look at all of those now meaningless ticks you see on products. Some are standards, some pseudo standards. What would the web development world do with more standards? I think there should be some but mostly I think people inherently know not to lie, cheat, misinform, malign etc… thus a code of ethics works best as used by doctors, accountants, computer professionals, etc… mind you there are also many organisations claiming professionalism and having said codes but who do not have the academic body of research and work to be truely a profession.
If a second hand car dealer code of ethics existed - and i fear there may be one lol - would it mean anything?
But I’m just conversing in circles here really lol so I’ll shut up. I’m too cheap to become a member of the ACS myself, even a student member, so that speaks for itself on some level. I must sign up. There is also nothing amiss with being a member of several accredited bodies, which you can also mention in promoting yourself - member of AIGA, ACS etc…
I’m not sure I’ll write much of an article about it though, but I’d like some to read the essay (even if it was hardly my best writing). Some of the points aren’t probably thought of in passing is all.
Yes I agree most have failed dismally in their implementation of codes of ethics and that’s entirely due to norty humans lol… I generally try to adhere to the ACS ones regardless of not being a member. Its like personal hygeine and washing one’s own hands.
June 27th, 2006 at 7:35 pm
The separation and integration point… I’m lacking this at the education level as well. I’m afraid there’s hardly a way to get around this current attitude as long as even universities can’t kinda provide integrated web education. Aren’t we going in circles a bit?
June 27th, 2006 at 8:01 pm
I ran into a situation a couple of years ago that probably could be covered by one of the items listed but I can’t be certain which one.
A couple of years ago, I was webmaster of a theatre’s small site for which a design firm created printed advertising. We were both working for the theatre but had different duties (web vs. print). The theatre wanted me to incorporate some of the images created by the design firm and since the ownership of the images rested with the theatre, they had the right to demand the images for me. However, the design firm consistently refused to comply and I had to scan the images from copies of the prints. I ensured that the theatre was well aware of the difficulties I was experiencing with the design firm. At the end of the second contract (2nd year), the design firm approached the theatre and told them that they could do a better job of the web site for less cost (all I was given were two free season’s passes to the theatre, how much cheaper could they do their work). The theatre accepted their offer.
I wonder where the code of ethics describes interference.
(Obviously, I am bitter but also obviously, it was not a money issue.)
June 27th, 2006 at 8:49 pm
[…] Well Molly Holzschlag has become the focal point today with a discussion of whether there should be a Web Professional’s Code of Ethics? Its an interesting question and following the comments its not a black and white story. There are a lot of issues in that one and I won’t go into it here - Molly’s covers it quite well. […]
June 27th, 2006 at 9:45 pm
I kid, I kid, Mike.
I am complete agreement. There are people who think that they’re neighbors son’s friend with the braces and wireframe glasses who is learning some Flash and uses Frontpage can build a great site for pennies but in reality, they can’t.
Quality comes with experience and you must pay for that experience just as we have had to toil to learn our craft. Hence the establishment of a professional, formal board of ethics for web designers would be dandy. Something that covers all ends of the business including billing practices, fulfillment, client interactin, web standards etc.
I would be very interested to participate in it’s formulation.
June 28th, 2006 at 4:36 am
Once again I’d like to reiterate that I do not envision a “board” or any certified professional org to do this at this time. A project of this nature would be to collaborate via wiki with all interested parties - open to all - and come up with a simple yet comprehensive guide. There is no enforcement, or endorsement, but the goal is to raise awareness of the Web profession, and to begin giving ourselves the professional respect we deserve. Thing organic, kids. Think open, free, collaborative. Yeah, maybe a little radical but hey, this is the Web!
June 28th, 2006 at 6:08 am
Molly, I think this is an excellent idea and I agree that an organic, ground-up approach is best. Count me in for active contribution!
As others have said there are many codes of ethics available which could form a base. Another to look at might be the British Web Design and Marketing Association recently issued Code of Ethics (http://www.bwdma.co.uk/587).
Most of these Codes of Ethics focus on business practices - pitching, project management, transparency in client/agency relationships etc… My take would be that such a code for our industry should encompass the principles of Web Standards Design and not just professional conduct. Not specific techniques (the same problems as with a certification?) but principles such as accessibility, device independence etc… etc…
Do others agree? Is this what you had in mind, Molly?
June 28th, 2006 at 8:32 am
Couple more links that could be helpful:
GAWDS (Guild of Accessible Web Designers) Manifesto
http://www.gawds.org/show.php?contentid=4
Benefits of Guild membership
http://www.gawds.org/show.php?contentid=130
June 29th, 2006 at 2:55 am
Right, folks, we need a wiki and so I give you a wiki:
http://www.meriwilliams.com/ethics/
Please start there and I’ll get a more useful domain pointing to it asap.
June 29th, 2006 at 5:15 pm
Sorry, Molly. Guess I’ve been under the influence of GWB for 6 too many years. With the downstrike of network neutrality, I guess I forgot what freedom and open expression were. I’ll check back to see what, where, when and how. Viva la Revolucion!
June 30th, 2006 at 5:03 am
Hi all
Things seem to have crawled to a standstill here — I am wondering why.
Are people a bit jaded by previous or other organizations?
Is it just that they don’t see any benefit?
Are they already members of other societies?
Is everyone talking somewhere else and I missed the invitation?
Enquiring minds want to know!
It isn’t good enough to just have a code and credo that we can follow and pat our own backs for doing so — it has to actually do something.
If this is to be unenforced and unendorsed, organic and open ( but sounding funky with alliteration
) it needs to push awareness and education onto the client as well.
They need to know what they should expect from us and — more importantly — need to know what to look out for when web #cough# professionals #cough# are just pretending to be ethical.
Have a look at Jenman a similar idea for the real estate industry in Australia.
Really, have a look.
June 30th, 2006 at 5:45 am
High quality product and service = trust. We need to build trust in a brand that can help us do business with clients of all sizes, however we need not only look at a Code of Ethics but also a mission that will align ourselves as an individual profession with a universally understood and embraced goal…
June 30th, 2006 at 8:07 pm
As the profession matures I think such a code is not only neccessary but also inevitable. I believe an important aspect of such a code would be the inclusion of principles pertaining to best practices and to the vision of the kind of world wide web we are striving for.
For example, a fundamental principle of the medical profession comes to mind, “first do no harm” or “to help, or at least to do no harm,”.
I think this could quite easily be applied to the practice of web design - we seek to make the web a better place, which in keeping with the vision of Tim Berner’s Lee, is all about making browser and device independent content universally accessible to anyone, anywhere, anytime. In so doing our practice ought to enrich the web, and this vision of what the web should be, never at point engaging in practices which act against a universally accessible web for all.
June 30th, 2006 at 9:57 pm
If there had been a code of ethics, certification, educational requirements and so forth say 15 years ago, how many of the recognised leaders of today would have been able to break into the field or find work? I believe Zeldman, Holzschlag, Meyer and others would acknowledge their own lack of credentials at that time when they first started out and the great possibility they would not have been able to break into the web design and web development field if certification with bite had been the rule of the land.
No one is going to die if a website uses tables or is poorly designed. Certification does not guarantee your doctor, architect, school teacher, or auto mechanice is competent.
A code of ethics and certification with some bite is a good way to keep out competition and raise prices.
July 1st, 2006 at 7:17 am
In response to Arnold Openhiem:
I may have completely missed the point of Molly’s proposal but I don’t think it means a closed group of literati with certified credentials imposing an “us and them” situation.
* If there had been a code of ethics, certification, educational requirements and so forth say 15 years ago, how many of the recognized leaders of today would have been able to break into the field or find work? *
I can’t comment about fifteen years ago but I can for ten:
The recognized leaders of today didn’t break into the field — they helped to make it.
* No one is going to die if a website uses tables or is poorly designed. *
Bit of a straw-man argument, eh?
* Certification does not guarantee your doctor, architect, school teacher, or auto mechanice [sic] is competent. *
No, but a code of ethics that also helps the client to spot the pitfalls and dirty practices of the less ethical might help.
A designer or developer can link to it and say: “this is what I stand for”.
It wouldn’t hurt if said designer or developer also makes it part of a memorandum of understanding.
July 1st, 2006 at 3:25 pm
It’s not quite the same thing but my team at work have the following set (plus others I took out, because they didn’t seem as relavent)
* We are proactive in supporting long term goals of the team in terms of making site functionality in a modular fashsion so that it can be reused on other sites.
* We actively support the standards process, whether this be direct involvement in standards groups, supporting of those active in those groups or just making suggestions.
* We support general sharing of knowledge. We are open with the code we have created and the techniques we have discussed in the team, and readily share this knowledge with others in the business.
* We support the creation use of modular and library code.
* We support open standards e.g. W3C, WAI, etc.
* We try to support and interact with the wider industry, e.g. knowledge groups and standards bodies.
July 2nd, 2006 at 11:49 pm
[…] [Via molly.com] […]
July 3rd, 2006 at 9:50 pm
A “Code of Ethics” is a colossal waste of time. Ifd you’re an ethical person, no code is needed, and if you’re not, no code will change that.
The Code of Ethics issue normally arises after some member of the group has pulled off some egregiously shady deal while still managing to stay just this side of the law. The challenge for everyone is then to make the code seem as if it’s saying something important, while it manages to create every loop-hole possible so that no one actually gets caught at any of his dirty dealings.
If you think that web developers need a code, then it won’t help. And, if thhe group is pretty ethical anyway, why bother?
cheers,
gary
July 4th, 2006 at 11:39 am
I think it’s a great idea and can be done if done right. I dissagree with the tought of any organization putting it together… I think, like you said, this should be a community driven project. A wiki is a great idea, just need to make sure the spammers stay out.
I dont think a governing board or anything like that needs to be formed for it. I think it needs to be fully open and driven by the web community.. the only since of ownership we should get is from the person who registered the domain and the person who hosts it for free, etc.
I for one can already imagine a few bullet points I would like to see listed in the code of ethics which would help make my job a heck of a lot easier.
I do not think it’s a waste of time, I think there can be immediate value as long as a good sum of professionals are supporting the idea. It’s hard to say if names of supporters (professionals who abide by the code) should be included as while it helps to see the names there it can also lead to a cliquish view (i.e. if most of the supporters are just web celebraties, etc.).
A lot more thought needs to be put into this for sure, but I think its a great idea.
July 4th, 2006 at 11:34 pm
I have recently started my own web design business after working as a programmer for consulting firms for years. My business focus is on small to medium business rather than corporates. I have to say there is a lot of competition out there - both from web designers like me who follow and adhere to web standards to those who churn out websites in Frontpage and charge very little. My problem is helping potential clients identify who is going to give them the best value in the long run - who really knows about the web, searching, browser issues, etc.
As an IT professional, my degree and experience spoke for itself so I never joined a professional society or sat certification exams but as a web designer, I have nothing to back up my abilities other than previous clients (and most of those don’t have a full appreciation of the value of me over their friend’s brother using Frontpage).
I’m not suggesting certification or a governing body but some sort of association (maybe the Code of Ethics will suffice?) which says that if you (say you) follow their guidelines or if you join then you at least hold a higher set of values and expertise in terms of your job than a highschool kid who knows basic HTML. Surely that has to count for something in the eyes of potential clients.
July 5th, 2006 at 1:14 pm
Someone mentioned those new to the business undercutting or not charging appropriate fees.
How would one know what to charge? There’s talk of a federal law that prevents those in “like” business not discussing fees.
My husband often tells me I don’t charge enough, especially for what I put into the sites I design and create.
But how do we know how much is too little, and how much is too much.
Is there something out there that will help us know what to base our fees on?
Suzanne
July 5th, 2006 at 7:53 pm
I think it would only be successful if:
1. there was an organisation of some sort behind it, with a listing of members that potential employers/clients could check. Sort of like how an employer can check with the university whether or not you actually graduated as you have claimed.
Without that, regardless of actual philosophical and ethical beliefs, everyone will be sticking the logo on their resume, and it will mean little.
It would also mean if any member got caught doing something that did not fit the code of ethics they would need to be removed from the membership list.
2. The gurus (the well-known members of the web-design and -development industry) lent their weight to it.
July 6th, 2006 at 6:57 pm
This are only as successful if there are people willing to actually do something about it. From what I have read of these comments may are interested in it and many do see it as something that can happen. Well in either case nothing will happen if there isn’t someone, or a few people working the initial push. No one will consider it a real profession until those who consider it their profession make it such. Yes there are those who rip off others work, those who say they have more skill than they really do, etc. but when is that not an issue in many other professions? The rip offs, slew of 13 year old’s with web sites, and many others will make web development look like a joke until those of you/us who know what it’s really about and that it takes more than just dreamweaver and some artistic skills to develop a good web site, to prove that this is a real profession.
stream of consciousness…
July 6th, 2006 at 11:00 pm
Let’s get credible!
Before I started my business I did what any diligent entrepreneur would do and I wrote a business plan - market analysis, financial analysis, SWOT, competitor survey, etcetera, etcetera. In the competitor survey I listed examples of boutique design fir…
July 7th, 2006 at 2:56 pm
A really fine point would be a pledge to always code to the standards set forth by the W3.
July 10th, 2006 at 7:23 pm
Nice idea. It has some problems - most of which have already been raised but to recpitulate:
1) There are multitudinous groups already with guidelines, code, ethics - you’de just be creating one more.
2) The ethical already practice ethical practices and those who aren’t don’t - nothing will change that.
3) It can only really apply to members of an organization, even if it’s informally as part of a general groups of participants.
4) Many designers already have their own code of theics for dealing with customers. What if in some way the “formal” one conflicts with theirs in some manner?
5) Stay out of the whole “pricing guidelines” argument. This has far too much variation to be useful across community “standards, business/client size etc. It can also bring a business afoul of “price fixing” laws should a client decide to complain.
Formulating a Code of Ethics is fine - though some very reasonable one’s already exist - so long as this doesn’t go down the road of effectively forcing conformity on designer’s work and businesses.
July 10th, 2006 at 7:27 pm
Just a quick note on JordanH’s last comment - That’s may not always possible when a client insists on a particular design that may violate said standards. Whether the designer agrees to accept the job is of course their option - but effectively forcing a small designer to choose between loyalty to a paper standard and putting food on the table is extending it just a little too far.
July 12th, 2006 at 4:14 am
[…] Ethics - it’s the one topic that many people dread, yet when it does get brought up, there’s bound to be a lively discussion. A recent post by Molly reminded me of the thoughts that have been swirling around in my mind over the last couple of months. […]
July 12th, 2006 at 11:24 pm
Hi Molly,
just wondering if your readers are going to Webvision
July 20 to 21, 2006 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon.
Here’s the speaker schedule http://www.webvisionsevent.com/schedule/
I’m a newbie so this looks good to me, wondering what others think.
Cheers.
July 19th, 2006 at 4:27 pm
[…] Web Professional’s Code of Ethics […]
July 25th, 2006 at 6:48 am
[…] I couldn’t agree more. But, as with all grass roots ideas, these things take time, and more importantly: leadership and collaboration. We’ve had the best practices discussion at WaSP a thousand times, here and elsewhere and something solid has yet to emerge. […]
August 11th, 2006 at 3:55 pm
I have just been reading all the comments from every one and one issue keeps coming up: “How can I sell myself better to my clients?”
A Code of Ethics by definition is not about that. It should include using web standards to create your pages but for that we already have the Web Standrads Group that you can be a part of.
I think it should include issues of how to treat your client, such as being fair or how to handle your client’s confidentiality. It is more for you personally as a designer and not to make you look better for your client.
Just my 2 cents bit in.
August 11th, 2006 at 3:58 pm
A link for a definition of Code of Ethics by Answers.com
http://www.answers.com/topic/ethics-legal-term
August 19th, 2006 at 2:42 am
We are talking here about simple customer service. But the problem is that in real world the relations between client and establishment are regulated by law. Here we face the problem of regulation. Hence ethics is up to individual preferences.
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[…] molly.com » Web Professional’s Code of Ethics I will be following this. […]
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