Regarding specializations, there are still a fundamental set of practices most web designers should know, such as even USING CSS at all. There is nothing to stop a group from providing certifications that stack onto that basic certification.

Why you may ask?

The Artful Spider

Yet another “Frontpage is not your friend” example.

If “Proud Members” of an organization produce crap like this… I want no part of it.

While it would be a “huge” undertaking, I currently have it set firm in my mind that any certification program should review the first 10-15 projects a “member” puts together once certified. I know, it sounds nuts. However it would at least be able to keep its reputation somewhat intact from that alone. After completing X number of projects, one would move from an apprentice type level up to the next. Also if “forced” to keep within set guidelines over this period, it would help to build upon the foundation created by the certification process as well as further help in developing “good” habits. Granted it would take a lot of resources to pull off, but something would have to be done to prevent the proud and newly certified folks from turning out something as what is linked above.

My opinion is that for anything to happen on this front a lot of influential people will need to come together. Nice to see people like Eric and Mark Boulton bringing it up. There is no doubt in my mind that something has to be done to educate both web designers and clients about what good web design is.

Even if we could wave a wand and create a good set of certification criteria in the next week, it would be out of date within a year.

What would not go out of date however, are anticriteria. Even though a list of anticriteria would grow over time, once a technique or method is condemned to the list, it stays on the list.

If we cannot necessarily keep up with documenting the latest in best practices (perhaps because we are still figuring them out) which themselves may inevitably be out of date within a year, we can at least document obsolete techniques that are to be avoided, such as: (feel free to edit and insert list markup)

* tables for layout
* spacer gifs
* font tags
* <b>ed & <br>eakfast markup
* <a>norexic </a>nchors
* presentational class names

etc.

While these anticriteria cannot be used to recommend someone, they could be used to disqualify those that would otherwise claim to be professionals, and hopefully provide an educational resource for professionals to recognize and shed obsolete techniques.

Web design can include usability, accessibilty, scripting, graphic design, server-side programming, database design, network management, content management and more. (If you staff each of these separately, you need HR as well!) It seems to me that separating “Web design” from IT in general is too arbitrary a distinction to justify its own professional body.

The network Keith proposes is a great idea, but my concern with all of this discussion – as Richard points out – is there’s a distinct lack of discussion about the client, career and business development and outreach work.

Certification of best practice, as I think I indicated in my post, will not work. As you point out, any kind of criteria will be out-dated within months. But aren’t we barking up the wrong tree here? How many members of this industry would benefit from a trusted professional body which could produce, for example, sample invoices and t’s and c’s? Or guidelines on how to get indemnity insurance?

I guess my point is, there’s a lot more that professional networks or associations can offer other than certification.

Richard”s take is that certification could be based on relevant education and cross-discipline experience. Well, that leaves me out

I certainly didn’t intend to imply that relevent education would be a requirement – that would count me out too, what with my engineering degree. I meant to say that relevent education should be taken into account when quantifying the amount of experience someone has.

While I like the sound of the network Keith proposes, it seems very inward looking and wouldn’t necessarily address the other needs that I believe an actual professional body should address – those of career development, diversity and outreach. If it did address those needs, in addition to the dissemination of best practice and innovation, and also required peer review for membership, then Keith has just invented a professional association I and others have been talking about.