Beverley Hooton

About Me

Hello there, I'm Beverley. I live in Chesterfield, UK, and I've been employed as a Website Developer for local government in Derbyshire since the start of 2008.

My interest in web design and development goes back further than that though - I started dabbling in web stuff back in 2003, initially learning HTML and CSS as a means to "put pretty things on the internet" and it quickly became a firm hobby, although some would call it an obsession due to the time I spent on my laptop.

From hobby to profession

I started out making personal websites for friends while doing a few freelance sites for small local organisations. Then in 2008 I decided to make it official; I went back to college to study Business and Internet Technologies (2008 to 2010) and took my web talents to my Local Education Authority - I was employed by them for over a decade and now I work for my local council.

Primarily I develop my employer's joint authority websites, residential district portals, and other internal web-based applications and systems, but I also work in the local community, designing and developing websites for schools and local small businesses, and providing ad-hoc training and technical support.

Experience and skills

I am experienced in HTML5, CSS3, PHP and JavaScript, with hands-on know-how of user experience design (UXD/UED), and search and speed optimisation. I also have a very good working knowledge of popular Content Management System (CMS) platforms Joomla! and Moodle.

I am an advocate (and creator) of highly performant websites that deliver the best possible experience to the widest possible audience, so my keen interest in mobile-first, responsive design and progressive enhancement will come as no surprise. I strive to optimise everything I can, for speed and search.

For graphics, I favour Photoshop. I've also used many media tools (even back to the ~2003 era of TMPGEnc, DVD2AVI, AviSynth and LAME MP3 Encoder) to edit/ author video and audio files for CD/ DVD (including capturing and digitising old VHS cassettes with a GrabBee III), and convert them to web-friendly formats.

Writing provides me with a creative outlet and, aside from my blog, I've been known to turn my hand to humorous seasonal story-telling as well as more traditional copy writing.

Other projects

From 2008 to 2015, I volunteered for a US doll collectors organisation called JemCon, where I was their senior web developer. I ran a supporting website service that allowed their members to own a small piece of personalised web-space, and manage it inside an easy-to-use administration panel - something that I developed from my own open source CMS software, Fast Edit, which is still a current and ongoing project of mine! Fast Edit powers lots of the websites I build, so feel free to take a trip over there and test the demos. It's very easy to use.

My other side projects include the free Fast Apps script collection, and freebies for websites. I also throw demos and snippets out there for fun!

Helping other web designers and developers

You'll find me offering help to other web folk on Dynamic Drive Forums, where I have earned the rank of Moderator since joining them in 2008. I also keep guest entries from my web related blog there too. Another web community I frequently assist in is the CSS Tricks Forums.

Drop by and say hello - my username on both sites is "Beverleyh". I visit daily to trade tips and answer questions.

See examples of my work

Take a look at some of the websites I've made, browse my graphics, artwork and logos and trial some of my scripts and softwares.

Read testimonials, reviews and feedback

You can find out what happy customers are saying about my work by reading their testimonials.

Contact me for prices, discuss a project, or ask a question

If you'd like to work with me, that's great! Please feel free to get in touch and tell me a bit about the type of project that you have in mind.