About

How did I get here?

My mum was an English teacher and my dad a systems analyst and director of his own IT company. So I guess it’s not too much of a surprise that I became both a writer and a web developer.

My first taste of website design came via an evening class at Stevenson College, Edinburgh (now part of Edinburgh College), back in 2002. It was simultaneously fascinating and fun – and I made some lasting friendships there.

After some searching for the right course, I found myself studying for a BSc in Computing, graduating from Edinburgh Napier University with First Class Honours in 2012.

I’ve been running my own business as a freelance web developer since 2013 and began blogging about WordPress and web accessibility in 2014.

I chose the name A Bright Clear Web for my business for two reasons:

1. The name Claire is a French name, and the English meaning is ‘bright, clear.’
2. It sums up what I want my websites to be: simple, clean, pleasant and promising.

Discovering blogging

It was Rob Cubbon who introduced me to the idea of blog-writing as a way of promoting your business. I started blogging and simply fell in love with it.

I took Sarah Arrow’s content marketing 30-Day Blogging Challenge in 2015 and wrote 30 posts in just over a month. I discovered that:

• Blogging boosts traffic to a website – and visitor interaction – massively. My site’s page views went up over 300%, I had more returning visitors, readers spent more time viewing my posts and the number of comments on posts shot up.
• To write regularly and effectively, you need resilience, a willingness to learn, organisational skills and, most importantly, persistence!

(Persistence, by the way, also comes in useful when you’re solving knotty website problems and testing new software for review.)

These days, I write in-depth, well-researched articles for WordPress businesses. I’ve written for WPMU Dev, WP Shout and for my own site. All my articles are optimized for SEO.

My own blog is designed to:

• Help you get the most out of WordPress, its themes and plugins, and
• Encourage everyone to make their websites as accessible as possible.

My two favourite subjects – WordPress and web accessibility – come together in this post: How To Choose An Accessibility Ready WordPress Theme (And Why).

Who do I build WordPress websites for?

I create clear, bright, clean websites for small businesses and third sector organisations who want to:

• Establish a web presence or upgrade their existing site
• Highlight their services with easy-to-maintain websites
• Make their websites more accessible so they reach a wider, more inclusive audience.

Why I’m a web accessibility champion

When a web page or website is inaccessible, it means that someone who wanted to consume the content is not able to. This could be because:

• The content is not accessible on the device they are using, or
• Their web browser does not interpret it in the expected manner, or
• The content is not provided in an alternative format suitable for their needs.

Excluding potential visitors from your website (and therefore your products and services) in this way doesn’t make good business sense. More importantly, it’s unfair and unlawful.

Clients’ words

“I decided to upgrade my website to mark 10 years in business. It was a difficult brief – I wanted it to be faster to load, more accessible, particularly to people using screen-readers (my business is reporting on disability), and more mobile-friendly. I also wanted a much cleaner, clearer look.

I put a call out and Claire was one of the people who said they might be able to help. … I was particularly impressed by her expertise in WordPress and her knowledge and interest in accessibility issues. We started working together and I was not disappointed.

Claire’s work has been outstanding, her technical knowledge of WordPress and accessibility issues superb. She faced a whole string of apparently intractable technical problems and always came up with a solution. She is always calm, professional and easy to work with. … the finished product has already had a very positive impact on my business and the number of visitors to my site.

Claire continues to manage my site in an efficient, professional manner that relieves me of all the technical concerns that have weighed me down in the past.”

John Pring, Editor, Disability News Service

What I love about my work

Learning new things and helping people are two huge motivators for me. If both are involved in the same task, so much the better! Things I find particularly satisfying include:

• Uncovering those annoying little issues with new releases of software, plugins or WordPress themes and finding workarounds so my clients and blog-readers don’t have to do this for themselves.
• Carrying out my own thorough tests and comparisons of WordPress plugins rather than simply repeating what other bloggers have said. (An independent review is so much more helpful to blog-readers than a repetition of what other reviewers have written.)
• Working with people who truly value web accessibility – and helping them achieve their aims for their websites.
• Providing simple-to-follow instructions for seemingly complex software/plugins so that all users can make the most of them.

Other things that occupy my time

I enjoy cooking and am a big fan of the Gousto recipe boxes – I like having all the right ingredients to hand when I start cooking.

I love cinema and I’m a bit of a science fiction and fantasy geek – Star Wars, Harry Potter, Dr Who, Game of Thrones, Marvel… you name it!

When I’m not working, cooking or watching films, I also enjoy theatre and reading. (You can bet the latter will involve science fiction too.)

What else would you like to know?

• Start learning about web accessibility – what it is and why it should matter to everyone.
• Read some of my blog posts for an idea of my preferred writing style. (Spoiler alert: I like creating simple, direct, easy-to-follow articles.)
• Have a look at some of the websites I’ve developed and upgraded for clients.
• Read up on my personal values.
• Get in touch with your questions and let’s see how I can help you.

Email me, visit my Facebook page, connect with me on LinkedIn or follow me on Twitter.