About

Standards-based web development news, techniques and projects based in Shepparton, Victoria, Australia.

Hi! I’m Mikey McCorry and this the place where I write about web design, web development and whatever else takes my fancy.

I founded Mad Web Skills back in 2001 as a freelance web development studio, combining my love of creating simple, beautiful and accessible websites with a standards-based ideology.

I also have a wife, a kid and a dog.

Stuff you need to know

I work full-time for local government during the day but in my spare time I create beautiful websites and brilliant web applications for my clients as a freelancer.

Even if you have the budget to hire a larger design agency, there are a number of advantages to hiring an independent web developer such as myself.

  • Personalised care every step of the way from the person actually building your website, not just a salesperson, account manager or creative director.
  • The web; it’s what I do. Many design agencies are simply graphic print designers that outsource their development to freelancers like me. Why not cut out the middle men?
  • Working full-time during the day, unfortunately I may not have as many hours in the day to devote to your project as a larger agency, however the time I spend is focused on your project alone, not spread thinly between many jobs. This means a much higher quality end result for you than most cookie-cutter agencies.
  • Working from home, not only do I not have the overheads of a larger agency, I also live in regional Victoria where the cost of living is much lower than living in the big smoke. As the risk of sounding like a carpet ad, this allows me to pass the savings on to you!

What I can offer

I specialise in usability, accessibility, designing with web standards, content management systems and web application development. I am also an accomplished designer who can:

  • design your new website;
  • work with you to redesign or improve your existing website; and
  • provide expert knowledge about search engine optimisation, online marketing, design principles and more.

Although I am a one-man-band, so to speak, I have a wide range of expert resources and professional contacts I can draw from in the fields of marketing, print, design, signage, photography, copy-writing and more.

My Philosophy

With every project, I use proven design techniques to solve problems and communicate effectively.

Building a website which adheres to web standards means using valid, structured code that looks great on modern web browsers yet still perfectly usable on older ones. Your website will have improved accessibility to all visitors, regardless of the user’s browser, device or ability.

Need to know more?

If you’d like to hire me for your new website or to offer you an estimate on bringing your old, busted website into the 21st century, drop me a line. I’d love to hear from you.

Testimonials

We are yet to encounter a situation where Mad Web Skills have been unable to meet our needs or requirements for the website. The commitment to the development of a good website comes from clear two-way communication between organisation and website designer (…) this is something that was easily achieved between ASHE and Mad Web Skills. I would highly recommend Mad Web Skills as a website developer for anyone considering promoting their product/services via the internet.

Justin Mohamed. Director — Academy of Sport Health and Education. University of Melbourne.

I would like to thank you for coming to Marketing Meeting (…) and providing us with some insight on the topic of social media. We value your knowledge and appreciate your promptness with answering our questions.

Victoria Glazner. PR/Marketing Fundraising Manager — Shepparton Villages.

At the Shepparton Golf Club, we needed a local person to update and teach us how to work our website. Mikey has been the one. We have had great comments from other clubs and also from our members about the ease navigating the information. Best of all is the easy way we can now make changes to our website ourselves. Mikey is always only an email or phone call away. Thanks Mikey, for making our life easier and getting our info out to members and potential golfing groups.

Erane — Shepparton Golf Club.

We get plenty of comments about our web site. People say it looks the best and because of that, want to get work here as a first preference. Thanks Mikey!

Karen Marsden — Turnbull Orchards.