01Owns
Markup and layout
Writes semantic HTML and responsive layouts with grid, flexbox and container queries that hold up from small phones to wide screens.
Hire · Web
Hire Web Developers
Senior web developers, embedded with your staff, who look after sites and web apps on whichever platforms you already use. Before shortlisting, each one completes a paid task on semantic HTML, responsive CSS, accessibility, page performance and connecting a headless or traditional CMS.
Not tied to a single framework
Senior and lead engineers only
Fits into your existing workflow
On your team
What a web developer owns on your team.
02Owns
Accessibility
Meets WCAG 2.2 AA in everyday work: headings, landmarks, alt text, focus order, form labels and contrast, checked with tools and a keyboard.
03Owns
Page speed
Improves Core Web Vitals by sizing images, deferring scripts, self-hosting fonts and cutting unused CSS, measured with field data where available.
04Owns
CMS integration
Connects templates to WordPress, a headless CMS or a static site generator, so editors can publish without developer help.
05Owns
Cross-browser upkeep
Checks new work in Safari, Firefox and Chromium, handles progressive enhancement and fixes the bugs that only one engine shows.
Hiring a generalist on purpose
Not every team needs a framework specialist. Many businesses run a marketing site, a help centre, a few landing page templates and a small web app, each on a different stack. A strong web developer keeps all of them accessible, fast and consistent. That breadth is the skill, so assess it: ask a candidate to describe how they would pick up an unfamiliar CMS theme in their first week.
Vetting
Skills we test before a web developer joins.
01Tested
Modern CSS
Custom properties, cascade layers, logical properties, clamp-based fluid type and :has, with sensible fallbacks.
02Tested
Plain JavaScript first
Writes small, dependency-free scripts for menus, tabs and forms before reaching for a framework, and uses one well when it is needed.
03Tested
Working across stacks
Comfortable moving between a static site, a CMS theme and a component framework, picking up local conventions quickly.
04Tested
Forms and validation
Uses native validation, clear inline errors and accessible feedback, with server-side checks behind every client rule.
05Tested
Technical SEO basics
Correct titles and meta descriptions, canonical tags, structured data, sitemaps and crawlable navigation.
06Tested
Build tooling
Sets up Vite or similar for bundling, image optimisation and CSS processing without over-engineering a small site.
Work sample
How the web developer work sample runs.
- 01Step 1
Repair an inaccessible page
The candidate receives a landing page with div-based buttons, missing labels and poor contrast. They fix it and list each WCAG criterion addressed.
- 02Step 2
Build a responsive section from a design
They turn a design into a responsive, accessible section driven by content from a CMS stub, with no layout shift. We pay for the half-day this takes.
- 03Step 3
Speed up a slow page
Given a page with a poor Lighthouse report, they make targeted changes and show the before and after for LCP and CLS.
- 04Step 4
Explain to a content team
A short call where they explain to editors how to publish a new page type without breaking layout or SEO.
Levels
Web Developers: what changes at each level.
01Level 1
Senior
Builds pages, templates and features in your existing stack, keeps them accessible and fast, and reviews other front-end work.
02Level 2
Lead
Sets coding standards, accessibility and performance checks, browser support policy and the component approach across your web properties.
03Level 3
Web standards lead
Owns accessibility compliance, performance budgets and the CMS and hosting choices for several sites or brands.
Senior, lead or standards lead
With one or two sites and an agreed design system, a senior developer covers the work. If several sites have drifted apart in quality, a lead can set shared standards and checks. A standards lead suits organisations with legal accessibility duties or many brands, where someone must own compliance and performance across the estate.
Other options
When to hire someone other than a web developer.
01Consider
A React product team
If your work is a single React app with complex state, hire a React developer rather than a generalist.
Open register02Consider
Database, API and UI ownership
If each feature needs schema and backend changes as well as screens, a full-stack developer fits better.
Open register03Consider
An online store
If the site is a Shopify storefront with themes and apps, a Shopify developer knows the platform’s limits.
Open registerFundamentals separate good candidates quickly
Ask candidates to build a navigation menu without a library. Watch for a real button element, aria-expanded, escape-key handling and focus that does not get lost. The same habits carry over to every page they will touch for you.
CSS knowledge is the other quick test. Developers who understand the cascade, specificity and modern layout write less code and fight fewer overrides. Those who rely on utility classes alone sometimes struggle when a design does not fit them.
A practical start
Ask for an audit of your highest-traffic template in the first week, covering accessibility, Core Web Vitals and SEO basics, with fixes ranked by effort. Then let them ship the cheapest high-impact fixes. It builds trust with content and marketing teams and gives you a baseline to measure against.
FAQ
Questions to resolve before the build.
01How is a web developer different from a front-end framework specialist?
A web developer works across platforms such as CMS themes, static sites and lighter apps, with strength in HTML, CSS, accessibility and speed. A framework specialist goes deep on one library for a single complex application.
02Can a web developer make our site meet accessibility rules?
They can audit against WCAG 2.2, fix most issues in templates and components, and build new work to the standard. Formal conformance statements and legal advice remain your organisation’s responsibility.
03Do they work with our CMS?
We match candidates to your platform, whether that is WordPress, a headless CMS such as Contentful or Sanity, or a static site generator, and test integration during vetting.
Works alongside
Roles a web developer works best alongside.
01Pair with
UI/UX designers
For layouts, type scales and states that a web developer can turn into reusable templates.
Open register02Pair with
WordPress developers
When a site needs custom plugins, complex editor blocks or WooCommerce work beyond theme templates.
Open register03Pair with
QA engineers
To run cross-browser and accessibility regression as the number of templates grows.
Open registerProduct delivery
Need the whole product built instead?
Primary sources
References behind this page
Dated official documentation, standards, and research that support the factual claims on this page.
- 01W3C: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2
The accessibility standard web developers build and audit against.
- 02MDN Web Docs: HTML
Reference for semantic HTML elements and attributes.
How to read this page
Scope, cost and timeline figures are planning guidance until confirmed in a written proposal. Diagrams and screens are illustrations, not client deliverables, and source-code rights and handover follow the signed agreement. See the delivery process and the full disclaimer.
Next decision
Turn the brief into an accepted product scope.
Define outcomes, constraints, evidence, rights and handover before delivery begins.
Commercial rights, repositories, environments, documentation, acceptance and handover remain contract-defined.