I’d really like to be able to report, when asked about the state of the web market out here in Spain, that it’s got a clue. But I can’t, because it hasn’t.
The norm is for fixed content in fixed width, fixed height, fixed table layouts with fixed fonts, fixed firmly in the past. To give you some idea, I just came across this requirement in a job ad for a web developer: “Realización de la conversión de resolución 1024×768 a 800×600.” They’re looking for someone to *convert* their site to 800×600. Needless to say, this is an IE-only experience (at 800 x 600 Hz, according to the site…). This is par for the course.
Of course, this goes on everywhere, but here, I hate to confirm, it’s now what I expect to find. Obviously there *are* people doing good work, but it’s difficult to sell to a market that neither wants good work or even knows what it is. And that’s the problem – there will be no development of the local market if there’s no need to do good work, and there *certainly* won’t be much chance of gaining overseas clients. (Well, maybe there will once this market gets so depressed that Indian outsourcing companies start outsourcing here.)