Field Notes Inside an Integrated Communications Agency

We reference terms like CSS in documents and e-mails to our clients often, and I often hear this question, what is CSS? So over time I have evolved my client friendly version of the term, it may not be technical, but it gets the job done.

Client: What is CSS?
Heidi: Good question. We have spent the last few (insert time here) finalizing the design for your new Web site. We created a homepage, interior page, etc. and these are called templates. They were created in a program like Photoshop (a reference 98% of clients understand) and there is a step between Photoshop files and a clickable Web site.
Client doing lots of right, hmmhmms.
Heidi: That is where CSS, aka Cascading Style Sheets comes in. Site development has lots of layers and CSS is the design layer. It is what tells a headline to be blue and a background to be white.
Client silence...
Heidi: It is a really smart way to build your site. Imagine in two years you decide you want to change all the headlines in your site to a different color. Don't worry it isn't going to cost you eight hours in maintenance fees, with CSS it is one simple switch and boom, the whole site is updated. Not to mention the benefits it has to accessibility.

(Side note to readers, accessibility is something that is really important to Capstrat and our clients. This is where Mike's article is way better than mine; I suggest you check it out if you want to learn more about CSS and accessibility.)

The solution is simple, but if you spit out some geek speak to a client when they ask this question you might be heading down a rough road. It is easy to forget that sometimes the Web world can be an exclusive club, with exclusive language.