About Me
Web developer and digital consultant specializing in accessible, high-performance websites for small businesses and nonprofits. Skilled in front-end development and Agile project leadership, with a focus on translating complex problems into practical solutions and delivering sites that are thoroughly tested and built to perform in the real world.
Experienced in building websites from the ground up using custom HTML and CSS, along with CMS platforms including but not limited to ExpressionEngine, Wix Studio (formerly Editor X), Webflow, Shopify, Joomla, and WordPress. Focused on creating accessible, responsive websites and finding practical solutions to technical and workflow challenges. Experience founding and operating an independent e-commerce venture has also provided firsthand insight into the practical needs and challenges of running a small business.
Greater Seattle, WA area • remote preferred
Open to full-time, part-time, and contract opportunities
Independent & Freelance Projects
Liberti's Auto Electric
A complete, responsive website designed and built for Liberti's Auto Electric, an automotive shop where I worked years ago. Hand-coded with Bootstrap 5.3 in close collaboration with the shop owner, then refined with an AI-assisted workflow in the later stages, the site pairs clear, efficient navigation with enough visual character to reflect the shop itself. It now serves as the business's live website.
The site covers the shop's repair, hybrid and service offerings, its ASE certification and approved-repair status, an FAQ, customer reviews, hours, an embedded map and click-to-call phone links, plus an About page and a newsletter sign-up.
Nearly all the photography on the site was shot by me, including a few shots of me working in the shop. See if you can spot me!
Atomic Afterlife
Brand identity and website for a small-business client's vintage furniture restoration business, developed with an AI-assisted workflow and refined over several rounds of client feedback. I created the name, voice, logo suite and brand guide, then built a mobile-first site (HTML, CSS and JavaScript) with an animated hero and a filterable shop.
Because the furniture is large and sold by local pickup or delivery, shoppers build a request list instead of checking out online. It is compiled and emailed to the owner at the push of a button, and the owner follows up to arrange pickup and payment. A matching WordPress/WooCommerce theme is built and ready for a later move to full e-commerce.
Built to target WCAG 2.1 AA at minimum, aiming for AAA contrast where practical. I also designed the marketing materials, including business cards, flyers and social media graphics, and helped with the domain, hosting and email setup. Brand strategy and launch consulting, product photography and marketing support are ongoing.
Dino Game
Made a simple game using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. This is similar to Google's dino game
(chrome://dino
). To play, just press any key to jump over incoming objects.
Quiz App
This is a quick quiz app using HTML CSS and JavaScript with randomly generated questions populated from Open Trivia Database (https://opentdb.com/). The user can save their score and try to beat it the next time around. This was created from a tutorial and will be replaced with another project that I will create myself in the future but was fun to code and follow along while gaining more hands-on experience.
Agency Projects
Built while employed at a two-developer, nonprofit-focused web development and consulting agency. Designs came from the agency's graphic designer, the client's own staff, or designers the client hired. Screenshots show each site as delivered; the agency continues to maintain these sites, so live versions may differ slightly due to ongoing updates.
My role on every project
- ExpressionEngine development, control panel and user permissions setup
- Hand-coded HTML and CSS, with JavaScript from established libraries and limited AI-assisted work
- Design-to-build consulting: advising designers and clients on what works, platform limits and best practices
- Accessibility testing against WCAG guidelines
- Mobile testing and refinement at all breakpoints and screen widths
- MachForm form setup and new feature builds
- Client consulting and virtual meetings, advising on audience considerations
- Client training on the editing interface, so they manage content without touching code
- Updates, security, organic SEO, server files, hosting and DNS
Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board
Delivered consulting and web development for the Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board, transforming a teammate’s design into a responsive, accessible website. Hand-coded the HTML and CSS together with ExpressionEngine template code and built the layout on the YAML CSS Framework. The new site enhances outreach by informing the public and connecting with new audiences, while also supporting the organization’s mission to restore salmon populations, protect clean water, and strengthen the long-term health of southwest Washington’s forests and communities.
Scores 98 Lighthouse Accessibility and a perfect 100 in both SEO and Best Practices.
AtoZ Staffing
Provided consulting and web development for AtoZ Staffing and its sister site, Nonprofit Professionals Now (NPN). Built both as responsive, accessible websites, hand-coding the HTML and CSS alongside ExpressionEngine template code on the YAML CSS Framework. The finished sites highlight staffing services, streamline job postings, and improve candidate resources, strengthening connections between nonprofits, benefit corporations, and job seekers in support of both organizations' mission of delivering staffing solutions tailored to mission-driven employers and professionals.
Scores 92 Lighthouse Accessibility and a perfect 100 SEO, balanced against the client's specific design and functionality requirements.
Open Adoption & Family Services
Built a custom website for Open Adoption & Family Services, hand-coding the HTML and CSS alongside ExpressionEngine template code and building the front end on the YAML CSS Framework to bring a third-party designer's vision to life. The project included developing unique site features, ensuring web accessibility, and training staff to confidently manage content through the CMS. The result is a professional, sustainable online presence that supports the organization's mission of connecting children with loving families through open adoption.
Achieves a perfect 100 Lighthouse Accessibility score and 100 SEO score.
How I Build
A website can look finished on the surface and still have real problems underneath. The design is only part of the finished product. How a site is built and configured affects how quickly it loads, how well it performs in search, how accessible it is, and how it works across different devices and ways of using the web.
Those things are easy to overlook because they aren't always visible to the person who built the site. I don't treat them as optional extras or assume the platform has taken care of them. I test them, find problems, and fix them as part of the build.
Results from the most recent audit of this portfolio website:
Google Lighthouse
- 99 Performance
- 100 Accessibility
- 100 Best Practices
- 100 SEO
WebAIM WAVE
- 0 errors
- 0 contrast errors
- 0 alerts
Measured with Google Lighthouse and WebAIM WAVE. Scores vary slightly between runs and shift as a site is updated; these reflect the most recent check, not a fixed guarantee.
Every build includes:
- Accessibility testing against WCAG 2.1, checked with multiple independent tools and by hand: keyboard navigation, screen-reader behavior, color contrast, focus order, and tap-target sizing.
- Performance and Core Web Vitals: compressed and correctly sized images, minimal render-blocking code, third-party scripts deferred, tested on real devices.
- Search fundamentals: semantic HTML structure, descriptive metadata and link-preview tags, correct sitemap and robots configuration.
- The right platform for the client, custom-coded or a CMS such as WordPress, Shopify, ExpressionEngine, and many others, then built and tuned to these standards rather than left on its defaults, so the site stays fast and maintainable after launch.
Automated scores are a floor, not a finish line. They catch roughly a third of accessibility problems; the rest is manual work. But a site that cannot clear the floor is losing people before anyone notices.
This site started out completely hand-coded in vanilla HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and stayed that way for years. As AI code assistance arrived, I learned it, adopted it, and kept refining the site with it where appropriate (performance tuning, accessibility passes, parts of the interaction code), then reviewed, tested, and adjusted the results by hand. It is the same workflow I bring to client projects: AI speeds up drafting and checks, and I stay responsible for what ships.
See it on more than one screen
Open this page on your phone and a tablet, or just drag your browser window narrower and wider as you read. The layout re-flows to fit each device rather than shrinking to fit. Every site I build is designed and tested this way across real phones, tablets, and desktops, because most visits now come from mobile and a page that only holds together at one size is quietly turning the rest of its visitors away.
Experience
Founder & Web Developer,
Self-Employed |
June 2025 - Present |
(Remote)
Two separate ventures under one roof: a freelance web development practice serving small-business clients, and an independently owned and operated e-commerce business.
Freelance Web Development
- Build custom-coded and CMS-based websites for small-business clients, recommending the platform that fits each client's goals, audience, and budget (custom code, Shopify, WordPress, or another system) rather than defaulting to one toolset or a personal preference.
- Design and test every build for WCAG 2.1 conformance, cross-checking across multiple independent accessibility tools rather than trusting a single automated scan, alongside manual review of color contrast, alternative text, form labeling, keyboard navigation, and mobile tap-target sizing. WebAIM's 2026 study found detectable failures of this kind on roughly 96% of home pages, and they are an increasingly common trigger for accessibility demand letters against small businesses.
- Develop mobile-first, responsive layouts and verify them on real phones, tablets, and browsers rather than a single simulator, since a device-specific bug or a slow mobile load turns real visitors away before a page finishes rendering.
- Favor clean semantic HTML, genuine performance and image-optimization testing, and correct sitemap, robots, and descriptive meta-tag configuration over page-builder bloat, so sites load quickly and are indexed correctly from day one.
- Diagnose problems to their root cause and fix what is actually broken, rather than masking symptoms with accessibility overlays or one-off visual patches. I apply the same methodical, verify-and-test process I built doing complex automotive diagnostic work: reproduce the fault, isolate it through structured testing, then confirm the fix, rather than guess and check.
Independent E-Commerce Venture
- Built and customized a Shopify storefront using Liquid, custom filtering and taxonomy architecture, and metafield-driven product data structures.
- Led performance and accessibility optimization on the storefront, including Lighthouse auditing, image-compression workflows, color-contrast testing, and WCAG-compliant mobile tap-target sizing via custom Liquid edits.
- Manage multi-channel sales operations, including platform-specific pricing strategy, cross-listing workflows, shipping and fulfillment integration, and domain/DNS management.
- Manage inventory and product photography, using AI-assisted workflows and graphics-editing software to help shape final product designs, alongside creative direction for brand identity and marketing materials.
- Established and manage core business operations independently, including registered agent and privacy protection, licensing, tax compliance, and business banking.
Web Developer and Consultant at |
March 2024 - June 2025 |
(Remote from Seattle, WA
to Portland, OR)
- Built and launched responsive websites in ExpressionEngine, an enterprise CMS, for nonprofit clients, combining CMS templating (tags, conditional logic, custom fields) with custom front-end development (hand-coded HTML and CSS, with JavaScript from established libraries), MachForm integration, and server-side tasks such as DNS, subdomain, and TLS certificate configuration.
- Consulted with clients on project scope, features, and web-publishing best practices, translating stakeholder goals and designers' artwork into build-ready specifications.
- Built web accessibility into the foundation of every project (semantic structure, color contrast, keyboard operability, and screen-reader behavior) rather than bolting it on afterward, alongside organic SEO and performance work, then validated every site through peer code review and multiple independent accessibility, markup, and speed tools before launch.
- Applied lean, low-bandwidth development practices, a lightweight CSS framework, lazy loading, image optimization, and minimal scripting, for faster mobile performance and a smaller energy footprint.
- Delivered full site builds for Open Adoption & Family Services, the Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board, and AtoZ Staffing, each responsive across phone, tablet, and desktop.
- Trained content managers and provided ongoing content editing and troubleshooting across more than a dozen active nonprofit client sites, including Returning Veterans Project, Portland Youth Philharmonic, the Coalition of Community Health Clinics, and REACH CDC, spanning healthcare, veterans services, crisis support, affordable housing, and arts.
Website & Technology Manager at Seaside |
Jan 2023 - July 2023 |
(Remote from Seattle, WA
to Gloucester, MA)
- Led a Web & Tech team of 5-8, overhauling and restructuring the department following approximately six months without dedicated leadership, implementing Agile and Scrum frameworks along with kanban to establish organized workflows and a consistent delivery cadence.
- Functioned in capacity as Department Manager, Scrum Master, Product Owner, Front-end Web Developer, Project Manager, and liaison between different departments in order to facilitate and support the needs of a diverse, globally remote team for a large non-profit organization.
- Rapidly and efficiently acquired proficiency in using a diverse range of software and tools, such as Trello, Wix Studio (formerly Editor X), Zapier, Google Workspaces, Miro, Figma, Canva, MailerLite, Little Green Light, and Airtable, among other applications.
- Guided and mentored the team in implementing responsive web design best practices and effectively utilizing tools to accomplish tasks.
- Collaborated with stakeholders to perform heuristic evaluations, effectively identifying user needs and pain points, then analyzed the feedback to implement targeted improvements and innovative design solutions.
For additional roles and detailed responsibilities, visit my Resume .
Skills
Web Development & Platforms
- HTML
- CSS
- ExpressionEngine
- Joomla!
- WordPress
- Wix Studio (formerly Editor X)
- Webflow
- Shopify (Liquid)
- YAML CSS Framework
- Bootstrap
Hosting, Domains & SEO
- Domain & DNS Management
- Namecheap
- cPanel
- Organic SEO
- Google Analytics
- GitHub Pages
- SSL/HTTPS Configuration
- Sitemap, Robots & Meta-Tag Configuration
Development & Databases
- JavaScript
- jQuery
- PHP
- SQL
- MySQL/RDBMS
- Microsoft Access
- API Integrations
Working knowledge from coursework and projects. JavaScript comes from established libraries or AI-assisted code, which I review and test.
Accessibility
- WCAG and web accessibility standards
- Lighthouse auditing
- Color-contrast testing
- Mobile tap-target compliance
AI-Assisted Workflows
- Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, and GitHub Copilot
- Strategic planning and organization
- Content and asset creation
- Code refinement and testing
- Multi-model cross-verification prior to manual review
Design & Creative
- Affinity
- Adobe Photoshop
- Illustrator
- InDesign
- Canva
- Figma
Business & Entrepreneurship
- LLC formation and operations
- E-commerce platform management
- Multi-channel sales strategy
- Tax compliance
- Business Banking
- Licensing & Registration
- Washington State Tax Registration
Agile & Scrum
- Jira
- Trello
- Kanban
- Scrum Framework
- Backlog Management
- Agile Principles
- Facilitation and Coaching
Project Management
- Project Scheduling (Critical Path Method: Forward & Backward Pass Analysis)
- Resource Allocation
- Strategic Planning
- Microsoft Project
- Miro
- Zoom
- Google Workspace
- Airtable
Development Workflow
- Mobile-First, Responsive Design
- Cross Browser Testing & Debugging
- Iterative Design Thinking
- Root-Cause Debugging & Diagnostics
- Peer Code Review
- Heuristic Evaluation (UX/Usability Review)
Performance & Optimization
- Image Optimization Workflow (Format, Compression & Loading Strategy Balanced Against Quality)
- Self-Hosting Critical Assets (Fonts, Icons, Scripts) for Reliability & Performance
- Lazy Loading & Low-Bandwidth Development Practices
- Real-Device Testing (Phones, Tablets & Browsers)
- Semantic HTML Best Practices
- Core Web Vitals Optimization (Deferred Third-Party Scripts, Minimal Render-Blocking Code)
Additional Tools
- AWS / Cloud Computing
- Visual Studio Code
- Sublime Text
- Notepad++
- Premiere Pro
- Final Cut Pro
- Little Green Light
- Zapier
- MachForm
- Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams
Professional & Interpersonal
- Team leadership
- Scrum Master & Product Owner Duties
- Client consultation & requirements gathering
- Stakeholder communication
- Mentoring & team training
- Cross-functional collaboration
- Remote & globally distributed teams
- Root-cause problem diagnosis
- Adapting quickly to new tools & platforms
- Analytical Reasoning
- Problem Solving
- Communication
- Conflict Resolution
- Client Relations
- Team Management
- Training and Development
- Process Improvement
Recommendations
Matt is becoming the rare web developer whose customer service savvy is in balance with his coding skills and will thrive as part of a development team that allows him to interact with clients.
I'm not very technical when it comes to websites, but Matt made the whole process easy and really listened to what I wanted. He took my ideas and turned them into a professional website that truly represents my business. I'm very happy with the final result and would absolutely recommend him to any business owner looking for someone who is easy to work with and genuinely cares about doing a good job.
