Jonathan Copson

I’m a senior developer.  I specialise in backend development so I’m usually trying to figure out the best way to store information and how to make things work server side.  

Steve Jobs said: "Simple can be harder than complex. You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” This relates to what we do in development. Often the easy thing to do is just fix the immediate issue, but it’s always better to stand back and have a think about the bigger picture, as there may be a better solution which offers wider and longer lasting benefits. 

I like finding elegant solutions to complex problems and building solutions that people like to use. I always read the latest SilverStripe blog. It keeps me up to date with the latest useful SilverStripe modules and covers some good stuff on Agile development methodologies.

We do our best to make sure our sites are as accessible as possible. One area we focus on is making sure screen readers can make sense of the mark up on the page so that people with vision impairments can still understand and navigate our sites. A bonus of improving accessibility is that it usually improves SEO as well, as search bots can run into some of the same problems as screen readers such as missing alt text on images. 

A useful test you can do on your own site is to try viewing it with a screen reader installed. It’ll give a good insight it just how accessible it really is.  An easy screen reader to try is the Chrome Browser Extension ChromeVox.

I enjoy working TimeZoneOne because of the interesting work and because the people are great to work with. I like learning new things and discovering better ways of doing things. Here, everyone is open to innovative ideas and driven by the same goal of delivering the best solution possible, so it makes teamwork enjoyable and rewarding.

I’m particularly proud of our business listing module.  We’ve put a huge amount of work into this project and it’s really starting to deliver some impressive results.  We’ve used it as the listings module on sites like www.enjoyillinois.com.  It offers a vast range of listing functionality and drives referrals and revenue for local businesses.

Out of work I really enjoy family time, especially when we get out of the house and go for a trip to the beach or walk up hills. We’ve got two boys, who keep us very busy but provide heaps of entertainment and laughs. I also enjoy camping, hiking, and mountain biking.  My favourite exercise at the weekend is a bike ride up Rapaki track on Christchurch’s Port Hills.  I also enjoy surfing although don’t get out as often as I used too.  I’ve got a 9’6” Malibu board which is great for the surf at Sumner.