If we, the people who make websites, want the world to know who we are and what we do, it’s up to each of us to stand up and represent. Last year, 30,055 of you did just that, taking time out of your busy day to answer the sometimes detailed and often thought-provoking questions in the second A List Apart Survey.

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This year’s findings paint a clearer picture of the distinctions between full-time and freelance web professionals: how you work, what you earn, and what you love about the job. Interestingly, too, despite the brutality of a global recession that was already in full swing (like an axe) when we offered the survey, most respondents revealed a surprisingly high level of job security, satisfaction, and confidence in the future.

A website instead of a white paper#section2

For 2008, instead of a downloadable (PDF) white paper, we decided to present our findings on the web. Which meant, in addition to compiling and analyzing data and reporting our findings with words and charts, we had to create a website and convert findable, accessible XHTML table data into clear and beauteous CSS charts.

The website is now housed at a temporary location while we finish some back-end work related to the way we publish the magazine. A permanent URL will be published here soon. Meanwhile, visit the website at its temporary URL to see what your participation in the 2008 survey helped us learn about our profession.

Slice it yourself#section3

Want to dive deeper into our data, do your own slicing and dicing, and come up with your own findings? Feel free to download our anonymized, raw data in convenient text (3.02 MB), CSV (3.02 MB), and XLS (4.47 MB) formats. If you learn anything interesting, don’t forget to share with the class.