Joe S.

I am a Senior Full-Stack Web Developer and Technical Consultant with 20+ years of professional experience specializing in custom web applications, AI automation, WordPress, PHP/MySQL, JavaScript/React, e-commerce, technical SEO, website troubleshooting, and performance optimization. I build complete, production-ready solutions, from responsive websites and e-commerce platforms to AI-powered applications that automate complex business processes. I also specialize in taking over existing websites that are broken, unfinished, slow, outdated, or need an experienced developer to diagnose problems and implement reliable solutions. Unlike developers who rely entirely on prebuilt plugins, frameworks, or third-party platforms, I can design and develop the underlying systems myself, including custom backends, API integrations, payment processing, server-side automation, and administrative workflows. AI AUTOMATION & CUSTOM AI APPLICATIONS I design and develop AI-powered applications that automate complex workflows, process documents, integrate with external services, and reduce manual work. A recent project is Accessible Agendas, a fully automated, AI-powered document accessibility remediation platform. The system accepts PDF documents, processes customer payments, automatically remediates documents for accessibility, and delivers the resulting accessible PDFs without requiring manual processing. Its architecture includes: - Custom PHP 8.2 website: Hand-coded PHP, HTML, and CSS, without WordPress or unnecessary frameworks. - WCAG 2.1 AA web accessibility: Responsive, accessible interface with semantic HTML and accessibility-focused design. - Stripe payment integration: Secure hosted checkout, direct Stripe API communication, and signed webhook verification. - Python automation: A dedicated Ubuntu server running a continuously managed background processing service. - AI document remediation: Integration with Anthropic's Claude API to analyze and reconstruct document content with semantic headings, lists, tables, and image descriptions. - Accessible PDF generation: PDF processing with pdfplumber and WeasyPrint to produce structured, tagged PDF/UA-1 output. - Automated quality checks: Validation of document structure and original text preservation. - Secure server communication: Authenticated communication between the website and processing server, with private job storage and automated result delivery. - Cloud infrastructure: BigScoots web hosting integrated with a DigitalOcean Ubuntu processing server. This project demonstrates my ability to develop complete AI-powered business applications, including the customer-facing website, payment system, backend automation, AI integration, document processing, security, and deployment. I also develop custom AI chatbots, customer-service tools, intelligent document workflows, and other API-driven applications without requiring expensive third-party chatbot platforms. WORDPRESS DEVELOPMENT & TROUBLESHOOTING I build, repair, optimize, migrate, and maintain WordPress websites, including WooCommerce, Elementor, Divi, ACF, custom themes, plugins, PHP customization, JavaScript/React interfaces, forms, integrations, and responsive development. A significant part of my work involves diagnosing and repairing websites built by other developers. My troubleshooting experience includes: - Plugin and theme conflicts. - PHP, JavaScript, and MySQL errors. - Broken forms, checkout processes, and email delivery. - Mobile navigation and responsive layout problems. - API and third-party integration failures. - WordPress migrations, restorations, and hosting issues. - Complex SEO, indexing, and analytics problems. I focus on identifying root causes and implementing targeted fixes without disrupting functionality that already works. CUSTOM PHP/MYSQL & FULL-STACK DEVELOPMENT I develop custom websites and business applications using PHP, MySQL, JavaScript, React, HTML, CSS, Python, and third-party APIs. My experience includes: - Custom e-commerce platforms and product catalogs. - Shopping carts, payment processing, and order management. - Booking and reservation systems. - Membership, authentication, and customer account systems. - Secure document uploads and processing. - Automated workflows and background services. - Custom administrative dashboards. - API integrations and webhooks. - Automated email and notification systems. - Database-driven applications and lightweight file-based systems. I am comfortable developing applications without WordPress or large frameworks when a custom, lightweight architecture is the better solution. E-COMMERCE: WOOCOMMERCE, SHOPIFY & CUSTOM PLATFORMS I build, customize, troubleshoot, and optimize WooCommerce, Shopify, and custom PHP/MySQL e-commerce websites. My work includes product catalogs, checkout systems, payment gateways, shipping workflows, inventory management, product feeds, customer accounts, and conversion optimization. Recent proj