My thesis explores the concept and phenomenon of the so-called handmade web, which is community-focused and also related to the Maker and Open Source cultures. Embracing elements of the amateur web culture of the 1990s and specificities of the medium of simplistic web design, the 'handmade', hand-coded web embodies a profound questioning of leading design paradigms and emphasises the problem of technology that grows beyond the human scale. In my research, I explored contemporary representatives and expressions of this approach and, drawing on the notion of the vernacular as an apt framework for understanding the subcultural and decentralised milieu, I created four alternative definitions: the web as a garden, a workshop, a shelter and a fountain. Each of these corresponds to a different aspect, representing structural, community/educational, ownership and resource/sustainability perspectives, all sharing a typically hopeful and optimistic aspiration to regain sovereignty and autonomy.