Web Design: Best Practices The “why’s” of web page creation
Why does anyone visit your site? Information Entertainment Shopping
Define your audience Professionals/Hobbyists General population Students/kids Underprivileged/ Disabled/Elderly
Easy to understand Anyone should be able to figure out what the site is about within four seconds
Easy to read: Use your tags! P tags – Computers see as the same H tags – Maintains your hierarchy of subtitles Alt text tags – Allows screen readers to understand what is being displayed
Easy to load Compress images when possible Edit images in photo software Adobe Photoshop Microsoft Office Picture Manager Start> Programs> Accessories> Paint
Easy to load cont’d. GIF or JPG? GIF records pixels for up to 256 colors – good for artwork JPG records for all colors – good for photos
Easy to find – and navigate through Put a concise, accurate description in your summary Organize information for the user Keep text brief Use links
Easy for you to maintain Where will the content come from? If your content already exists somewhere, do you need copyright permission?
Easy for you to maintain How often will content be updated? Who will be responsible for updating information?
Resources General Guidelines Web Style Guide –webstyleguide.com Accessibility Issues Building accessible web sites –joeclark.org/book/sashay/serialization Universal usability –universalusability.com