Website: Best Practices

Sources: The World Wide Web Consortium the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web Research-Based Web Design and Usability Guidelines issued by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. General Services Administration Various Best Practices in website design and usability

Reasons to have Web Page To communicate accurate and timely information about your Department offerings To provide contact To provide timelines, forms, and FAQs

Before You Launch Your New Site Define the clear purpose or function of your website Define your audience Identify the needs of your website’s visitors

Important Concepts to Remember Planning, planning, and more planning Web pages that are quickly developed rarely succeed. Make your Web content interesting and accurate Content is king Good navigation is a key Always make certain users can easily navigate back and forth to the key information points on your site. Accurate grammar, spelling, and syntax Regularly updated content

Important Concepts to Remember KEEP IT SIMPLE

Basic Elements of Good Web Design The layout of information is “clean,” uncluttered, easy to read, and thoughtfully planned Text is easy to read – no Word Art or hard to read fonts Graphics and photographs are high quality

Web Page – FACT Users generate an opinion (good or bad) about a Web page within 30 seconds of initial viewing

Homepage Your site's Homepage is often the first contact that visitors have with your department. Do you know what visitors want - or don't want - to see on your Homepage? Important Questions to answer: Who are you and what you do? How can you help me (student)? How can I get your service (valid contact info)?

5 Steps To A Great Home Page 1.Keep Your Visitors Awake Keep your visitors in mind: what THEY want to find on your page? 2.Make It Short And Simple Bulleted items Clearly defined sections Short paragraphs: Make your major point early in the paragraph because people often won't read the entire text. Keep it to one screen 3.Use images for emphasis People look at the images before they read text. Use an image that communicates what the content is.

5 Steps To A Great Home Page 5. Tell Them Where To GO Provide links so visitors who want more information can go deeper into the site. 6. Emphasize keywords in your link text Visitors scan the homepage of your website; text links attract their attention and accent keywords they are looking for. Avoid using “click here” in your link text.

NOTES Your home page is a virtual front door to your department. Make it as useful and inviting as possible. Remove the clutter. Homepages have a different purpose than the rest of your pages. They have to entice new visitors to explore your website further, make it a positive experience so they want to return. Displaying lots of text is the job of your internal pages.

Keeping Your Website Alive Make sure content is current Keep links and important dates current Invite user feedback and integrate suggestions

Measuring Success Homepage defines the clear purpose or function of your website The content is current and accurate It speaks to your audience in language they understand Your website looks clean and appealing