1. 1 © Netskills Quality Internet Training, University of Newcastle Web Page Design http://www.netskills.ac.uk/ © Netskills, Quality Internet Training University of Newcastle Netskills is a trademark of Netskills, University of Newcastle.

2. 2 © Netskills Quality Internet Training, University of Newcastle Topics Purpose & audience Structure & navigation Quality of content Speed Accessibility Issues & solutions

3. 3 © Netskills Quality Internet Training, University of Newcastle Purpose & Audience What is the purpose of your site? Inform? Educate? Entertain? Persuade? Design for your target audience - consider: Network speed Available hardware/ software Skill level User expectations www.google.co.uk news.bbc.co.uk www.next.co.uk

4. 4 © Netskills Quality Internet Training, University of Newcastle Structure and Navigation Can people easily find what they want? Maximum 'half dozen clicks' to find information Most web sites are non-linear No start and end to a web site Entry not necessarily via home page Good navigation a product of good structure Make clear and consistent

5. 5 © Netskills Quality Internet Training, University of Newcastle Methods of Navigation Global and local navigation Frames, button bars, image maps, text links… Other useful navigational features: Site map Table of Contents Search facility blackpoolzoo.org.uk/basecamp

6. 6 © Netskills Quality Internet Training, University of Newcastle Quality of Content Up-to-date & relevant Writing style Clear and simple Ensure correct spelling, grammar etc Provide Contact details Feedback mechanism What’s New? Last Updated Copyright notice

7. 7 © Netskills Quality Internet Training, University of Newcastle Speed Try to make sites quick to load Images can make sites slow Be careful with use of images Decoration or information? Use sparingly Reduce loading delays Use thumbnails where practical Keep images as small as possible (=<50K) Use WIDTH and HEIGHT attributes Store images in a separate directory

8. 8 © Netskills Quality Internet Training, University of Newcastle Accessibility Issues For some users, sites may be difficult or impossible to use Small text, poor colour combinations Inaccessible to certain browsers - text browsers, speech synthesisers W3C standards for accessibility www.w3.org/WAI Increasingly, legislation requires sites are accessible

9. 9 © Netskills Quality Internet Training, University of Newcastle Improving Accessibility (1) Test pages on several types of browser Keep your site clear, simple and consistent Content, structure and navigation Use logical tags instead of physical Physical indicate appearance Logical indicate meaning Focus on structure rather than appearance For example, don't use headers for font effects Current W3C Recommendations Deprecation of style in HTML Use Cascading Style Sheets for appearance www.w3.org/Style/CSS

10. 10 © Netskills Quality Internet Training, University of Newcastle Improving Accessibility (2) Tables & frames pose problems for some browsers Tables Keep tables simple Test in text browser to ensure it makes sense when "linearised" Use attributes to describe table elements Frames If used, provide a "noframes" alternative If possible, avoid!!

11. 11 © Netskills Quality Internet Training, University of Newcastle Improving Accessibility (3) Provide text equivalent for every non-text element Images (especially if used for navigation), animations, frames, audio, etc. ALT attribute for images Use contrasting colours for text Make design flexible Users can alter colours, font size, etc. Validation for accessibility bobby.watchfire.com

12. 12 © Netskills Quality Internet Training, University of Newcastle Summary Well designed web sites are: Effective Fast Accessible Design for accessibility usually leads to good design for all

13. 13 © Netskills Quality Internet Training, University of Newcastle References W3C Web Accessibility Initiative www.w3.org/WAI/ UK Government Guidelines www.e-envoy.gov.uk/oee/oee.nsf/sections/ webguidelines-top/$file/webguidelines.htm Overview of legislation for HE/FE www.jisc.ac.uk/pub01/n9_01.pdf Web site evaluation criteria used by a information gateway: www.sosig.ac.uk/desire/ecrit.html