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First-rate Tools for your Web Authoring
Indeed, if you want to make your mark in the wide, wide Web, you would not need an expensive software package to create and post your very own Website. Even if you don’t have money to spare, many HTML editors and FTP clients are available that does...
Functionality Vs. Design
The question faced by all web designers at sometime during a project is: How much functionality should I sacrifice for stylish design? I know that I have played this balancing game many times. However there is a way to have both in healthy servings,...
Good Web Site Design
There are very few web pages on the internet that clearly state what is "good web site design" and what is not "good web site design". That's because it's completely subjective - like what is beautiful and what is not beautiful, and so it takes a...
Graphic Design Using Color
Color is everywhere and conveys a message even if we don’t realize it. While this message can vary by culture it pays to know what colors “say” in your own corner of the universe, and even what color means to your target market. If you don’t...
Make your site's navigation options highly visible
Effective navigation stands out. It's clear, obvious, and highly visible. You'll need to have a clear section of the page designated for navigation--one that a visitor will immediately recognize as the navigation area when he arrives at the site....
The 5 Biggest Mistakes Almost All Web Designers Make -- And Why These Mistakes Could Cost YOU A Fortune!
Huge Mistake #1: Creating a Website with Flash -- Did you know in a recent study, top internet marketers discovered that having a website created with Flash, actually DECREASED the response from prospects and customers by as much as...
The History and Development of Web Design
When the World Wide Web was originally invented, it was unique in its ability to link pages together using hyperlinks. It uses a markup language known as HTML, or HyperText Markup Language. New technologies continue to change the way the web...
The MAYA Stage
The word ?Maya? may call to mind the peoples of Central America. One may think of ancient ruins and the bold stonework and murals of Mayan culture. Some may think of religion or colorful Mayan history. Most people do not think of design. Raymond...
Top 10 Signs Your Site Needs An Overhaul
These are the top 10 signs your web site needs an overhaul. # 10 The images used on your site include a revolving globe, bevelled horizontal line separators, and one of those animated mail box icons that were popular in free image libraries ...
Web Designers Beware!
As a web designer, I have a personal interest in a new trend which threatens to put me and my kind out of business. That “threat” is Web Design Templates. In short they are ready-made web design products which can be used as a basis for a fast and...
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Website Usability - How to Make Your Website User-Friendly
In this article we'll cover some basics of website usability, in other words, making your website user-friendly. This article in no way covers everything you should keep in mind prior to designing your website - there is much more. I have listed five questions you should initially consider. I will be brief with each question just to give you a few tips to get you started. Keep in mind that testing is the most important task and should be conducted frequently.
a.Do visitors know which page they are viewing?
The best way to ensure your visitors don't get lost on your website is if you title your pages. Make sure this title is the title in your navigation area too. On your home page, or the one that is your "index.html" or "index.htm", you don't have to title the page "HOME PAGE". It could be titled "About Us" or a page you want your visitors to see as soon as they open your website. If your "index.html" page is your "About Us" page, then put the header/title "About Us" at the top of the page. In other words, every page should have a heading so that your visitors will know what page they are currently viewing.
b.Can your visitor easily get to other pages using your navigational area?
Make sure that if you have 5 main pages in your website, there are 5 links in your navigation area with the exact titles as the titles on your pages. With this in mind, don't make your titles too long. If you have articles on your website, make one link titled "Articles" in your navigation area. On the "Articles" page, list your article titles in the body of that particular page because the article titles will be longer.
c.Does my background color and text color make a good combination?
You will need to take this into serious consideration. If your color scheme is unappealing, visitors will leave no matter how good your subject matter may be. If the combination causes eye strain or headache, your visitors will leave your website and may not return. Examples: blue background with red text, lime green background with yellow text, red background with yellow text, etc. One other background I would like to mention: patterned/tiled backgrounds. These can be overwhelming to the eye. No text will be readable on these types of backgrounds - at least not without difficulty. If you must have a patterned/tiled background, make it look like a watermark - full color patterned/tiled backgrounds will send your visitors away quicker than ice cream melts on a hot stove.
d.Are my photos too big or do I have too many on a page?
If it takes longer than a few seconds for your webpage to load, then your images are too big or you have
too many on a page. It is not necessary for a photo to take up the space of an entire browser window. Too many photos, without a doubt, will slow your website down to a crawl, even on a high-speed connection. Most people will leave your website before the images finish downloading. You can make the images small enough for a slideshow or create thumbnails so that your visitors can select which images they want to see. Once your visitors click on the image to see a larger view, make even that image small enough to see all the details, but not big enough to slow down your website. There are quite a few image editors out there to use - some are even free. I use Macromedia's Fireworks to optimize my images. They have a tool where I can make my images smaller without losing clarity.
e.How do I test my pages for errors and user-friendliness?
Have a few other people look at your website. If you don’t think that friends and family will want to hurt your feelings, find a site with your color scheme; tell them that this website is not your website, but you would like their opinion on the color scheme and if it is difficult to read. You can also post your URL to various forums to ask them for a critique of your website. If this is your first time testing, you can ask for feedback so that you can get a variety of comments. Keep a copy of the answers you get so that in the future you can refer back to what people have said about certain features. Later on, you can put together a checklist to go by for every website you design. I wouldn't use just one checklist to check all websites, but a checklist would be a good start. Whether you are a beginner or expert website designer, you will always need to test multiple times. You have a great deal of choices to check for errors on your site. I like to use W3C's validators to check for errors and to bring my websites up to standard.
Making your website user-friendly is one of the best things you can accomplish for yourself and your visitors. Taking the time to ensure usability is nothing compared to how many visitors you will lose if you have a not-so-friendly website. Ensuring readability, fast downloading, and performing multiple tests will get you started in the right direction of designing user-friendly websites. Good Luck! Send me a link if you want me to critique your website.
About the Author
This article was written by Regina Stevens, owner of Keep It Simple Websites (http://keepitsimplewebsites.com). If you would like to send comments, email the name of the article and where you found the article to articles[@]itjsatlanta.com. Take the brackets out before sending me an email.
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