Avoid using frames. For content rich sites, avoid using frames-- Frames are:
- difficult to bookmar
k
- confusing
- unpredictable
Frames are fine on sites driven by issues other than content-- sites in which the ability to bookmark deep within the site is not critical. If you do use frames provide a non-frames version of your site. Netsc
ape 1 users still account for large numbers of hits to corporate sites and they can't see frames.
- According to data gathered by Sun Microsystems, only 10% of users scroll beyond information that is visible on the screen.
- Make sure
everything outside of initial viewing area is accessible from within initial viewing area.
- KEEP ALL INFORMATION CURRENT
- Keep download times short
- 10 seconds for the average page (approx.
25K total file size for 28.8 modem)
- 15 seconds for exceptional pages (approx. 40K total file size for 28.8 modem)
- Bandwidth isn't improving on the web (some say it's getting worse!)
- Many users still access over modems!
- Be concise!
- Use new technology only when it serves a purpose:
- multimedia
- audio
- Movies
- New Technologies by nature are not robust
- Users must download appropriate plug-ins
- Mov
ement draws the eye to it and away from the rest of the page
- If an animation is used it should occur only once
- Movement is good if it's an ad for Cabletron on someone elses site
- Keep URL's simple
- Simple
URL's make it easy to write down or to convey to others
- Link every page back to home.
- Users may have accessed the page directly bipassing the home page
- Provide search ability from every page
- T
itles must sum up the content of the page--Many search engines use the titles to refer to the page
- Blue & purple link colors are standard:
keep them as they are.
- Avoid changing link colors. You run the risk of confusing
the user
- PLEASE leave changing text colors to the pros!
- Design pages that "breath"
, pages that resize with the browser window.
One perceptive NHCC meeting attendee questioned this design philosophy, reminding me that exc
eeding 10-12 words per line can cause eye strain. It's a good point, and I've given it much consideration. I feel that this 'print world' truism doesn't necessarily translate to the web for the following reasons:
- People aren't on the web to re
ad, they're there to skim, to glean only what they want and move on. Therefore, eye strain from reading long blocks of text would rarely happen.
- Text should be written for this concept of the web as a skimming medium. Web text should always be much
shorter than it's print counterpart. (Exceptions would be print pieces that are simply transcribed to the web. These should probably be treated as just that-- print pieces and not web pieces. (As I say this I know I don't practice it-- something to look i
n to.))
- Scrolling takes it's toll on the eyes too. In fact, If I had to choose which caused more eye strain-- scrolling or long lines, I'd put my money on scrolling. If I maximize my browser window, I've reduced the amount of scrolling I have to do.
- I have a psychological need to see an entire web page. It is more important to me to see the whole page (if I can fit it on my monitor) than to have a page optimized for reading. I think other people are like me too.
- Breathable pages are inheri
ntly more difficult to design. What's that have to do with anything? Don't adhere to a design philosophy just to make your life easier.
- The web is an open standards medium, a philosophy of interactivity and freedom for the end user-- this translates
into giving the end-user a great deal of power over the appearance of your page. If they have a monochrome monitor and want to choose a different background color for your page to optimize readability for B&W, they can. If they have a big monitor and
they want to use it, they can. If they have difficulty reading your text, they can change the font size (in Internet Explorer this feature is built right into the button bar!). Imagine someone cranking up the font size on your page that you set to only b
e 500 pixels wide because on your Mac 17" monitor that fit 10 words. On their PC 15" monitor that only fit 8 words using their default font, but since they cranked up their point size for better reading, now your line only fits 6 words and looks pretty po
or. Does this sound extreme? I've seen it happen, and that's why I design pages that expand or contract to the width of the browser window instead of fixed width pages.
Web designers must ask the following questi
ons of their designs:
(1-19 excerpted from "Web Master" magazine, March 1997, p. 29.)
- Is the message received, recognized and understood as soon as you see the home page?
- Do the visual elements augment the message?
- Do attenti
on getting items focus you on the key points, or do they lead your eyes away from them?
- Does it take more than a few clicks to get to an informative page?
- Do you spend more time looking for something than you do reading it?
- Are there quick sho
rtcuts to key places on the site, or must you take the long route to everything?
- Is there sufficient color and contrast to make the text easily readable?
- Does the fon size or page density tire your eyes?
- Is there enough white space for the mes
sage to be readable?
- Is the background so loud that you can scarcely make out the words?
- Is it clear what are links and what aren't?
- Is the structure of the site sufficiently intuitive that you can find the most important things without relyin
g on the search engine?
- Are icons obvious?
- Can you be sure what will be at the other end of a link when you click on it?
- Does the use of technology add value, or is it just technology for technology's sake?
- Does the requirement for plug-in
s disenfranchise a significant portion of the audience?
- Is there a lot of web jargon?
- Are acronyms used and not explained?
- Was the application of multimedia appropriate to the audience?
- Do headlines and subheads stand out significantly fro
m text?
- Are separate blocks of text clearly separate on your pages?
Taken from
http://www.nh.ultranet.com/~pouliot/web/standards/do.html
which moves often!