So-Much-Better
Design Checklist
From The
Non-Designers Web Book by Robin Williams
One of the elements of good
web design is a lack of the elements that make bad web design. If you stay away
from everything that is on that list, you've probably
got a pretty nice web site. In addition, keep these concepts in mind:
Text
- Background does not interrupt
the text
- Text is big enough to
read, but not too big
- The hierarchy of information
is perfectly clear
- Columns of text are narrower
than in a book to make reading easier on the screen
Navigation
- Navigation buttons and
bars are easy to understand and use
- Frames, if used, are
not obtrusive
- A large site has an index
or site map
Links
- Link colors coordinate
with page colors
- Links are underlined
so they are instantly clear to the visitor
- The links give the visitor
a clue as to where they are, what page they are currently on
Graphics
- Buttons are not big and
dorky
- Every graphic has an
alt label
- Every graphic link has
a matching text link
- Graphics and background
use browser-safe colors
- Animated graphics turn
off by themselves
General Design
- Pages download quickly
- First page and home page
fit into 640 x 460 space
- All other pages have
the important stuff in 640 x 460
- Good use of graphic elements
(photos, subheads) to break up large areas of text
- Every web page in the
site looks like it belongs to the same site; there are repetitive elements
that carry through the pages