Usability and Website Design. Aaron Ruggiero. When designing websites, users should be the main focus throughout the

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1 Usability and Website Design Aarn Ruggier When designing websites, users shuld be the main fcus thrughut the website design prcess. When an expert designs a website their creatin will seem simple t them. S they are tempted t believe that everyne else will see it in the same way. That is where the fallacy arises that designers ften verlk that users, may nt cme frm the same technical backgrund as them. With the internet, there is a cmmn set f design principles users are becming accustmed t. S it can be helpful t fllw sme f the design cnventins that are used by ppular websites. This includes certain layuts and features n cmmn web sites. Recent studies have shwn that the blue-underlined text seems t be the mst cnsistent display f links and prvide the mst clicks. Using ther clrs drastically reduces a users understanding f the link. When using graphical links users are even less likely t realize that it is a link. An advantage f using text links is that brwsers supprt differentiating links depending n if they were visited r unvisited which cannt be supprted with graphics. When designing the website yu will want t shape the website t yu wn liking. Hwever, users shuld be allwed the freedm t set their wn preferences. Backgrund and text link clrs shuld be able t be changed. Als, make sure that the use f cntrast between backgrund and text is easily readable.

2 Anther cmmn practice that can increase usability is the use f semantic tags rather than frmat tags. Frmat tags d ffer mre cntrl ver the appearance f text, but semantic tags can be mre usable acrss different platfrms. This will increase the likelihd f users using different brwsers t get same interpretatin f text regardless f hw it is displayed.

3 Here are sme cmmn Ds and dn ts fr usability D: Use ALT tags fr all graphics, especially navigatin graphics. Use black text n white backgrund whenever pssible fr ptimal legibility. Use either plain-clr backgrunds r extremely subtle backgrund patterns. Make sure text is in a printable clr (nt white). Place navigatin in a cnsistent lcatin n each page f yur website. Use a familiar lcatin fr navigatin bars. Keep the design frm scrlling hrizntally. Use ne axis f symmetry fr centered text n a page. Encurage scrlling by splitting an image at the fld. Dn't: Allw ALT tags t get clipped (especially an issue fr small, fixed width images). Display static text in blue r underlined. Use bldface r ALL CAPS fr lng pieces f text. These slw dwn reading. Leave t much white space--reduces scan ability. Make the user scrll t find critical infrmatin, especially transactin buttns and navigatin links. Use hrizntal rules t separate chunks f cntent. Alternate t frequently between centered text and left-aligned text. Mst text shuld be left-aligned. Fix pages at larger than 800 x 600 pixels. Larger pages may frce users t scrll hrizntally.

4 Places fr Web Design Infrmatin Great Web design infrmatin can be fund all ver the Internet. S can Nt-S-Great Web design infrmatin Here are sme links t sme great resurces This is an entire web design tutrial including vides n varius aspects f web site design. This site is a very cmprehensive teaching site n Web technlgies

5 Designing Mre Usable Web Sites This is a great site at the University f Wiscnsin that cvers web design but especially discusses the ideas behind universal access, which cncerns designing web sites fr thse with visual, physical, r mental disabilities. Designers in this area are in great demand as all gvernment sites must meet universal access guidelines. Even if yu are a nvice, reading material and lking at designs by prfessinals is always a great idea. Jakb Nielsen is ne f the fremst experts in web usability and discusses many ideas n hw t make web pages user friendly. He is very pininated and, many times, it may nt be pssible t easily incrprate his ideas but it is nice t knw abut.

6 If yu are lking at a career in web design, the authr f this site is als the authr f ne f the best bks n web page and web site design. It is a thin, very easy t read bk but has sme f the best infrmatin in the field. If there is any bk t buy, get this ne. This is a cmplete n-line bk n writing and design fr the Web. It is mre than just a web design site but als discusses cncepts n digital pictures, hw peple read n-line, etc.

7 This is anther site devted t universal usability s all can use the Web, including visually handicapped.