There are many tools which will enable you to create clear,
effective websites. However, if you are new at the game, it is helpful to
gain an understanding of effective websites
fit your concept into a process of design
have fun creating your website!
Summary of design:
identify your audience
motivate your audience: treat them with respect and provide
proactive feedback opportunities
establish clear, measurable web site objectives or design purposes
acknowledge reactions, effort & success, and built in help for
failure to meet expectations
Content
focus and define your website content
language should be simple,
understandable for a global
audience
promote scanning content for important concepts
build in white space
prioritize your information, as with an outline
or concept map
Navigation:
simple
clear
layered (site maps)
organized (think "outline")
Incorporating graphics Developing websites begins with its text and structure.
After the basic structure is developed, the content should be analyzed as
to what would benefit from illustration whether line or photographic
graphics
Principles:
choose a background and text colors with high contrast
use a browser safe palette to be consistent across platform and browser
format text consistently
avoid color changes
avoid italics (hard to read), color changes, and underlining
(mistaken for links)
avoid overly-large text
avoid textured backgrounds that make it difficult to read
illustrate content with simple, symbiotic, scaled (small),
stagnant (non-moving) graphics
avoid "dancing dogs": graphics that show off but do nothing for content
file formats: compressed (.jpg) photographs, and
drawings in (.gif)
Here are some helpful sites:
«
Web 2.0 ... The
Machine is Us/ing Us a YouTube Video by Michael Welsh, Kansas
State University
Web Design
extensive topics from the
University of Minnesota Duluth
Web Style
Guide Patrick Lynch, Yale Center for Advanced Instructional
Media; and Sarah Horton, Dartmouth Curricular Computing, Dartmouth
Didactic Web. One of the best comprehensive guides to the design
of websites (http://info.med.yale.edu/caim/manual/contents.html) (18
February, 2004)
The basics and the latest on HTML World Wide Web Consortium [W3C]
founded in 1994 to develop common protocols for the evolution of the
World Wide Web. Here you will find pointers to specifications
for HTML, guidelines on how to use HTML to the best effect, and
pointers to related work at W3C
http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/ (18
February, 2004)
Pegasus Web Design Resources features web design, graphic design and Adobe Photoshop tutorials
written by Daniel Piechnick, a professional Web Designer based in
Adelaide, South Australia. He tries to keep the web design and graphic
design tutorials on this site as original as possible, and creates new
tutorials regularly. (18 February, 2004)
Alta Vista: Who links to your website? How popular are you?
Search for these links using Alta Vista's search. Type "link:"
and your address (don't include
http://www).
Remember any check of this sort only searches the database of the
particular search engine, in this case Alta Vista) (18 February, 2004)
http://selfpromotion.com/ Robert Woodhead,
AnimEigo SelfPromotion.com automates the process of
registering your website with search engines and indexes.. You decide
what sites you want to register with, and the site will generate a
custom form that asks for exactly the information needed to register
with those sites. (18 February, 2004)
HTML Tidy
Dave Raggett: When editing HTML it's easy to make
mistakes. HTML TIDY is a free utility for fixing (HTML) mistakes
automatically and tidying up sloppy editing into nicely laid out
markup. (18 February,
2004)
Ozone, Dr.
Thaddeus, Hands-On Training Great little tutorials in Photoshop (drop shadows, lighting effects,
transparency, tiled backgrounds, 216 colors, etc.) as well as
Javascript rollovers. (18 February, 2004)
Internet.com Corp, Site
design and graphics Step by step instructions with illustrations on various effects,
including dripping, soft beveled, and "X Files" text; dirty snow,
transparent GIF's, chalk effect, etc. (18 February, 2004)
Lindsay Marshal,
Color selector A Website that automates and illustrates your color
selection, but does not demonstrate the color safe palette or their
values. Handy nonetheless. (http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Lindsay/colours.html)
(18 February, 2004)
Website overview: Since 1996 the Study Guides and Strategies web site
has been researched, authored, maintained and supported by
Joe Landsberger
as an international, learner-centric, educational public service. Permission is granted to freely copy, adapt,
and distribute individual Study Guides in print format in non-commercial educational settings that benefit learners. Please be aware that the Guides welcome, and are under, continuous review and revision. For that reason,
digitization and reproduction of all content on the Internet
can only be with permission through a licensed agreement.
Linking to the Guides is encouraged!
