Sandy's Basic Web Design Tips for Beginners

Week 5: Basic web design elements | Our YahooGroup Site

Here are some things I've learned from working over the years on TOPICS Online Magazine. I'm happy to share them. I confess I don't always follow these tips, but when I do, I get better results.

1. Choose readable fonts. Not all fonts are easy to read. Choose them carefully and try out different ones. Once you decide on one, be sure to ask others what they think to get a second opinion. Don't use too many different fonts on one page. Also, make sure the fonts you use are not too large or too small. Again, show your pages to others and get their opinions on this. You want your page to be visually pleasing to readers!
   
   You also need to use colors carefully so that there is good contrast between the fonts and the background. Otherwise, the pages will be difficult to read. It is always safe to use black text on a white background, but if you want to experiment with colors, just make sure you have sufficient contrast to make it easy to read.
   
   
2. Your web pages should not be too long. If viewers have to scroll way down the page, they're apt to click off without reading everything. You can break a page up into two or three shorter parts and link them together. If you do want to use longer pages, make sure you have something interesting on different points of the page to catch their interest.
   
   Long paragraphs online are hard to read, so break longer paragraphs up into short segments (4-5 sentences long is not too short!). You may have to explain to your students that while you require well-developed paragraphs in English class, online reading is like newspaper reading. Short pieces of text are easier on the reader's eyes.
   
   
3. It is also hard to read long lines of text across the page, so leave good margins on each side of a web page. Scanning a page is much easier if the lines are shorter.
   
   
4. Use headings or titles consistently to create a well-organized site. To make your pages readable and easy to understand, it's important to "chunk" the text into small sections and leave plenty of space around the text. ('white' space or whatever color your background is). Too much dense text makes reading on the web difficult.

 Second, it should be easy to navigate.

1. Make it easy for readers to travel from page to page by providing links that are self-explanatory or by providing short descriptions with the links.
   
   
2. Each page in your site should have a link back to the homepage. You don't want the readers to feel lost. On each page, you'll need links to go to new pages, and links to return to pages they have already visited.
   
   
3. Be careful not to put too many links on one page. If you do have a lot of links for one page, it helps the readers if you group them into categories of links. (I still need to work on this!)
   
   
4. You need to create a basic look for each page. A consistent appearance unifies your site and helps the readers feel comfortable as they navigate your site
   
   It's useful to use a navigational bar to help readers navigate your site, either at the side of the page or at the top of it. If you feel uncomfortable with this "sameness" and want more variety, you might want to change the color of the bar for different sections of your site. For example, if you have lots of pages of cultural interest, those pages might have a blue navigational bar. If you have pages of movie reviews, you might decide to have a green navigational bar.
   
   
5. Links should work. Check them often and repair any broken links.

Third, images can enhance your site if you choose them wisely.
The web is a multimedia format and visual images are a key part of that. It's good to use photos, graphics and student drawings to illustrate student work, but there are a few points you need to keep in mind.

1. Use images purposefully. They should add meaning to the content, not detract from it. Remember: Content is king!
   
   
2. It's tempting to use a large image when you really like one, but it's important to keep in mind that large images are slow to load, so you should try to keep your images small. Most of us hate to sit there waiting forever for a large photo to load, and probably most of us don't. Click-off time again!
   
   
3. Don't use too many images on one page. Again, the page will load up slowly and that may cause readers to click off of your page.

 For those of you who are brand new to web page design, all these tips may seem a little overwhelming at the moment, but I hope they will be enough to get you started once you actually begin making your own web site.