Designing Your Web Site

Learning the basic concepts of Web page design

Peggie Brown, a smart Web guru, points out: "A Web developer needs to wear many hats these days, from programmer to PR rep to market researcher. Making your site all it can be involves much more than putting together a few graphics and your contact information on a single index.html page." Read the rest of her article "Design and Content Tips" for more useful info for creating and maintaining your Web site.

"Subject matter ... should be the focus"

Later on in her article, Peggie drops these words of wisdom: "I'm going to remind you that the subject matter of the site should be the focus, not your really cool design. Through your words, design, navigation system, colors, graphics and technology, you convey an image. Remember this when you first begin planning your site. Before you decide what the site will look like and what it will contain, ask yourself what is the image you want to convey."

Yes, you start with the content. What is the site's purpose? Selling a product or service? Delivering information? Who is the target audience? The Web developer's job is a demanding one. He or she must insure that the pages are well crafted to appeal to the site's target audience, that those who visit the site can navigate easily through the site and find the info they need quickly, and that the pages download quickly. If it's an e-commerce site, with a shopping cart, the mechanics (and security) of the purchasing process must be really slick, leaving the customer happy and eager to come back for a repeat visit.

You'll find helpful tips about some of these factors on other pages of this Web site, such as the Content, Typography, and Graphics sections.

Navigation

Navigation is something you'll be studying as long as you're in the Web design business, to be sure your site's navigation scheme is the most appropriate choice for the intended audience and the site's content. Dreamink.com offers a good overview of the pros and cons of various types of Website Navigation.

Accessibility

Accessibility refers to making your Web content accessible to people with disabilities - another factor that can require a huge amount of time to understand and put into practice. W3C (the organization that sets standards for Web development) has set forth its Web Content Accessibility Guidelines in a humongous document that will likely put you to sleep on the third page. You might want to start by tackling a more reader-friendly tutorial by Jim Thatcher, a fellow who does accessibility consulting. Mr. Thatcher suggests very practical ways to make your site "accessible." He suggests that you use a Web site called "Bobby" to analyze your pages for accessibility. You can also use "Cynthia Says" for analytical purposes. You might want to compare the two analyzers.

Learning from the Masters

Fortunately, design gurus are generous in pouring out their words of Web wisdom. Here are some of the best. Take your choice; you'll gain much from each of them:

• An excellent place to start is the "Web Design Guide" that takes you in easy steps from the concept of your Web site through every phase of its creation, implementation, as well as the assessment of its success.
• Interested in enhancing the visual aspects of your Web site? Dmitry Kirsanov shares his vast knowledge of all elements of dynamic Web design in Dimitry's Design Lab
• W3 Schools is a single-source site that provides brief free tutorials for beginners on anything you want to learn about Web development, including basic HTML-coding, PHP, DHTML, CSS, JavaScript, VBScript, and even .NET (dotnet).
• Take advantage of the many free or inexpensive training courses available on the Web. You'll find hem listed in my Tutorials section.

Of course you want your site to be visually attractive. But you've now learned that your job is not primarily to create a Web site that will win a beauty contest, but to make sure your site will do its job - whatever that is! Will it grab the readers attention -- and hold it long enough to grasp the site's message? Can the reader navigate your site easily? Will the reader find your site interesting enough to return another day?  If necessary, revisit the definition of a successful Web site.