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1.
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Choose
fancy over fast
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Boring
busy readers with slow-loading codes, graphics, and
music
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Confusing
readers with hard-to-read/fancy fonts
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Distracting
readers with prominent/fancy backgrounds/wallpapers
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2.
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Overwhelm
visitors
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With
wordiness & long paragraphs
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With
mostly (only) text & no spacing
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With
long non-scannable & non-bulleted passages
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3.
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Disorient
readers
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With
no unified themes, wallpapers, interface...on each
successive page
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With
special instructions on how
to view your site, like: "Select browser
settings"...
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With pages that
only make sense if read in linear order. Because
readers visit pages in random order, each page must be
understandable and complete in and of itself.
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Background
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A similar
background is a must on all pages.
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Readers
must know they are still on "your" pages.
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Background
should not be distracting.
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Recall
- background is not foreground ; It should not take
precedence over the message.
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**
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Brevity
Because
reading from computer screens is 25% slower than from paper
Web content should have 50% of the word count of
its paper equivalent (Sun Microsystems):
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Write in
small sections.
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Get straight
to the point.
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Keep
paragraphs under 5 lines.
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Bullet
paragraphs that would run over 5 lines (parallel
structure is a must).
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Use brief,
simple, succinct, easy-to-understand language
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Do
not use needless, self-referential terms, such as
"click here, follow this link, this Web site..."
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Use white
space - Don't overwhelm audience with all black text
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Brevity should lend itself
to clarity & reduce confusion
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Fonts:
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Avoid fancy,
difficult-to-read fonts
- Default fonts appear on computers
without fancy fonts
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Use a
consistent font throughout.
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Black text
(or dark text) on a light background is highly recommended.
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Recall it's harder to drive in the dark.
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Light fonts
do not "print" well & backgrounds do not show
up.
- "Test-print"
a page.
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Proper size :
not too small to be hard to read & not too big to take
up too much space
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Hyperlinks: Must
be a different color for attention & rec·og·niz·abil·i·ty.
with each
additional click, a percentage of visitors may leave.
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Don't use all
capitals - it's the online version of screaming & is
slower to read.
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Don't overuse
BOLD or ITALICS, lest they lose their effect
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Headlines:
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Must
inform & grab audience -
or audience will move to another
site & may never return
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Latest
Muck:
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Not every
visitor has the latest computer and quickest
connection to load and view fancy HTML tricks, gifs,
music..
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Fancy fonts,
graphics, colors may default to simpler ones.
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Recall the following quote:
If Netscape or Microsoft could find a way to make
web pages twirl in the browser, the next day the web would
be full of twirling pages. No one would ask why. The fact
that it's the latest thing would be reason enough. TLC
Systems
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Layout:
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Important
content on top
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Readers
may not scroll to bottom of your page
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Remember:
advertisers always use top spaces
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Use
single spacing so readers need not scroll as frequently
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Mixing
left-aligned text and centered text throughout can get messy
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Except
for centering headers, be consistent in alignment &
layout
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Uniformity
creates an easy-to-read, user-friendly page
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**
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Links
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Streamlined,
not tacky, should look professional
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Must
lead to quickly loading pages
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Must
lead to a page, with a consistent theme, identifiable as
"your own"
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Use a
different but consistent color to draw attention to
link
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Some links
should flow as part of the text:
- Read quotations
for inspiration.
- Read quotations for
inspiration.
Click here for my quotations page.
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Avoid arrows,
& words like BACK, NEXT... (back to what??)
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Clarify links
with words like, CHAPTER 2 QUOTES
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Provide
navigational aids at top and bottom of page
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Supply a link
to your home page on each page - in case people get lost.
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Don't have a
dead-end page without any links on it.
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Highlight and
add value to your links by annotating them (A superb site
for...)
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Check links
often
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Don't change
your own links because people create links to you
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Separate
links clearly - so reader clicks on proper link.
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Should not be
just more of the same, generalized "cool
links"; specialize, be the ultimate reference source
for something particular.
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Include clearly visible links to
your email address to make your site more credible
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Visit my Web
Links Page
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**
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Music:
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Ask yourself:
- Will busy readers become annoyed by the extra
loading time music causes?
- Will readers revisit my page just for the
music - ha - (which may not be their style) or avoid it
because of slow loading time?
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Repeat
Traffic:
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Specialize:
Make your site the authoritative source of reference
materials on a particular subject -
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Allow
for a search of a particular item.
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Include
up-to-date Feed Content from services like Internet
Syndicated
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Include a What's
New section for repeat visitors
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Title:
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The
title is what shows up at the top of the browser's window
when a page is displayed.
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Create an
appealing title on every one of your web pages.
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When your
page is bookmarked, the title should be there!
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**
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Uniqueness of Web
Publishing:
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Recall the
philosophy of & uniqueness of web publishing before
publishing:
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Unlike
magazines
that have high quality graphics
- one high-quality page would take hours to load
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Unlike
TV
with so much sound & visuals
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Unlike
movies
- visitors are not looking for a
"Total Web Experience" but usually for products or
information
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Unlike
any printed counterpart -
- Requires constant updating -
- Requires hyperlinks & navigation aids (top &
bottom of page)
- Requires quick, informative scannability
- May require interactivity
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Updating:
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Update pages
on a regular basis. Readers want to know currency.
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Include
the last date of updating.
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Near
the update invite feedback & comment
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White
Space:
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Too much
white space gives a sense of incompleteness
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Too little
can be overwhelming
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Perfect white
space balance creates a sense of completeness &
perfection.
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Words
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Words are
primary: They inform and sell, ultimately determine success.
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Words must be
clear, concise, non-referential.
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Remember:
Graphics may grab reader, but words inform & sell.
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Worlds are primary: visitors come
to your site for words, not distracting graphics
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