Web Page Design: Best Practices
Your web site should be designed to appeal to your target audience. Follow these recommended design practices with your target audience in mind.
Web Site Organization Techniques
- Linear
- Hierarchical
- Random
Clearly labeled navigation on every page is helpful. The user should not be lost on your site.
Navigation best practices:
- Use navigation bars
- Keep pages short
- Have a site map and a site search feature
Four Visual Design Principles
- Repetition
- Repeat design elements to tie the whole page together
- Contrast
- Be sure that words stand out from the background so they are easy to read
- Proximity
- Place related items close together on a page to create a visual group
- Alignment
- Organize the page to that each element is aligned with another
Major Components of Web page design and
Three guidelines for each design element
- Page Layout
- Consistent navigation area
- Consistent site header/logo
- Appealing to target audience
- Browser Compatibility
- Displays on current versions of Internet Explorer (7+)
- Displays on current versions of Firefox (3+)
- Displays on current versions of Opera
- Navigation
- Main navigation links are clearly and consistently labeled
- Navigational aids, such as site map, skip to content links, or breadcrumbs, are used
- All navigation hyperlinks work
- Color and Graphics
- Color is used consistently
- Color has good contrast with associated text
- Each graphic serves a clear purpose