Warning message

Please note that this page is from our archives. There may be more up-to-date content about this topic on our website. Use our search engine to find out.
  • Good design offers a clean, fresh look
  • Pages download quickly
  • First page and home page fit into a standard screen (640 x 460)
  • Important material on other pages fits into the same 640 x 460 screen
  • Graphic elements (photos, subheads, pull quotes) help to break up large areas of text
  • Every web page in the site looks like it belongs to the same site

Navigation
  • Navigation buttons and bars are easy to understand and use
  • A large site has an index or a site map
  • Frames, if used at all, don’t get in the way
  • Navigation appears consistently and with a consistent look
  • Links to contact e-mail or e-mail forms are part of site navigation
  • All pages have links to get you back to where you started

Links
  • Link colours coordinate with page colours
  • Links are underlined so they are instantly clear
  • Links are clear where they are and what page they’re going to

Text
  • Background does not interrupt or dominate the text
  • Text body type is easy to read
  • The most important information is up front
  • Columns of text are narrower than in a book to make reading easier on the screen

Graphics
  • Buttons are clear but don’t dominate
  • Graphics enhance but don’t distract
  • Graphic links have a matching text link
  • Animated graphics turn off by themselves
  • Graphic elements repeat from page to page for the sake of a unified appearance and faster downloading
  • Graphic tags use height and width attributes to speed downloading