About
Designing Web pages is more of
an art than a science. Below are a few areas
of Web design that pertain to all Web authoring
skill levels.
Note: The
university
offers a faculty and staff workshop on Web
Design.
- Visit
the Training Resources Web page for
a description of this workshop and
available dates when it is offered.
- Workshop documentation can be found
at the Workshop Handouts Web page.
Browser Plug-ins
To view some elements on a Web page — such
as audio, video, multimedia and Adobe PDF files
— your Web browser may need additional
software installed, called "plug-ins" and "helper
applications." Plug-ins open within the
browser, while helper applications start automatically
by the browser and are opened separately from
the browser.
To view a list of common browser plug-ins and
download them, if necessary, visit the Browser Plug-ins page.
Meta Tags
A meta tag contains information
about the content of a Web page. Meta tags
are used within the <head> section
of the HTML source of your Web page and
help search engines catalog your site and enable
users to find your Web page.
- Important <meta> tag
elements you may want to investigate include: title,
keywords and description.
You will need to know HTML or a Web editor
in order to properly use these tags in your
Web page.
- Visit the Meta
Tag Generator page to have
us create your <meta> tags!
- For a more in-depth explanation of <meta> tags
and how to use them, visit this SearchEngineWatch.com
article.
Web Editors
Adobe Dreamweaver
Microsoft FrontPage
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Design Tips
Writing
- Know your
audience.
- Ask: "What information do my users want when
they come to my Web site?"
- Write clearly and concisely.
- Readers scan Web pages, so write in "chunks"
of information presented in an order that is
logical for the content.
- Place the most important point first in your
paragraphs, then follow with supporting information.
- Use headings, subheadings, and bulleted lists
to provide a framework for your text and for
ease of users scanning through your text.
- Edit and spell check; pages
lose credibility with errors on them.
- Use no ALL CAPS, no underlining (except for
links), no textured backgrounds, and limit
the use of italics.
Design
- Your Web
site design should be clearly organized and
balanced.
- Keep the look of pages consistent in layout,
color, navigation.
- Use a simple site structure; plan for most
of your site information to be available within
2-3 clicks.
- Use templates designed for
accessibility.
- Navigation should be easy-to-use
and consistent.
- Design page with user’s
interests in mind: what are they looking
for or what do they need first?
- Use descriptive
links.
- Include only links that substantiate
content; use in moderation.
- Use standard
font families.
- Colors – use
high contrast colors and use a different
color for links.
- Limit animations to those
that are essential; using none is better.
- Incorporate
white space so visual presentation is not
overwhelming.
- If
audio and video will be included, provide links to text copies.
- Provide a link
to Sacramento State Home.
Considerations
- Draw your site out on paper
first.
- Plan for no horizontal scrolling;
choose a page width of 100% or a maximum
of 600 pixels.
- Will users need or want to
print your page(s)? Print some of your
pages to see if your text is cut off on the right
edge of the sheet; adjust your page width
accordingly.
- Browser variations – check
your Web site in various versions of
both Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari.
- Test your Web pages for compliance
with accessibility guidelines — see the Web Page Accessibility site.
- Keep download
time small by limiting the size of graphics;
some of your users may be accessing your
site via modems.
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