Back Office Webcraft.ws - Top 5 Mistakes Of Modern Web Design.

That said, there are certain elements of development that are frequently overlooked and when this occurs, the website fails to fully serve it's purpose. The user's intuition must be respected, as it is the visitors to a website that will decide whether or not it is a success. You only have to look at your website statistics (visit duration, unique visitors, visits and pages per visit are the most important) to see whether or not your website appeals to your demographic. Read on, intrepid webmaster, and discover the RIGHT way to go about developing and presenting your online image.

5. Pop-ups

Nothing evokes a negative response in your visitors like pop-up ads and pop-up windows. The good work done by tabbed browsers is undone when websites disrespect their users by bombarding them with new windows. An extension of this problem is forcing the visitor to view the website in a new window. One such culprit can be seen at: http://www.555design.org.

4. JavaScript Interfering With The Back Button (AJAX)

It is often said that the 'back button' is the users escape route. Cutting off this escape route will no doubt result in frustration for an inexperienced web user, who has yet to master the 'escape button'. While JavaScript can be used for ease of function, developers must be aware that the perusing visitor will instinctively click the back button should they wish to return to the previous page. The developer, therefore, must make sure that when JavaScript is used in conjunction with form processing, that the function will not be impaired by the use of the back button.

3. Flash (except for content)

It is disturbing that in this age of cross-browser accessibility and the rise and prevalence of the doctrine produced by the W3C that Flash is still considered a viable alternative to XHTML markup. The main problem with flash is the way in breaks some of the users expectations, especially in relation to links. In Firefox (or any other browser that supports middle-clicking to open a link in a new tab), there is a tendency to click the vast majority of links in such a way that they open in news tabs. This is fine if you are clicking on a textual link or even an image link, but when it comes to Flash, this function breaks.

If you feel it absolutely necessary to design your website in Flash (or with Flash elements), be certain to include a pre-loader (even for smaller sized elements). While you, on a broadband connection, may load the page in a matter of micro-seconds, John Smith, stuck in the dark ages with a dial-up connection may be stuck for minutes loading your website. Thus, it is important that the visitor is given an indication as to how long they should expect to wait.

2. Legibility

Websites communicate information, they are not works of art. Despite how much effort you put into developing an aesthetically pleasing design, the purpose of the vast majority of websites is to convey textual information. While both dark-on-light and light-on-dark styles are equally suitable for reading, there is a trend of greys being used at the moment. While Veerles blog is an example of a well designed soft colour tone layout, it is important to not cross the border between a pleasant soft colour scheme and a layout where the text blends in with the background.

1. No Available Syndication

RSS is really simple! Almost every recent content management system will have RSS facilities - so use them! If your content is of interest to your users, you might as well allow them to easily check for updates using a feed. With the rise of personalised homepages (the best of which is http://www.netvibes.com ), feeds will become more and more popular as a means of finding out what's new with your website. It is a great disappointment that websites like DeviantART don't offer a feed of their daily deviations, whereas Flickr does offer RSS feeds of their galleries. This subtle difference certainly contributes to Flickr being a more popular website.

Please, for the sake of all users of the Internet, avoid these mistakes that contribute to a less pleasant browsing experience. These problems need the tide of public opinion to turn against them to thoroughly disparage their use. As always, check out our directory for the best websites on the Internet.

If you have any questions or comments please call me on 0720390184 or e-mail me on webmaster@webcraft.ws.

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Good luck and have fun searching.

Back Office Webcraft.ws - #55 - Top 5 Mistakes Of Modern Web Design:

The Internet is bound by convention and while this may appear to be a constriction of the freedom that the web affords, essentially websites that are developed with respect certain protocols are bastions of quality in the sea of anarchy and poor design.