Website Design
Web page design is a process of conceptualization, planning, modeling, and executionof electronic media content delivery via Internet in the form of technologies (such as
markup languages) suitable for interpretation and display by a web browser or other
web-based graphical user interfaces (GUIs).
The intent of web design is to create a web site (a collection of electronic files residing
on one or more web servers) that presents content (including interactive features or
interfaces) to the end user in the form of web pages once requested. Such elements as
text, forms, and bit-mapped images (GIFs, JPEGs, PNGs) can be placed on the page
using HTML, XHTML, or XML tags. Displaying more complex media (vector graphics,
animations, videos, sounds) usually requires plug-ins such as Flash, QuickTime, Java
run-time environment, etc. Plug-ins are also embedded into web pages by using HTML
or XHTML tags.
Improvements in the various browsers' compliance with W3C standards prompted a
widespread acceptance of XHTML and XML in conjunction with Cascading Style Sheets
(CSS) to position and manipulate web page elements. The latest standards and
proposals aim at leading to the various browsers' ability to deliver a wide variety of
media and accessibility options to the client possibly without employing plug-ins.
Typically web pages are classified as static or dynamic.
* Static pages don’t change content and layout with every request unless a human
(web master or programmer) manually updates the page.
* Dynamic pages adapt their content and/or appearance depending on the
end-user’s input or interaction or changes in the computing environment (user, time,
database modifications, etc.) Content can be changed on the client side (end-user's
computer) by using client-side scripting languages (JavaScript, JScript, Actionscript,
media players and PDF reader plug-ins, etc.) to alter DOM elements (DHTML). Dynamic
content is often compiled on the server utilizing server-side scripting languages (PHP,
ASP, Perl, Coldfusion, JSP, Python, etc.). Both approaches are usually used in complex
applications.
With growing specialization within communication design and information technology
fields, there is a strong tendency to draw a clear line between web design specifically
for web pages and web development for the overall logistics of all web-based services.
Web Site Design
A web site is a collection of information about a particular topic or subject. Designing a
web site is defined as the arrangement and creation of web pages that in turn make up
a web site. A web page consists of information for which the web site is developed. A
web site might be compared to a book, where each page of the book is a web page.
There are many aspects (design concerns) in this process, and due to the rapid
development of the Internet, new aspects may emerge. For non-commercial web sites,
the goals may vary depending on the desired exposure and response. For typical
commercial web sites, the basic aspects of design are:
* The content: the substance, and information on the site should be relevant to the
site and should target the area of the public that the website is concerned with.
* The usability: the site should be user-friendly, with the interface and navigation
simple and reliable.
* The appearance: the graphics and text should include a single style that flows
throughout, to show consistency. The style should be professional, appealing and
relevant.
* The visibility: the site must also be easy to find via most, if not all, major search
engines and advertisement media.
A web site typically consists of text and images. The first page of a web site is known
as the Home page or Index. Some web sites use what is commonly called a Splash
Page. Splash pages might include a welcome message, language or region selection, or
disclaimer. Each web page within a web site is an HTML file which has its own URL.
After each web page is created, they are typically linked together using a navigation
menu composed of hyperlinks. Faster browsing speeds have led to shorter attention
spans and more demanding online visitors and this has resulted in less use of Splash
Pages, particularly where commercial web sites are concerned.
Once a web site is completed, it must be published or uploaded in order to be viewable
to the public over the internet. This may be done using an FTP client. Once published,
the web master may use a variety of techniques to increase the traffic, or hits, that the
web site receives. This may include submitting the web site to a search engine such as
Google or Yahoo, exchanging links with other web sites, creating affiliations with
similar web sites, etc.
Multidisciplinary requirements
Web site design crosses multiple disciplines of information systems, information
technology and communication design. The web site is an information system whose
components are sometimes classified as front-end and back-end. The observable
content (e.g. page layout, user interface, graphics, text, audio) is known as the
front-end. The back-end comprises the organization and efficiency of the source code,
invisible scripted functions, and the server-side components that process the output
from the front-end. Depending on the size of a Web development project, it may be
carried out by a multi-skilled individual (sometimes called a web master), or a project
manager may oversee collaborative design between group members with specialized
skills.
Issues
As in collaborative designs, there are conflicts between differing goals and methods of
web site designs. These are a few of the ongoing ones.
Lack of collaboration in design
In the early stages of the web, there wasn't as much collaboration between web
designs and larger advertising campaigns, customer transactions, social networking,
intranets and extranets as there is now. Web pages were mainly static online
brochures disconnected from the larger projects.
Many web pages are still disconnected from larger projects. Special design
considerations are necessary for use within these larger projects. These design
considerations are often overlooked, especially in cases where there is a lack of
leadership, lack of understanding of why and technical knowledge of how to integrate,
or lack of concern for the larger project in order to facilitate collaboration. This often
results in unhealthy competition or compromise between departments, and less than
optimal use of web pages.
Liquid versus fixed layouts
On the web the designer has no control over several factors, including the size of the
browser window, the web browser used, the input devices used (mouse, touch screen,
voice command, text, cell phone number pad, etc.) and the size and characteristics of
available fonts.
Some designers choose to control the appearance of the elements on the screen by
using specific width designations. This control may be achieved through the use of a
HTML table-based design or a more semantic div-based design through the use of CSS.
Whenever the text, images, and layout of a design do not change as the browser
changes, this is referred to as a fixed width design. Proponents of fixed width design
prefer precise control over the layout of a site and the precision placement of objects
on the page. Other designers choose a liquid design. A liquid design is one where the
design moves to flow content into the whole screen, or a portion of the screen, no
matter what the size of the browser window. Proponents of liquid design prefer greater
compatibility and using the screen space available. Liquid design can be achieved by
setting the width of text blocks and page modules to a percentage of the page, or by
avoiding specifying the width for these elements all together, allowing them to expand
or contract naturally in accordance with the width of the browser.
Both liquid and fixed design developers must make decisions about how the design
should degrade on higher and lower screen resolutions. Sometimes the pragmatic
choice is made to flow the design between a minimum and a maximum width. This
allows the designer to avoid coding for the browser choices making up The Long Tail,
while still using all available screen space. Depending on the purpose of the content, a
web designer may decide to use either fixed or liquid layouts on a case-by-case basis.
Similar to liquid layout is the optional fit to window feature with Adobe Flash content.
This is a fixed layout that optimally scales the content of the page without changing
the arrangement or text wrapping when the browser is resized.
Flash
Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash) is a proprietary, robust graphics animation or
application development program used to create and deliver dynamic content, media
(such as sound and video), and interactive applications over the web via the browser.
Many graphic artists use Flash because it gives them exact control over every part of
the design, and anything can be animated and generally "jazzed up". Some application
designers enjoy Flash because it lets them create applications that do not have to be
refreshed or go to a new web page every time an action occurs. Flash can use
embedded fonts instead of the standard fonts installed on most computers. There are
many sites which forgo HTML entirely for Flash. Other sites may use Flash content
combined with HTML as conservatively as gifs or jpegs would be used, but with smaller
vector file sizes and the option of faster loading animations. Flash may also be used to
protect content from unauthorized duplication or searching. Alternatively, small,
dynamic Flash objects may be used to replace standard HTML elements (such as
headers or menu links) with advanced typography not possible via regular HTML or CSS
(see Scalable Inman Flash Replacement).
Flash is not a standard produced by a vendor-neutral standards organization like most
of the core protocols and formats on the Internet. Flash is much more self-contained
than the open HTML format as it does not integrate with web browser UI features. For
example: the browsers "Back" button couldn't be used to go to a previous screen in the
same Flash file, but instead a previous HTML page with a different Flash file. The
browsers "Reload" button wouldn't reset just a portion of a Flash file, but instead
would restart the entire Flash file as loaded when the HTML page was entered, similar
to any online video. Such features would instead be included in the interface of the
Flash file if needed.
Flash requires a proprietary media-playing plugin to be seen. According to a study,[2]
98% of US Web users have the Flash Player installed.[3] The percentage has remained
fairly constant over the years; for example, a study conducted by NPD Research in 2002
showed that 97.8% of US Web users had the Flash player installed. Numbers vary
depending on the detection scheme and research demographics.[4]
Flash detractors claim that Flash websites tend to be poorly designed, and often use
confusing and non-standard user-interfaces, such as the inability to scale according to
the size of the web browser, or its incompatibility with common browser features such
as the back button. Up until recently, search engines have been unable to index Flash
objects, which has prevented sites from having their contents easily found. This is
because many search engine crawlers rely on text to index websites. It is possible to
specify alternate content to be displayed for browsers that do not support Flash. Using
alternate content also helps search engines to understand the page, and can result in
much better visibility for the page. However, the vast majority of Flash websites are
not disability accessible (for screen readers, for example) or Section 508 compliant. An
additional issue is that sites which commonly use alternate content for search engines
to their human visitors are usually judged to be spamming search engines and are
automatically banned.
The most recent incarnation of Flash's scripting language (called "ActionScript", which is
an ECMA language similar to JavaScript) incorporates long-awaited usability features,
such as respecting the browser's font size and allowing blind users to use screen
readers. Actionscript 2.0 is an Object-Oriented language, allowing the use of CSS, XML,
and the design of class-based web applications.
CSS versus tables for layout
When Netscape Navigator 4 dominated the browser market, the popular solution
available for designers to lay out a Web page was by using tables. Often even simple
designs for a page would require dozens of tables nested in each other. Many web
templates in Dreamweaver and other WYSIWYG editors still use this technique today.
Navigator 4 didn't support CSS to a useful degree, so it simply wasn't used.
After the browser wars subsided, and the dominant browsers such as Internet Explorer
became more W3C compliant, designers started turning toward CSS as an alternate
means of laying out their pages. CSS proponents say that tables should be used only
for tabular data, not for layout. Using CSS instead of tables also returns HTML to a
semantic markup, which helps bots and search engines understand what's going on in a
web page. All modern Web browsers support CSS with different degrees of limitations.
However, one of the main points against CSS is that by relying on it exclusively, control
is essentially relinquished as each browser has its own quirks which result in a slightly
different page display. This is especially a problem as not every browser supports the
same subset of CSS rules. For designers who are used to table-based layouts,
developing Web sites in CSS often becomes a matter of trying to replicate what can be
done with tables, leading some to find CSS design rather cumbersome due to lack of
familiarity. For example, at one time it was rather difficult to produce certain design
elements, such as vertical positioning, and full-length footers in a design using
absolute positions. With the abundance of CSS resources available online today,
though, designing with reasonable adherence to standards involves little more than
applying CSS 2.1 or CSS 3 to properly structured markup.
These days most modern browsers have solved most of these quirks in CSS rendering
and this has made many different CSS layouts possible. However, some people
continue to use old browsers, and designers need to keep this in mind, and allow for
graceful degrading of pages in older browsers. Most notable among these old browsers
are Internet Explorer 5 and 5.5, which, according to some web designers, are becoming
the new Netscape Navigator 4 — a block that holds the World Wide Web back from
converting to CSS design. However, the W3 Consortium has made CSS in combination
with XHTML the standard for web design.
Form versus Function
Some web developers have a graphic arts background and may pay more attention to
how a page looks than considering other issues such as how visitors are going to find
the page via a search engine. Some might rely more on advertising than search engines
to attract visitors to the site. On the other side of the issue, search engine
optimization consultants (SEOs) are concerned with how well a web site works
technically and textually: how much traffic it generates via search engines, and how
many sales it makes, assuming looks don't contribute to the sales. As a result, the
designers and SEOs often end up in disputes where the designer wants more 'pretty'
graphics, and the SEO wants lots of 'ugly' keyword-rich text, bullet lists, and text
links[citation needed]. One could argue that this is a false dichotomy due to the
possibility that a web design may integrate the two disciplines for a collaborative and
synergistic solution[citation needed]. Because some graphics serve communication
purposes in addition to aesthetics, how well a site works may depend on the graphic
designer's visual communication ideas as well as the SEO considerations.
Another problem when using a lot of graphics on a page is that download times can be
greatly lengthened, often irritating the user. This has become less of a problem as the
internet has evolved with high-speed internet and the use of vector graphics. This is an
engineering challenge to increase bandwidth in addition to an artistic challenge to
minimize graphics and graphic file sizes. This is an on-going challenge as increased
bandwidth invites increased amounts of content.
Accessible Web design
Main article: Web accessibility
To be accessible, web pages and sites must conform to certain accessibility principles.
These can be grouped into the following main areas:
* use semantic markup that provides a meaningful structure to the document (i.e.
web page)
* Semantic markup also refers to semantically organizing the web page structure
and publishing web services description accordingly so that they can be recognized by
other web services on different web pages. Standards for semantic web are set by IEEE
* use a valid markup language that conforms to a published DTD or Schema
* provide text equivalents for any non-text components (e.g. images, multimedia)
* use hyperlinks that make sense when read out of context. (e.g. avoid "Click
Here.")
* don't use frames
* use CSS rather than HTML Tables for layout.
* author the page so that when the source code is read line-by-line by user agents
(such as a screen readers) it remains intelligible. (Using tables for design will often
result in information that is not.)
However, W3C permits an exception where tables for layout either make sense when
linearized or an alternate version (perhaps linearized) is made available.
Website accessibility is also changing as it is impacted by Content Management
Systems that allow changes to be made to webpages without the need of obtaining
programming language knowledge.
Website Planning
Before creating and uploading a website, it is important to take the time to plan
exactly what is needed in the website. Thoroughly considering the audience or target
market, as well as defining the purpose and deciding what content will be developed
are extremely important.
Purpose
It is essential to define the purpose of the website as one of the first steps in the
planning process. A purpose statement should show focus based on what the website
will accomplish and what the users will get from it. A clearly defined purpose will help
the rest of the planning process as the audience is identified and the content of the
site is developed. Setting short and long term goals for the website will help make the
purpose clear and plan for the future when expansion, modification, and improvement
will take place.Goal-setting practices and measurable objectives should be identified to
track the progress of the site and determine success.
Audience
Defining the audience is a key step in the website planning process. The audience is
the group of people who are expected to visit your website – the market being
targeted. These people will be viewing the website for a specific reason and it is
important to know exactly what they are looking for when they visit the site. A clearly
defined purpose or goal of the site as well as an understanding of what visitors want to
do or feel when they come to your site will help to identify the target audience. Upon
considering who is most likely to need or use the content, a list of characteristics
common to the users such as:
* Audience Characteristics
* Information Preferences
* Computer Specifications
* Web Experience
Taking into account the characteristics of the audience will allow an effective website
to be created that will deliver the desired content to the target audience.
Content
Content evaluation and organization requires that the purpose of the website be clearly
defined. Collecting a list of the necessary content then organizing it according to the
audience's needs is a key step in website planning. In the process of gathering the
content being offered, any items that do not support the defined purpose or accomplish
target audience objectives should be removed. It is a good idea to test the content
and purpose on a focus group and compare the offerings to the audience needs. The
next step is to organize the basic information structure by categorizing the content and
organizing it according to user needs. Each category should be named with a concise
and descriptive title that will become a link on the website. Planning for the site's
content ensures that the wants or needs of the target audience and the purpose of the
site will be fulfilled.
Compatibility and restrictions
Because of the market share of modern browsers (depending on your target market),
the compatibility of your website with the viewers is restricted. For instance, a website
that is designed for the majority of websurfers will be limited to the use of valid XHTML
1.0 Strict or older, Cascading Style Sheets Level 1, and 1024x768 display resolution.
This is because Internet Explorer is not fully W3C standards compliant with the
modularity of XHTML 1.1 and the majority of CSS beyond 1. A target market of more
alternative browser (e.g. Firefox, Safari and Opera) users allow for more W3C
compliance and thus a greater range of options for a web designer.
Another restriction on webpage design is the use of different Image file formats. The
majority of users can support GIF, JPEG, and PNG (with restrictions). Again Internet
Explorer is the major restriction here, not fully supporting PNG's advanced transparency
features, resulting in the GIF format still being the most widely used graphic file format
for transparent images.
Many website incompatibilities go unnoticed by the designer and unreported by the
users. The only way to be certain a website will work on a particular platform is to test
it on that platform.
Planning documentation
Documentation is used to visually plan the site while taking into account the purpose,
audience and content, to design the site structure, content and interactions that are
most suitable for the website. Documentation may be considered a prototype for the
website – a model which allows the website layout to be reviewed, resulting in
suggested changes, improvements and/or enhancements. This review process increases
the likelihood of success of the website.
First, the content is categorized and the information structure is formulated. The
information structure is used to develop a document or visual diagram called a site
map. This creates a visual of how the web pages will be interconnected, which helps in
deciding what content will be placed on what pages. There are three main ways of
diagramming the website structure:
* Linear Website Diagrams will allow the users to move in a predetermined
sequence;
* Hierarchical structures (of Tree Design Website Diagrams) provide more than one
path for users to take to their destination;
* Branch Design Website Diagrams allow for many interconnections between web
pages such as hyperlinks within sentences.
In addition to planning the structure, the layout and interface of individual pages may
be planned using a storyboard. In the process of storyboarding, a record is made of the
description, purpose and title of each page in the site, and they are linked together
according to the most effective and logical diagram type. Depending on the number of
pages required for the website, documentation methods may include using pieces of
paper and drawing lines to connect them, or creating the storyboard using computer
software.
Some or all of the individual pages may be designed in greater detail as a website
wireframe, a mock up model or comprehensive layout of what the page will actually
look like. This is often done in a graphic program, or layout design program. The
wireframe has no working functionality, only planning, though it can be used for selling
ideas to other web design companies.
MRF Web Technologies
Mrf Web Design
Web Management India
Web Design Devlopment
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2 Comments:
Hello,
Thanks for the great blog. I like your style of posting and useful information
Which you always provide. Your post is really knowledgeable...
Thanks Again...
NET CREATIVE MIND TEAM
NET CREATIVE MIND.COM
what a great site and informative posts, I always look forward to new posts.
Web Art Sense Team
http://www.webartsense.com
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