Web Writing Guidelines Essay, Research Paper

W Alignment:

O Choose one alignment and use it on the entire page.

O Don’t leave text against the left edge of the browser.

O Don’t set default text in all caps.

W Proximity:

O Keep headlines close to the text that they are there for.

O Keep captions close to the images that they represent.

O Squint your eyes when you look at your page, and see what looks like it goes with what, and then open your eyes and see what is supposed to go with what.

W Repetition:

O Make headlines repetitive throughout the entire site.

O Keep text and link colors the same.

O Keep the same alignment strategy throughout the site.

W Readability vs. legibility:

O Readability: How easy it is to read a very long piece of text.

O Don’t make font over 14-point type, or under 10-point type.

O Generally use a Serif typeface.

O Have enough contrast between the background, and the text.

O Legibility: How easy it is to recognize headlines, buttons, signs, and other short bursts of text.

O Generally use a Sans Serif typeface.

O Avoid typefaces that have no ascenders.

O Avoid typefaces that have no descenders.

W Pre-load graphics:

On one of the first page of your site, put a lengthy piece of text so that the reader will stay on that site for a while. On that same page, place a larger graphic file that you want to appear on another page quickly. Next, highlight the image and go into source mode. Find the source code that is highlighted and look for . Right after that there will be this: width=”##” height=”##”. Change whatever number is in each of these sections to 1 so that it looks like this: width=”1″ height=”1″. The image is now only 1 pixel wide by 1 pixel high. It will show up as a little dot on the screen that hardly anybody will be able to notice. While the reader is looking at that page, the miniature graphic will load, and put it into the computers’ cache. Then when you go to the page, which has the full sized graphic, it will load really quickly.

What is your alignment strategy for this site?

The alignment is mainly left aligned with indents on either side so that it looks almost centered.

What is your repetition strategy for the site?

The left frame never changes, and the headlines in the right frame are always in the same position.

Where should the focal point be on each page? Is that the best place?

Home: On the picture of Norm and Bunnie in the top/center of the page.

Bio: On the large portion of text in the middle of the page.

Resume: On the part that shows the name, e-mail address, and the phone number.

Links: On all of the picture links for each site.

Samples: on the quick-time movie in the center of the page.

Did you fulfill your site completion goals?

Yes I did. I asked Norm if the site was up to par, and he said that it was good.