I have agreed to do a talk on web page design for my local computer club.
I shall think aloud about my talk.
Websites- a basic understanding
What is a web page? (see http://computer.howstuffworks.com/web-page.htm )
Do you need one? - try a blog? (see http://www.blogger.com/) - blogs are easier to use
-try a wiki? ( see http://www.wikidot.com/ ) wikis are easier for others
to contribute to
Get a URL and a server or host (see Fasthosts http://www.fasthosts.co.uk/ )
/or paying a nice person to do it for you (see Saffron Internet http://www.saffroninternet.com/ )
Find out more about HTML (see http://www.htmlgoodies.com/ )
Learn to use a web editor: Microsoft Frontpage and Dreamweaver are expensive web editors. Download a free HTML web editor (NVU see http://nvudev.com/index.php )
Be aware of other useful programs (javascript)
[I don't think I need to go into the intricacies of XML and XHTML for this audience. ]
Important things to know about designing web pages:
Design your site carefully before you start
Incorporate style sheets (css) so that you can change the style of the whole site by just changing one page or a whole document by changing the text in the title of a document.
It is important to make your site accessible for all, including those with disabilities. There are standards for this such as HTML 4.0.1 (see http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/ ) laid down by the World wide web consortium. If your site is not accessible for disabled users your organisation can be sued. Also it is just sensible to make a site that people can use easily. comply with standards
Don't necessarily expect people to have computers which can interpret flash or frames technology.)
Keep files small so that people can navigate fast,
Make pages easy to read without scrolling,
Use text in a colour that contrasts highly with the page,
Don't use underlines for hyperlinks,
Use small case letters for HTML tags
Add alternative text for images
Add keywords and a title in the header so that you get a high Google ranking for your subject
Tables are out of fashion apparently
Incorporate a search engine that can search your site such as www.picosearch.com/
Make sure that people understand where they are and can get back to the other pages
Incorporate a site map
Advertise your website elsewhere so that users are aware it exists
Use useful links:
Despite all the learned lectures I have attended on the subject, I confess I learned most of what I know about HTML from the HTML goodies site http://www.htmlgoodies.com/ which a friend told me about, eight years ago. Phil Bradley (every systems librarian's pin-up) has a section on web design on his web site http://www.philb.com/designindex.htm
After this I will give a demonstration of Frontpage if there is time. That should take up a good hour or so in all, I imagine and the good people of the computer club will go home with their heads spinning.
I shall think aloud about my talk.
Websites- a basic understanding
What is a web page? (see http://computer.howstuffworks.com/web-page.htm )
Do you need one? - try a blog? (see http://www.blogger.com/) - blogs are easier to use
-try a wiki? ( see http://www.wikidot.com/ ) wikis are easier for others
to contribute to
Get a URL and a server or host (see Fasthosts http://www.fasthosts.co.uk/ )
/or paying a nice person to do it for you (see Saffron Internet http://www.saffroninternet.com/ )
Find out more about HTML (see http://www.htmlgoodies.com/ )
Learn to use a web editor: Microsoft Frontpage and Dreamweaver are expensive web editors. Download a free HTML web editor (NVU see http://nvudev.com/index.php )
Be aware of other useful programs (javascript)
[I don't think I need to go into the intricacies of XML and XHTML for this audience. ]
Important things to know about designing web pages:
Design your site carefully before you start
Incorporate style sheets (css) so that you can change the style of the whole site by just changing one page or a whole document by changing the text in the title of a document.
It is important to make your site accessible for all, including those with disabilities. There are standards for this such as HTML 4.0.1 (see http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/ ) laid down by the World wide web consortium. If your site is not accessible for disabled users your organisation can be sued. Also it is just sensible to make a site that people can use easily. comply with standards
Don't necessarily expect people to have computers which can interpret flash or frames technology.)
Keep files small so that people can navigate fast,
Make pages easy to read without scrolling,
Use text in a colour that contrasts highly with the page,
Don't use underlines for hyperlinks,
Use small case letters for HTML tags
Add alternative text for images
Add keywords and a title in the header so that you get a high Google ranking for your subject
Tables are out of fashion apparently
Incorporate a search engine that can search your site such as www.picosearch.com/
Make sure that people understand where they are and can get back to the other pages
Incorporate a site map
Advertise your website elsewhere so that users are aware it exists
Use useful links:
Despite all the learned lectures I have attended on the subject, I confess I learned most of what I know about HTML from the HTML goodies site http://www.htmlgoodies.com/ which a friend told me about, eight years ago. Phil Bradley (every systems librarian's pin-up) has a section on web design on his web site http://www.philb.com/designindex.htm
After this I will give a demonstration of Frontpage if there is time. That should take up a good hour or so in all, I imagine and the good people of the computer club will go home with their heads spinning.
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