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Layout
& Design
Like
a good magazine, a Web Page should be easy and enjoyable to read. Design elements
that impact this experience include graphics, colors and layout. There are
many web sites and thick books dedicated to web page design. EconomicDevelopmentOnline.com
focuses primarily on content and application implementation, not on web page
layout. This section recommends simple and effective strategies to add visual
amenity to the content of your web page.
Colors
- Similar to most media, a dark font on a light background reads and prints
more clearly. Just because the Internet provides an unlimited amount of colors
does not mean you should use them all. Keep the colors simple and consistent.
To maintain the visual continuity of your organization consider using the
same colors as you have on your business card or logo.
Graphics
- Images offer visual diversity on the web page and are another way to communicate
your ideas other than text. Graphics can include standard items like your
logo, but can also be pictures of your community, graphs of demographic or
business data, architectural drawings of future development, maps or diagrams.
Use graphics to tell a visual story about your community, but do not clutter
the page with graphics that confuse your message.
Download
time
- Text downloads very quickly while graphics take more time. Some graphic
files like JPEGS and GIFs use compression technology so they are smaller in
size. People do not like to wait a long time for a web page to download,
and studies show that a web user will not wait more than a few moments
for a page to load. The good news for you is that prospective businesses viewing
your site are more likely to have a higher speed connection. Because this is
the case you can have more sophisticated web pages and
programs. The other good news is that Internet connection speeds are exponentially
getting faster.
Plugins
- Some of the most sophisticated web design graphics and program applications
require "plugins," which are sometimes called a "player". Plugins can offer
a multimedia experience through music, animation and video. These require
the user to go to another web site, download the plugin and then install this
feature on their computer. Some plugins download and install automatically.
Some of the most common plugins have names like Macromedia
Shockwave, RealNetworks RealPayer and QuickTime. Although some of these plugins
may be popular with web site visitors that are used to graphically intensive
web pages, it can be a liability for economic development web pages. Plugins
often take too long to download and install. They distract from the user from
focusing on your information.
Animated
GIFs
- These images can bring attention to a graphic or section of your web page
through animation. You have probably seen these animated icons before such as mail
jumping into a mailbox. Here are two examples of animated GIFs.
 
Some
web designers like to use animated GIFs because they are easy to create and
make a web page look active and exciting. But in some ways, an animated GIF
is like a kid poking you while you are reading the newspaper - it's cute,
but distracting. Only use animation to draw attention to something important.
Formatting
- Web pages viewed on your monitor are oriented horizontally or in a "landscape"
view. But the papers they are printed out on are usually oriented in a vertical
or "portrait" view. This causes problems. Web designers of the larger commercial
sites have taken two main strategies to combat this problem. One is they have
a link for each web page that creates a printer-friendly version of the information.
Another
is they restrict the web page to be shown in a horizontal format. You will
notice these pages usually have empty space on the right-hand margin of your
computer monitor. As much as it is sad to waste this space, it will save your
web site visitors the headache of having text or images cut in half when they
print the pages on their printer. If the actually wants to keep your information
with them in hard copy, then you know you have provided useful information.
Make it easy for them to print and use it.
Another
difference in how your web page visitor views your web page is the size and
screen resolution of their monitors. Monitors range in size from very small
viewing space to over 20 inches. The resolution or "desktop area" also impacts
the size of images and documents. Common resolutions include 800X600 and 1024X768.
If your web design is too large the viewer will not be able to see it all
without scrolling from side to side. You should attempt to avoid this problem
because it is very annoying for the web site visitor. Web site designers have
implemented a strategy of designing for monitors with an 800X600 resolution.
If the user has a higher resolution monitor it will still display the whole
page.
More
Web Page Design Information
- For more information on the Internet and web page design you may want to
visit the following web sites.
Copyright © 2007
Economic Development Online. All rights reserved. Material on this website is
protected by copyright and trademark laws.
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