Tooling around with web sites and web design can be a fun hobby…but what if we actually need to make some money with this web thingy?  How many sites do you go to only to find yourself leaving within minutes, even seconds?  Too many!  It takes more than just flash design to keep people on your site. Here are a few points that you should try to cover when designing for ROI:

·         Clearly define what the site is for / what the company does

·         Guide user to logical steps

o   Users should never be asking “How do I sign up?”

o   Create a flow that will help the user navigate

·         Don’t be sketchy

o   Make the site look professional and trustworthy

o   Include security for sensitive user inputs

·         Friendly Useful Forms

o   Eliminate unnecessary fields

o   Perform client side validations for immediate responses (yes you should still do server side validations)

o   Make sure the form accomplishes its goal (you probably do not need to know their coding skills if you are sending them a cooking newsletter)

This is not your regular cup of Joe.  We, my class that is, had the pleasure of having J Cornelius, VP of Operations at CoffeeCup Software, speak to us.  I have never used any software from CoffeeCup but will be in the near future.  CoffeeCup has tons of simple and effective tools for everything from HTML editing to complex plug-ins.  Definately worth checking out!

This chat wasn't just about promoting CoffeeCup, J is also the president of the Atlanta Web Design Group.  This is a great networking opportunity for web developers as well as a great resource for developers to get quick answers to development related questions.

Leverage...J's talk tonight got me really thinking about all of the tools that are out there to help web designers / developers get their sites published.  From development and design tools to forums and communities, there are countless aids out there...we just have to use them and develop the next great thing.

     The podcast featuring Luke Wroblewski hit home on something that I think about often...here is a quote that I find myself asking often: "technically we could do that, but is it the right thing?".  Just because something is possible, does it make since?  I have recently been developing Adobe Flex/Flash user interfaces that interact with java web services replacing Green Screen technology (I use technology loosely here).  In many case I find that we are building very complex UI's that with all of the bells and whistles just because we can.  I think the podcast made a great point of making sure there is business value in the technology that you are providing.

Advances in technology has made the web more accessible to people with disabilities of many different types.  If you are designing a website do not forget to design your site to include everyone.  How annoying would it be to navigate to an E-Commerce website only to be unable to purchase products or services one you get there?

Understand Disabilities
     Its best to gain and understanding of the different disabilities, how they affect users, and some of the best practices around designing a website for accessibility.

     Visual Impairment

• Total Blindness
• Reduced Vision
• Obstructed
• Colorblindness

     Visual Impairments are generally considered one of the more difficult disabilities for web designers to account for.  For total blindness having an auditory option is a nice touch.  This lets the design communicate the content of the page and also if necessary what the visual aspects of the page were intended for.  Using text is very important, make sure that those Alt tags are not empty!
     Colorblindness is not as obvious...Its easy to design something, think that it looks great and call it a day.  However someone that is colorblind may have a hard time seeing the text on the page or even worse may not even notice it.  For some tools that may help make your website a bit more friendly to visual impairments check out Visual Impairment Tools.

A Few Other Impairments / Disabilities

• Mobility Impairment
• Dexterity Impairment
• Auditory Impairment
• Cognitive Impairment

     Mess around with your computer without the mouse or browse to an instructional video on how to create an HTML form but turn your sound off, easy right?  Accessibility can be one of the most difficult challenges for web designers.  There are many tools, programs, special hardware, and standards that can make the task a bit less daunting.  The most important step is to understand that these users must be accounted for and to include accessibility as part of your web design plan.

What Is/Are Web Standards And Why Do They Matter?
W3C, The World Wide Web Consortium, develops and publishes industry standards / guidelines for web languages such as HTML, CSS, and XML.  These standards enable people to create websites that will work in most internet browsers, that are easier to maintain, are more accessible to more people, and will continue to function correctly as technologies evolve.  A Good Business Argument For Web Standards.

How To Use Web Standards

First thing is to visit W3C to get a better understanding of web standards and the different areas of web standards (Web Design And Application, Web Architecture, Semantic Web...to name a few).  I ran across many checklist and step-by-step plans, below I listed what I found to be the most common ideas.  

• Quality Of Code
• Separate Content And Presentation
• Ensure Accessibility For All Users And Devices
• Basic Usability - Hierarchies, Navigation, And Consistency
• Site Management - Friendly URLs And Error Handling

Checkout The Complete Checklist: A Web Standards Checklist 


So how do you implement the checklist?
My thoughts on this...Get a few good code validators, Google threw a few out at me, I'd start with the W3C recommendations. As far as the separation of content and presentation Opera does a good job of why and how as part of their Web Standards Model.  Basic Usability and Accessibility seem like the easy part, and maybe they are or can be as long as you understand how user think, and know all of the different types of users that may encounter your site...yeah, I'd refer to the W3C Guides to get a better understanding of this.  Site Management, the short of this, handle server errors and make sure that your URLs work in all browser, and don't need the "WWW".


By following the web standards you can develop a well designed website that is friendly to use and easy to maintain.  A little effort upfront can save you time and money in the long run...don't be afraid of being standard.



Video: Apple Gets Flashy Without Flash (HTML5 And Web Standards)

Today people are all about getting the information that they want quickly and without much effort; web pages are no different.  Before we get into too much detail about web writing a quick thought...(and this should go without saying)...ensure the use of general "good" writing technique:  paragraphs are good, use a bit of punctuation, spell correctly, and use of proper grammer helps.  

Engaging, Usable, Useful, Findable
Along with the "what I should know from English 101", it is import to use an active, engaging tone; the flow of the writing should feel like a conversation.  Navigation and layout should be clear and easy to use.  Subheading allow the user to quickly find the information that they are looking for.  Subheaders should be concise and directly link to the content below it.  Making use of metatags is important for SEO and to ensure that the page is accessible to all audiences.

Web Writing Top 10 Tips

• Love the inverted pyramid
• Less is more
• Avoid sounding like an informercial
• Make your copy easy to scan
• Write killer headlines
• Lead with active words
• Use simple 
• Keep your promises
• Set up a review process
• Steal from good websites

Wrap Up
People are busy, or at least everyone thinks that they are...web writing should be clean, easy find, easy to navigate, concise, useful, and engaging.  When writing for the web ensure that the writing fits in with your overall web design and layout.  And, there are lots of websites out there and quite a bit are doing things right, don't be afraid to shop the competition.