Web Site Users

Your users will use different hardware and software.
The important thing is to KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE.
________________________________________
What Monitors Do They Have?
Remember that not everyone on the Web has the same monitor as you have. If you design your Web pages to be displayed on a monitor with a 1024x768 resolution, some of your visitors with lower resolution monitors (like 640x480) might have problems reading your pages.
Some users still have low resolution 640x480 monitors, but the trend is moving towards 800x600 as the low resolution standard. This Web site is designed to be best viewed on 800x600 or better resolution.
If you are one of those developers with a sophisticated monitor (1600x1200?), make sure you test the display of your Web pages on different monitors with lower resolutions.
One wise thing to do when designing the layout of Web pages is to let a section of each page be of variable size to fit the size of a large or small resolution monitor.
Take a look at our browser statistics to see the trends in monitor development.
________________________________________
What Browsers Do They Use?
Both of the two major Internet browsers (Netscape and Microsoft) have their own specialties and quirks that you must consider when designing your Web pages.
If you are serious about your Web site, don't forget to test every page with different types of browsers.
The most popular browsers today are Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.
Additionally, some of your visitors might use text only browsers, such as Lynx, or they might visit your site from an online service like AOL, CompuServe or Prodigy. Some of these browsers might not display your Web pages as well as you think.
One wise thing to do when designing Web pages is to use strict, formal and correct HTML (or XHTML). Strict and correct coding will always help a browser to display your pages correctly.
Take a look at our browser statistics to see the trends in browser development.
________________________________________
What Plug-Ins Do They Have?
Some elements in your Web pages, like sound and video clips or other multimedia content, might require the use of separate programs (helper applications or plug-ins).
Don't use such elements in your Web pages unless you are sure that your visitors have access to the software needed to view them.
________________________________________
What About Disabilities?
Some people have serious viewing or hearing disabilities. These users might want to visit your Web site.
Some of them will try to read your pages with Braille or speech-based browsers. Remember that all of your visible content is lost if you don't provide them with some text based alternatives for pictures and other graphic elements.
Designing Web pages for people with disabilities is not an easy thing, but one small thing you can do - at least for people with poor eyesight - is to let your pages use a resizable font size.

Courtsey: http://www.w3schools.com/site/site_users.asp
(This article for learner's purpose only. www.w3schools.com have all rights on this article. If you are using this material for any personal use please follow their Privacy Policy.)

Web Desiging Tips 001

Designing Web sites needs careful thinking and a lot of planning.
The most important thing is to KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE.
________________________________________
Users Are Scanners
If you think a typical user will read the entire content of your Web pages, you are wrong.
No matter how much useful information you put into a Web page, a visitor will only spend a few seconds scanning it before they decide whether to leave it or to stay.
If you want a visitor to read your text, be sure to make your point in the very first sentence of the page. After that you should try to keep them occupied with short paragraphs and interesting new headers all the way down the page.
________________________________________
Less Is More
Try to keep all sentences as short as possible. Try to keep your paragraphs as short as possible. Try to keep your chapters as short as possible. Try to keep your pages as short as possible.
Use a lot of space between your paragraphs and chapters. Pages overloaded with text will kill your audience.
Don't place too much content on a single page. If you have a lot to say, try to break your information into smaller chunks and place it on different pages. Don't expect any visitor to scroll all the way down to the bottom of a page with thousands of words.
________________________________________
Navigation
Try to create a navigation structure that is common for all the pages in your Web.
Keep the use of hyperlinks inside your text paragraphs to a minimum. Don't use hyperlinks inside text paragraphs to send your visitors to every random page of your Web. That will destroy the feeling of a consistent navigation structure.
If you must use hyperlinks, add them to the bottom of a paragraph or to the navigation menus of your site.
________________________________________
Download Speed
A common mistake made by many web designers is to develop a site on a local machine with direct access to the data, or to develop the site over a high-speed Internet connection. Sometimes developers are not aware of the fact that some of their pages take a long time to download.
Internet usability studies tell us that most visitors will leave a Web page that takes more than 7 seconds to download.
Before you publish any content heavy pages, make sure they are tested over a low-speed modem connection. If your pages take a long time to download, you might consider removing some of your graphic or multimedia content.
________________________________________
Let Your Audience Speak!
Feedback from your users is a very good thing. Your visitors are your "customers". Very often they will give you some valuable wisdom, or advise you, completely free of charge, about what you could have done better.
If you provide a simple way to reach you, you will get a lot of positive input from a lot of people with different skills and knowledge.