| In this day and age, there are literally hundreds of tools available to help individuals design a web page. Creating a web page is as easy as making a pie. Creating a good and effective web page, however, is a genuine art. Web design unites professional specialties in many different areas and takes a lot of experience to understand the type of structure, technology and design required to produce a successful Web presence.
The following guidelines are based on personal experience, WWW design documents, and reference books. They list recommended design elements for Websites from the University community. The guidelines should be interpreted broadly, based on specific content, the intended audience, and the format of the data.
| Strongly Recommended |
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RECOMMENDED |
| URI Logo Usage |
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URI Logo Usage |
| Include URI logo on all top-level pages to establish URI identity. Make the logo image a hyperlink to the URI home page. |
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Include a consistent identifier (e.g., logo or name) on each Webpage. |
| Links & Navigation |
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Links & Navigation |
| Include links to the URI home page and home page of other parent organizations on all top-level pages.
Include a link to a local home page on every Web page.
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Provide a consistent and predictable navigation scheme.
Use descriptive and meaningful links only. Avoid 'Click here' statement. Avoid making an entire sentence as a link.
Use internal links for long documents.
Create a site map that lists all Web pages on your site. |
| Color and Graphics |
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Color and Graphics |
| Include University blue and orange to match the color scheme used on the URI Web site .
Use ALT tags to include alternate text for all graphics. |
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Use the right format (GIF or JPEG) for your images.
Keep your image width under 750 pixels and image size under 50K.
Design images with solid colors rather than gradients (fades from one color to another).
Design with Web-safe colors.
Use light backgrounds with dark colored text - the greater the contrast, the more readable the page
Avoid large and unnecessary animation images. They are large in size and often times unnecessary.
Provide an HTML version of the links on pages with imagemaps. |
| Page Elements |
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Page Elements |
| Do NOT use frames on top-level pages.
Include contact information for your department (address, phone, fax, email) on top-level pages.
Date stamp your top-level pages.
Comply with copyright law. |
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Keep your homepages short with no more than about one to two 800 x 600 screens worth of information.
Keep your pages simple, clear and consistent.
Use tables or style sheets to control your page layout and to get around the limitations of HTML.
For key information, use the default HTML format instead of other formats that require plug-in. |
| Special-Purpose HTML Tags |
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Special-Purpose HTML Tags |
| Include descriptive TITLE tag on every Web page. |
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Use Meta tags such as Descriptions and Keywords to help search engines to index your page properly. |
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