Websites are intended to be seen and used by Internet surfers. Not many people realize the wideness of the range of the users of the Internet.

A website’s usability is one of the key determinants of its success in fulfilling its main goal, whether it is made for information dissemination, business or communication. Usability is all about the relationship between a website and its users. Websites should be seen as tools which will allow its users to do their tasks and help them achieve results.

The issue of usability is very pertinent and is treated with much attention today. There have been moves (including legal ones) that aim to push web development towards usability. There are many people who are affected with some kind of disability or impairment which hinders them from fully enjoying the different aspects of life including the use of the Internet. The Internet, with it’s continuous development towards the better, has been a great instrument in providing people, especially those with impairments to be able to have avenues for accessing information, communicating and transacting. This is why the issue of website usability is a much talked about issue.

Usability is important because it can be the difference between accurately performing a task or not, between enjoying the whole process or being very frustrated. Usability is also important for the developers since it can be one of the key factors in determining the success of a system. It is also important for businesses which thrive in the Internet because a low level of usability will definitely drive the customers away. Most importantly, it is important for people who have impairments because they are the most vulnerable group in terms of accessing the different avenues that the Internet provide.

A website’s usability is one of the key determinants of a website’s popularity. A recent survey revealed that the “ease of use” with regards to websites makes 74% of website visitors want to come back.

There are different components of usability. These are:

- Efficiency

This refers to how easily the users can perform their tasks after they have had a general feeling for the website.

- Learning curve

Can the structure of the website easily be learned by the users?

- Over-all perception

Is the website pleasant to the eyes and can easily be accessed by people viewing it?

A website that is usable will be able to deliver a lot of benefits not only to the viewers but also to the developers. Here are some of the most important benefits that can be achieved by improving the usability of a website.

-user satisfaction
-productivity and success
-avoidance of long-term costs of development
-improved competitiveness of the website

Now, we go to the ways on how to the basic concepts that should be kept in mind in developing websites to achieve usability.

1. Give information about the website

Many website developers forget the importance of putting some information about the website because they assume that people will be able to figure that themselves. Many people will be giving negative feedback if they don’t get what they want (or what they think they want) from the website. A portion of the homepage can be used to relay this information or a separate section “about the site” can be added.

2. Provision of a Sitemap

Many people are not very familiar on navigating through the different layers of a website and therefore they result to the sitemap to be able to find what they are looking for. Sitemaps provide a skeleton image of the whole site and cramp the pertinent sections into one single page.

3. Loading time

If people are to be asked to choose between a good-looking site which takes too much time to load and a basic site which loads quickly, most of the time, the second one will win. The use of large flash programs, graphics and the inappropriate placing of too much information should be avoided to improve the usability of a website.

4. Quality content and readability

People visit website to be able to gather information and they will leave immediately if the content are either: of poor quality or has poor readability. Make sure that the contents are written well and are structured to be easily read.

These are just some of the ways on how a developer can improve the usability of his website. The development of websites is pushing forward to usability and every single website should take this in mind.

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If you are building only a one or two or even three page (or personal) website, you do not really need to plan(though it would not harm to plan). But if your website contains ten plus pages, it would probably be to your advantage to plan.

What Your Visitors Want

When you visit a Web Site, you usually have a reason for going there. Even if you stumble upon that website accidentally, there is something there that grasps your attention and interests you.

Therefore, through out the whole planning process, you should consider what your visitors expect to see on your site. You should have a clear idea of which type your visitors are. For example, will they be old or young. If they are old, then you should make the design really simple and without the flashy flashy. If your target audience are kids, you could then include all the flashy flashy, without which they would not be attracted!.

So, you see, it is imperative that you have an idea of the type of your audience.

Site Organization

The most important thing in your website could be your site structure. May be, because of your clumsy structure, visitors leave your site. Therefore, it is necessary to have a structure that suits your site and is friendly for the visitors. Aww… why care about the visitors??? Because you have to! Otherwise you’ll be outta business!

There are two main types of organizational techniques, namely hierarchical and linear. Let us have a look at them now:

Hierarchical Organization

In this type of organization,all the pages (except for your home page), are grouped and are connected to the home page. The pages in the groups are connected to each other and they may be connected to the home page also, but the main page(or the home page) of that group should always be connected to the home page.

The home page is also connected to the main pages of each group and all the pages of each group are connected to the main page of that group This type of organization is suitable for websites which have a huge amount of content which can be divided into groups. The reader knows at every point his position on the website. However, it is not suitable to have too many groups as the reader may get confused.

Linear Organization

In this type of page organization, all the pages(including the homepage), are connected like the pages of a book - one page comes after another. This type of organization may be good for Do-It-Yourself type of websites, as steps often have to be followed in order. All the pages are connected in a “Back” and “Next” order. This type of page organization is good for several types of websites, but it limits the reader’s freedom of roaming around the site as he pleases. You could also add a “Home” link on every page to take the reader to the home page directly from each page.

A Mixture of Both

You could also use a mixture of both hierarchical and linear organization for your website.For example, the contents of your website could be divided into groups and the pages in each group could be connected to each other. This way, the reader would have more freedom to roam around your site.

Webbed Organization

This is another type of organization. In this type, several pages are connected to each other like a web. But too much use of this and your visitors could easily become disoriented and lost.

Navigation Tips

Navigation always will be a very important part of a website. Navigation can make or break the possibility of having more readers.

Unfortunately, navigation is the least of the worries of many webmasters. Bad navigation is also one of the main causes for declining or few visitors. Make sure you don’t fall in the trap! Do not confuse the reader with navigation

You cannot afford to lose your users in this way. You should, at every page of your website, let the user know where he or she is. One way of doing this is to use meaningful URLs. For example the URL to this tutorial is:

htmltheeasyway.com/basics/planning_and_design.shtml.

Anybody who sees this URL can tell that this page has to do something with planning and design of something. So it does not confuse the user. Now compare the above URL with this:

htmltheeasyway.com/b/122.aspx

Can you work out what the page is about?? Neither can I. Therefore, it pays to have meaningful URLs.

Another good way is to have a breadcrumb trail on the top of your pages.It is a textual representation of the site or directory structure, showing where the user currently is, so the user is not confused. We also have one on our site.

Keep it Simple

Yeah, you must keep it simple. Fancy JavaScript mouse-overs and mammoth size images only worsen the miseries of the reader! In addition, they also slow down the speed of loading, further disillusioning the user with your site.

Try to use text-links instead of images and use CSS mouseovers. CSS mouse-overs are a lot speedier than Javascript mouse-overs. Also, as much as possible, use simple text in place of images. For example, as I have done, you could use some clever bits of HTML and CSS to make simple text look like images. Look at the htmltheeasyway.com logo, for example, Using CSS, I have made it look like an image, but in reality, it is not!

Website Design

Believe me, website design can make or break a website. Too much of flash and mammoth sized images resulting in long load times and your users would rather sleep than wait for your site to load. Keep it simple and easy on the users. Here are some tips..

Page Design

When designing your pages, you should always try to make the user experience similar to the real world. For example, most languages like English are read in a left-to-right manner. So if your target audience is an English one, you should position your elements in such a way that your users do not feel much different. For example you could place the navigational menu to the top or the left of your page, etcetera.

Oh, yes, if your target audience’s language is one which is read right-to-left, such as Urdu, you could position your elements in a different manner, such as the navigation on the right, etcetera. So forget all those weird designs you have in mind and design for your target audience to make it easier for them.

One thing to remember, your visitors want to the see content that you have on offer, not to see how much you have decorated your website through flash and mouseovers and all that. Now by this I do not mean that you should not do any thing to make your site attractive, but you should try to remain in between the two extremes.

Now on to the actual design of your website’s pages. First make a vague(or as elaborate as you want) sketch on paper about what a page will basically look like. Then on a graphics program like Serif PhotoPlus, on a canvas of about 783 x 398 pixels(this is the minimum amount of free space on a 800 x 600 screen), draw the layout of your pages, with colour and all(What looks good on paper, will not necessarily look good on a computer screen, so it is best to design your site on the computer only). And then, through the help of this basic layout, begin to code your webpages.

Site Structure

The next important thing that you have to look into while designing your site is your site structure. You must decide which kind of organization to use on your site: hierarchical, linear or a mixture of both. I have explained all of these above. Before you begin on your site, you should have a clear idea on the type of structure to use. You can get a laydown on these three types above.

Muhammad Siyab has been present in the field of web design and web development for almost 3 years and thus has gained quite a lot of experience in this field.

Please visit his site at:

www.easyhtmltutorials.com/blog/

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The top ten fonts for website design might change in order, but for the most part the fonts that make up this list stay the same due to their popularity. In general, the top ten list includes Arial, Frutiger, Futura, Gills Sans, Helvetica, Lucida, Optima, Palatino, Agfa Rotis, and Univers.

The reason these fonts are so popular is because they are simple and easy to read on computer screens with low resolution. As a result, most of the time fonts that are unique, wild, and distinctive are not used on web pages so as not to distract the reader from what is trying to be said and communicated through the font on the page. Since the website uses content to get the point across, it is prudent to use fonts that are easy to read. If you make it difficult for a visitor to read the content, they will more likely leave than put forth the effort. Consider the following points as well when developing your fonts for your website.

- Big Fonts

This is your web page and likely your livelihood, not a term paper or research project that has a defined style. Because of this, you can use big fonts, bold them, make them stick out and attract the reader. You can drive your point home with larger fonts and they also will be significantly easier for your visitor to read. The object of your website is to present information that is easily seen, read, and found by visitors. So, go ahead and increase the font size even in regular text that is not in a heading or title. Many of your visitors will thank you because they will not have to put on their glasses or strain to read the text. Sometimes bigger is better.

- Sans Serif

If you have no idea about fonts, how they translate to your web page, or how they will affect your visitors and ultimately sales, then you should definitely stick with a san serif font. The reason for this is that these fonts are the most legible and provide the best readability for visitors in a low resolution atmosphere. Don’t take risks with your fonts, go generic and use a sans serif font. Your visitors will thank you for it and your sales will not suffer from it.

- Simple is Safe

Again, don’t let yourself get carried away with your fonts and designs. Instead, keep the thought in mind that simple is safe. If you want to be bold and brazen in your website design then don’t take that route with your fonts. Keep it simple, basic, and easy to read, and you will benefit significantly more than if you try to mix it up.

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Another Article on How to Choose the Right Font.

Check out our recommended free font webiste