Jun 11
24
Creative Web Design For User Needs
You may be surprised to know that anyone, and not just you, can view the HTML code for the web pages you create. Equally, you can view the HTML code of any page on the Web. Just about every Web browser, including all the leading ones such as Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari, have an option that will show you the source code, as it’s called, of the page you’re looking at. For example, open your web browser and then surf to one of your favorite pages, such as Google, Wikipedia, Face book, or any other page that you prefer. If you’re using Internet Explorer, bring up the View menu (press the alt key to show the menu bar if it’s not displayed) and then choose View Source. All other browsers have a similar option, either from the menu line or via a right-click. You’ll then see the HTML source code of the page.
This total lack of privacy has two implications. First, it means that you should never hide things in your HTML code that you wouldn’t want others to see. For example, there’s a method for putting comments into HTML code which don’t show up on the finished web page but which will show up if someone views your source code. Second, the public nature of HTML means that, if you want to know how someone has achieved a particular effect on their web page, you can just view their code and find out. There’s nothing wrong with doing that. Professional web people do it all the time. However, if you’re tempted to copy and paste entire chunks of someone else’s hard work into the code view screen on Maya, don’t be. It’s technically possible, of course, but morally and legally wrong.
Writing Web pages isn’t like writing printed documents, because people read Web pages in a Different way. For a start, if a Web page doesn’t provide the reader with the information they’re looking for within 5 seconds; they’ll give up and use Google to find a different site. Fonts (typefaces) are important. Sans-serif fonts tend to work best on screen, rather than serif fonts. But don’t use non-standard fonts that your readers are unlikely to have installed on their computer. Readers will use your site’s color scheme to form a subconscious opinion about you. When did you last see a bank’s Web site that was bright red and yellow? When did you last see a hamburger restaurant site that was dark blue? Choose appropriate colors for your pages, but don’t go overboard. And don’t force people to rely on colors, such as referring in your text to “the yellow box”, because the visitor might be color blind or might be reading your page on a black and write printout.
