Week 4 Basics of Web Design

There are many things to consider when creating a website. Hiring someone or creating the site your self can be one of the most important decisions you’ll have to make.

If you have a computer and are willing to learn, creating your own site can be a fun experience. By doing your own website you can also save considerable money and be assured your site includes the content you want. If you are unsure about taking the plunge and creating a website yourself, check out the web and search for tutorials on the “basics creating websites”. One thing is for sure, there are unlimited helpful sources on the topic that can help you get started or even assist if you are stuck in the middle of a project. Once you’ve completed your site you will have achieved a wonderful sense of accomplishment.

However, creating your own website is not for everyone. Taking on such a task can be too challenging and overwhelming for some because there are so many things you need to know in order to get the website up and running. Creating links, inserting graphics, lining up content, color selection and themes as well as publishing your site are some of the major things a person must need to know in order to create and post a site. If you are not willing to take the time to learn proper technique it will show in your end product. Poorly designed websites do not attract viewers and since attracting and keeping viewers is the goal, it makes sense to do it right.

Usability is how the user interfaces work and their ease of use and is typically defined by things such as:

1) How easy is the site to use the first time someone visits it.
2) Once the site is visited, how quickly can a user perform tasks.
3) How quickly can a user remember how to use the site if they have not visited it for a long time?
4) Summary of the number of errors a user makes and how quickly can the user recover from it.
5) How satisfied is the user while using the site.

Accessibility means everyone has access to the web-based information regardless of physical handicaps and impairments. In other words, accommodations can be made for individuals who have physical challenges such as blindness and deafness.

Some ways to accommodate are listed below.
1) A reader that will read the pages for you
2) Magnifying pages to make them larger
3) A keyboard that had enlarged keys
4) Braille