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Web Page Design Module 6: Developing, Testing, and Modifying a Web Page


Design Matters
Web designers want people to know their way around the pages in their site.  They want the pages to have the same look and feel so users do not get lost.  Standardizing elements such as a company logo, the location of menu buttons, font styles, and font colors helps to maintain a common look. 

The following guidelines should be considered when planning your layout:

  • Keep the website simple.  A simple website is superior to a complex one with errors.
  • Use white space (the area on a page not filled with text or images) to create balance.
  • Limit the number of media objects.  Media objects take time to load.
  • Use a navigation structure that is intuitive.  Users should always know how to find their way home.
  • Apply a consistent theme.  A theme can be a consistent background color, border, or common graphics.
  • Be conscious of accessibility issues by using alternate text with images, avoiding certain colors, and supplying text as an alternate source for information that is presented in videos.

The use of appropriate colors is important in creating accessible colors and provides good contrast on your pages. Color Cubes is the default color palette used in Dreamweaver CS6. The palette contains 216 web-safe colors.

color palette

Cengage Learning, 2013

Design includes anticipating what your potential customers will search for. A webpage consists of two sections: the head and the body.  The head section contains elements that are not displayed in the browser window such as the page title, keywords, and a description of the website.  Search engines use these elements to find pages that match key words entered by users.

html tags in head section

Cengage Learning, 2013

You will practice planning a layout, using appropriate colors, and including useful elements in the head area as you work through the Background Building activities for Module 6.


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