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Williams and Tollett Web Site Design Checklists

Reference: Williams and Tollett, The Non-designer's Web Book, Third Edition, Peachpit Press, 2005.
 

Not-So-Good Design Checklist

Backgrounds

• Gray default background color

• Color combinations of text and background that make text hard to read

• Busy, distracting backgrounds that make text hard to read

Text

• Text crowding against the left edge

• Text that stretches all the way across the page

• Centered type over flush left body copy

• Paragraphs of type in all caps

• Paragraphs of type in all bold

• Paragraphs of type in all italic

• Paragraphs of type in caps, bold, and italic, all at once

• Underlined text that is not a link

• Text that is too small to read

• Entire paragraphs that are too large

Links

• Default blue links

• Blue link borders around graphics

• Links that are not clear about where they will take you

• Links in body copy that distract readers and lead them off to remote useless pages

• Dead links (that don't work)

• Flash graphics that are links, but no browser hand appears

Graphics

• Large graphic files that take forever to download

• Meaningless or useless graphic files

• Thumbnail images nearly as large as the full-sized images they link to

• Graphics with no alt labels

• Missing graphics

• Graphics that don't fit on the screen

Tables

• Borders turned on in tables

• Tables with large borders

Blinking and Animations

• Anything that blinks, especially text

• Multiple thinks that blink

• Rainbow rules

• Under construction sign

• Animated pictures for email

• Animations that never stop

• Animations that have no point

Navigation

• Unclear, or overly complex navigation

• Complicated frames, too many frames, or unnecessary scrollbars in frames

Frames

• Frame scroll bars in the middle of a web page

• Multiple frame scroll bars in the middle of a web page

• Narrow frames that make you scroll sideways

General Design

• Home page that does not fit into a standard browser window (800 x 600 pixels)

• No focal point on the page

• Too many focal points on a page

• Navigation buttons as the only interest, especially when they are large

• Cluttered, not enough alignment

• Lack of contrast

• Having to scroll sideways

So-Much-Better Design Checklist

Text

• Background that does not interrupt the text

• Text that is big enough to read but not too big

• The hierarchy of information is perfectly clear

• Columns of text are narrower than in a book to make reading easier

Navigation

• Navigation buttons and bars are easy to understand and use

• Frames, if used, are not obtrusive

• A large site has an index or site map

• The navigation bar or buttons give visitors a clue as to where they are or what page they are currently on

Links

• Link colors coordinate with page colors

• Links are underlined or otherwise clearly marked

Text

• Buttons are not big and dorky

• Every graphic has an alt label

• Every graphic link has a matching text link

• Animated graphics turn off by themselves

General Design

• Pages download quickly

• Entry page and home page fit into 800 x 600 space

• All other pages have most of the important stuff in 800 x 600 space

• Good use of graphics to break up text

• Every page in the site looks like it belongs to the site (use repetition)