Please give your thoughts (Full Version)

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funk theory -> Please give your thoughts (6/14/2007 11:49:31)

I am trying to re design my site and wondered if you could be constructive and let me know your thoughts on it currently.

I know my way round html but im not very good with css.

http://www.webmatrixdesign.co.uk/



Mike54 -> RE: Please give your thoughts (6/14/2007 12:17:41)

Initial view wasn't bad but the text is a tad light for my eyes. Going through the links didn't give me much to review either though each of the first three pages (and the last two) seemed to "jump" around from different positioning. I would also rather have a contact "form" come up from your "Contact" link rather than have your link open my email[&:]. I had three message windows open after repeated clicks apparently didn't do anything.[&o] The "Portfolio" link takes me away from the site completely (to the same place as the "Latest" link though "Latest" at least opens a new window)...
Not trying to be harsh it's just there isn't a lot of content to review/critique.



funk theory -> RE: Please give your thoughts (6/14/2007 13:52:47)

Thanks. i can work on the content. I know what you mean about the links to latest and totally take on board about the form, im designing one in php at present.[:D]

do you think its bad practice to have links that open in a different window too?



treetopsranch -> RE: Please give your thoughts (6/14/2007 23:30:53)

I agree with the comment on the text. Too light. Use black text for best readability.



Tailslide -> RE: Please give your thoughts (6/15/2007 2:53:29)

I agree about the text - I also find centred text very hard to read, left-aligned is preferable.

I've re-written the next bit quite a few times because I really don't want to appear rude - we all start somewhere and none of us are even remotely perfect at what we do, so please don't take this the wrong way!!

Firstly - you're redesigning your site - wouldn't it be a good time to dump tables and old methods and get with the newer methods? You have no stylesheet at all in there!!! All the styling is in the tags themselves. You only have a partial DOCTYPE and that's a transitional one.
Secondly - you really should know that opening links in new windows is a no-no these days unless there's a really good reason.
Thirdly - You're using images for your navigation for no particular reason. It's inaccessible and unnecessary. With images off there's no way of navigating. There's no alt attributes anywhere on the page which again is a no-no.
Fourthly - your page gives a scrollbar at 800px wide. It's such a simple design that's there's no reason not to have a fluid design.

edit: also there are a lot of grammatical errors on your site too which you'd want to look at.

So in summary - I'd look again at your redesign - make it worthwhile by bringing it up to date with modern methods. If you don't know CSS then you should. You should also look at accessibility in web design as it's a legal requirement for websites in the UK and we should know how to build accessible sites for our clients.



funk theory -> RE: Please give your thoughts (6/15/2007 4:07:16)

wow ok. I am redesigning it as i think it does look old in terms of style. The reason i used images instead of links is because of the text i wanted a non standard font eg century gothic.
I take on board all your comments and i think now is the time to brush up and learn css.

What do you mean by 'You should also look at accessibility in web design as it's a legal requirement for websites in the UK and we should know how to build accessible sites for our clients. ' ? Accessible in what way?



Tailslide -> RE: Please give your thoughts (6/15/2007 4:41:08)

quote:

ORIGINAL: funk theory
The reason i used images instead of links is because of the text i wanted a non standard font eg century gothic.


So use CSS to establish a "wish list" of fonts you'd like for the text - have Century Gothic as your primary and a couple of alternatives depending on taste. Century Gothic is a pretty common font - you'll probably find that somewhere around 80% of people at least have it.

quote:

ORIGINAL: funk theory

What do you mean by 'You should also look at accessibility in web design as it's a legal requirement for websites in the UK and we should know how to build accessible sites for our clients. ' ? Accessible in what way?



Errrm - have you never come across this topic?

Ok. Brief outline.

The Disability Discrimination Act (1996 I think) applies not only to shops and offices but to websites. Businesses are required to make reasonable efforts to ensure that their premises (and websites) are accessible to the disabled.

So someone who happens to have vision problems (from being shortsighted to totally blind) or unable to use a mouse due to physical disability for example - should be able to use your website. It should make sense and be navigable on a screenreader (google lynx). You should be able to navigate the site without a mouse. It should ideally still work with images off completely and or with Javascript off.

It's a big subject. Here's a brief outline: http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/web-accessibility/basics.shtml

Table layouts are less accessible than well written CSS layouts (tables can be accessible but it's harder and non-semantic) which is why it's best to dump tables for layout (nothing wrong with tables for tabular data) and move over to CSS layouts. You can then easily and quickly change a site if required AND you can set up print stylesheets and alternate stylesheets for PDAs etc etc.

It's just a much more flexible approach. Dump all presentational information out of the web page and into the stylesheet. All you want to be left with is neat, semantic markup (by semantic I mean that you use a heading tag for a heading, lists for lists etc - use the tag for the purpose it was designed).

I'm not bothered by your design itself - aesthetics are all in the eye of the beholder and I tend to like simple layouts anyway. I'd just like to see better coding techniques used.

It just all goes together to improve the quality of your work.



Mike54 -> RE: Please give your thoughts (6/15/2007 7:44:28)

quote:

Secondly - you really should know that opening links in new windows is a no-no these days unless there's a really good reason.

I must ask, what do you feel is a "good reason"?
If the link is to something within my site I certainly wouldn't open a new window (only did that for sized image popups in galleries anyway ;)) but if I were directing a visitor to a site other than mine I would open a new window so the visitor didn't lose me so to speak.



Tailslide -> RE: Please give your thoughts (6/15/2007 8:41:36)

Personally I haven't had a good enough reason to open a new window... yet. BUT that said I can see that there might be a reason you'd do it.

For instance if you had a complex form with those little help icons and when the user clicks on the icon you'd get a small sized new window open up with the help info in it. I can see how that might be more useful to people than a "normal" link so I wouldn't right off the possibility completely.

A definite would be to use Javascript to open the new window though rather than target. Mainly because I use a Strict DOCTYPE and target has been deprecated in it (it being a behaviour etc which should be up to JS rather than markup). There are scripts around that degrade nicely if JS is off or if new windows are blocked.




funk theory -> RE: Please give your thoughts (6/15/2007 9:04:49)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Mike54

but if I were directing a visitor to a site other than mine I would open a new window so the visitor didn't lose me so to speak.


Thats exactly why i did it Mike54 thanks.

Tailside i appreciate your comments as i dont spend enough time studying techniques or creativing and the reason i posted my site was to get constructive feedback like yours as everyone (eg friends who dont know much bout web design) just says 'your site looks good' but i know in my heart it doesnt and need help to progress it and you guys have given me help and things to go on which i appreciate.[:D]



jaybee -> RE: Please give your thoughts (6/15/2007 10:09:52)

New windows, Oh Lordy where to start.

For the most part don't but if you must, then make sure the link tells screenreaders that you are opening a new window or your visitor gets completely confused.

Mike there is a line of thought that says if you're that worried that your visitor won't come back to you then you need to re-do your site with something of interest. [;)]



Mike54 -> RE: Please give your thoughts (6/15/2007 10:55:13)

quote:

Mike there is a line of thought that says if you're that worried that your visitor won't come back to you then you need to re-do your site with something of interest. [;)]


Point taken...

<Note to self> - get to work finding some young models for a new gallery</note to self>[8|]



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