Justifying the Content, Justifying the Format

Feb 182010
 

Go ahead, call me the Justify Cop. I haven’t been pointing fingers too much lately about the use of justify, but after a series of events that have taken place with my work, I think I have the perfect excuse. For this post thank you goes to the developers of San Antonio Air Conditioning Service. They occasionally hire me to review their sites, and were nice enough to let me allow to use this new site as an example.

Besides learning when or when not to justifying text, there is something else that this site needs to justify. It’s the content. Continue reading »

The Benefits of Validating HTML

Feb 182010
 

Yesterday I wrote about the benefits a website visitor experience when a site has been done with valid HTML. Now it’s time for the benefits for the person or persons building the website.

Personal Benefits of Validating HTML

It’s the case of hear me now, believe me later. As I mentioned in the first post of this series, many are very defensive about not validating. The only reason I can guess why is because it just means more work, and they have never tried.

I have two things to say about that. First, it’s easier than you think, and second, once you get in the habit, you won’t see it as extra work. Below are the reasons why.

Continue reading »

Why Validating HTML is Important to the User

Feb 172010
 

If you are learning to build websites, or have been already, know that learning how to validate your HTML could be one of the best things you could do. My next post will be about its benefit for website owners and developers, but today it’s about the user.

They Didn’t Even Notice You Validated

Most web users don’t even know if a website has valid HTML or not. Is there a reason for them to? Not really. They just want the site to work. Do you think visitors notice when your site doesn’t work, appears messed up in their browser, or takes forever to load?

Taking the time to use W3C’s method to validate your HTML is an important step to take when building a website because it can have a huge impact on your users. Continue reading »

Reasons Why Validating HTML is Important to You

Feb 162010
 

Occasionally, I offer free advice on forums where webmasters ask for feedback on there website. When doing so, myself or another experienced webmaster will suggest that the owner asking for the review should validate their code.

The common responses:

  • Validating HTML, who cares…
  • I can get my site to look and work the way I want without validating. It’s a waste of time.
  • It won’t help my SEO
  • It takes too long
  • Nobody needs to tell me how to build a site
  • And the list goes on… Continue reading »

Test Document Readability

Feb 122010
 

utility

My writing stinks you say. Eh…you may be right. I check my spelling, and try to make sure everything is correct. Still though, I know I need help.

Good news for me? It looks like I just found some help, and have even put this post to the test. It’s the Document Readability Test. The test reveals the number of characters, sentences, and reading comprehension level. The results also show ways to improve readability of text, and lists the most offending sentences. Continue reading »

Top Ten Website Mistakes for 2009

Feb 112010
 

This is the second annual Top Ten Website Mistake report from BWI. The information is based on my basic usability and design analysis that I do for my clients. For 2008 see: Top Ten Website Mistakes. Continue reading »

Expectations Fulfilled Thanks to Predictable Web Design

Feb 092010
 

Without hovering your mouse over my logo found in the header of this site, do you think it links to my home page? I’m certain that most of you think it will.

Predictable web design is knowing your users, and knowing how they expect your website to work. Here are a few important methods to make any site more predictable for its users. Continue reading »

HTML and CSS Cheatsheet

Feb 082010
 

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has a new little tool for webmasters. It’s the W3C Cheatsheet. Though the page is lacking in luster when it comes to description (I had to guess what to do when first using it), it packs a fully loaded archive of all your HTML and CSS element attributes.

cheat

To use the tool you simply type in the HTML element you want to know more about, and W3C delivers all of the elements attributes. Knowing how to address those attributes is up to you, but I’m guessing will come in very handy for many of us.

How Much Does it Cost to Build a Website?

Feb 052010
 

Recently asked on how much it costs to build a 75 page website on what I will call Subject A, I thought this might be a good time to explain a way to calculate this. Possibly even, on how not to calculate this.

I get this question repeatedly, “How much does it cost to build a basic website?” My answer? It’s $10 plus my hourly rate if you want anything extra on the site. Example of $10 website without extras. Anyone want one? Continue reading »

Tweetmeme Button Two Months Later

Feb 042010
 

Two months ago I added the Tweetmeme button to my blog. Two weeks after that, I wrote about how it appeared to be doubling my Twitter Traffic. In that post I started out by saying that I may be jumping the gun on this subject. Apparently, I did. Continue reading »

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