Web Design Mistakes - Text and Fonts

Written by Breal Web Design


This article may be published electronically or in print, free of charge, without alteration to any content andrepparttar resource box atrepparttar 132706 end ofrepparttar 132707 article is included in it's entirety without alteration. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.

Web Design Mistakes - Text and Fonts by Breal Web Design ***********************************************************

The main purpose people userepparttar 132708 Internet is for research, according to most user surveys. While not specifyingrepparttar 132709 kind of research being done, it is safe to assume that people are spending a lot of time online reading.

Unless a site is meant to be full of graphics, such as an art gallery or promotional page for a graphic designer,repparttar 132710 use of graphics should be minimal. To learn more about using graphics, send a blank e-mail to mailto:wdm-graphics@brealweb.com

Your site should be easy to read. There are literally thousands of fonts out there, so why shouldn't you use a special one? Because not everyone looking at your web site will haverepparttar 132711 font installed on their computer. Your visitor will be looking at your page with their installed fonts. Mac users have different default fonts to IBM and compatible users too.

So how do you cater torepparttar 132712 masses? There are a few fonts that are installed by default on most computers and it's best to stick with them (for example: Times New Roman, Arial, Courier or Verdana).

When using these fonts you can specify them in your font tags or in your CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) files. Always include alternatives for different browsers to choose from. Using a font tag for example: your text or <"FONT-FACE="Times New Roman, Times, serif">your text

The worst text and font mistakes include:

ø Making your text too small to read easily. If you are using a style to specify a font size, ensure your font is not under 10 points. The exception to this isrepparttar 132713 'fine print' such as a link to your privacy policy or other documentation you are legally required to display.

ø L-o-n-g copy. You don't get your visitor's attention for long. Many readers will stop at 2 or 3 web pages (around 1000 words) or they'll start to skim your document and could easily miss important information. If you have miles of text one on page, you could consider splitting it up into sub pages. Try creating a summarised main version and use descriptive links to more pages.

How To Use PDF Files On The Web

Written by Mario Sanchez


Acrobat PDF is perhapsrepparttar best format available to create printable documents, since it is optimized for letter sized sheets of paper.

Since Acrobat Reader can be opened within Internet Explorer, distributing PDF documents throughrepparttar 132704 web has now become common practice. Acrobat is quickly becomingrepparttar 132705 format of choice to distribute instruction manuals, special reports, resumes, ebooks, etc.

However, all this comes atrepparttar 132706 price of increased usability problems when users try to read PDF documents directly fromrepparttar 132707 screen; for example:

*The web page that links torepparttar 132708 PDF file disappears afterrepparttar 132709 PDF opens. Since PDF files don't have navigation bars some users may not know how to get back to where they were.

*Scrolling works differently: while scrolling HTML pages by draggingrepparttar 132710 scrollbar is linear, PDF files force users to scroll one full page at a time.

*Usually, PDF files come in small print (and Internet Explorer's Text Size options won't work on them).

*Since PDF documents are opened in Acrobat Reader, they introduce Acrobat's own toolbar, which contains menu buttons that are different from those in Internet Explorer.

These different "rules of engagement" are likely to cause user confusion. In order to makerepparttar 132711 user experience as painless as possible, you must consider three simple guidelines to effectively use PDF files on your site:

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