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Online Resources: Principles of Effective Web Page Design

Communication via the Internet is fast becoming ubiquitous in First World societies and its institutions.  Increasingly, many of us depend upon some aspect of the Internet for education, socialization, commerce, and even health.  Those of us who find ourselves “online” for any length of time have fallen prey to the “culture” of the Internet where, perhaps, speed, security, and clarity of delivery dictate our “browsing patterns.”  These three factors, along with others, are the standards or criteria that have come to define “effective web page design.”  Below are some online resources that address these and other features that we associate with the most useful and engaging websites:

Website Style Sheets

Yale Style Manual
http://www.med.yale.edu/caim/manual/sites/site_design.html
Illustrates the navigational hierarchy for websites

Six Principles of Accessible Web Design: An Introduction to the WAI Page Author Guidelines
http://www.hwg.org/resources/accessibility/sixprinciples.html
An annotated outline of basic design principles 

Hilton Harbour Web Page Design Principles
http://hilton.org.uk/web_page_design_principles.phtml
Suggestions for use of graphics, texts, and cascading style sheets

World Wide Access: Accessible Web Design
http://www.washington.edu/doit/Brochures/Technology/universal.design.html
University of Washington’s “DO-IT” principles for web design sensitive to the visual and auditory impaired Internet users

Web Developers’ Virtual Library
http://www.wdvl.com/Authoring/Design/
A webliography with short articles on just about every principle of web page design

Introduction to HCI (Human-Computer Interaction)
http://www.mlc-wels.edu/jgrunwald/introhci.html
Short, easily intelligible tips for web development

Web Design for Instruction
http://www.usask.ca/education/coursework/skaalid/
A rich library of online resources for teachers and trainers
“Best Websites”

Best of the Net
http://www.refdesk.com/textbest.html
Links to past annual website competitions sponsored by computer resource companies.

The Web’s Best 100
http://www.web100.com/
A users’ reviewed website, updated hourly.

100Hot.com
http://www.100hot.com/index.html
100 better sites

Berit’s Best Sites for Children
http://www.beritsbest.com/
Children’s sites catalogued by content type

PC Magazine’s Top 100
http://www.pcmag.com/article/0,2997,s=25087&a=21914,00.asp
Best sites in several commercial categories

ZDNet’s Bestwebsites.com
http://www.bestwebsites.com.my/best_websites_abc.htm
An international webliography

Web Authoring Software

Adobe GoLive!
http://www.adobe.com/products/golive/featurelist.html

Microsoft FrontPage
http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/

Macromedia Dreamweaver MX
http://www.macromedia.com/software/dreamweaver/

Netscape Communicator
http://browsers.netscape.com/browsers/main.tmpl