Web Do's & Don'ts » Beginner

Specify HTML document’s language

Bojan — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 10:21:22 +0000

Use the language attribute(s) on the html tag to indicate the language of a HTML document, unless the content is aimed at speakers of more than one language.

Don’t use splash pages

Bojan — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:20:06 +0000

Unless you absolutely must, do not use splash pages. Don’t waste your visitors’ time on the intro page and force them to “click to enter”. If used, splash pages should contain valuable information.

Make sure your site works with and without the www prefix

Bojan — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 09:11:01 +0000

Many websites make the mistake of not making sure the site works without the www prefix. So for instance, if you type sitename.com in your browser, you end up at a dead end. You should make sure the site works with and without the prefix by redirecting traffic.

Don’t publish undated content

Bojan — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 09:11:10 +0000

Undated information will make your content irrelevant and cause the user to leave sooner rather than later. Remember to always provide a date. A useful addition is to use a “last updated” date for articles or posts that changed after being published.

Use the CSS cascade

Bojan — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 09:33:58 +0000

Many website coders do not make good use of the cascade, ending up with more complicated code. Learn how to use the cascade properly and define the importance of individual styles.

Always provide an alt text in img elements

Bojan — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 09:24:11 +0000

The alt attribute is a textual replacement for the image which is not being displayed. It must always be used, even if the image in question is purely decorative–in that case, the alt attribute should be an empty string.

Skip navigation links

Bojan — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 10:00:43 +0000

Provide a link to skip over navigation links, helping keyboard and screen reader users to jump to the main content of the page.

Organize your CSS with flags

Bojan — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:03:17 +0000

Use flags (text hooks) in your CSS code to quickly find what you are looking for. By doing this, you can jump to certain sections of CSS and speed up your work significantly.

Use the th element for table headers

Bojan — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:38:51 +0000

When marking up tables, remember to use the th element for cells that provide header information for table rows or columns.

Don’t link pages to themselves

Bojan — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:37:16 +0000

Do not include links that point to the current page, as this can only confuse the visitor. In navigational menus, omit the link to the current page to also indicate the current location.