Web Do's & Don'ts » Usability

Compose to a vertical rhythm

Bojan — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 07:51:47 +0000

Composing to a vertical rhythm using font size, line height and margin or padding and take your web typography to a new level. Vertical rhythm will help your reader down the page and increase readability.

Use inline validation in web forms

Bojan — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 09:35:26 +0000

Use inline validation in forms to provide real-time feedback and enhance the usability. Not only will it make the web forms easier to use, but it will decrease the completion times and errors made and increase the success rate.

Remove the outline from links on :active only

Bojan — Mon, 17 May 2010 09:32:52 +0000

Web developers sometimes hide the outline of image replaced links, but then keyboard users have no way of seeing them when they are tabbing through the page. The trick is simple-remove the outline from links on :active only. By doing this, keyboard users still get the default outline when they tab to a link and activate the :focus state.

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.

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.

Specify a text colour for img elements

Bojan — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 08:59:09 +0000

Some browsers display the alt text when an img element is not displayed. The alt text can sometimes be invisible or hard to read, if the color of the text is similar to the background color. Therefore, specify the color(s) and check how it looks in the browser.

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.

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.

Don’t add reset buttons in forms

Bojan — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:50:04 +0000

Don’t add reset buttons in forms unless you have a very good reason. Ask yourself, what is the real benefit from resetting the form? If a user resets the button by mistake, there is no way to undo the reset, the data is lost and the form has to be filled out all over again.

Don’t forget keyboard navigation

Bojan — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 08:55:04 +0000

While most web users use the mouse to navigate, some use the keyboard. Remember to allow and help the interaction for keyboard users.