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Standards & Guidelines
This is a simplified list of ten guidelines to improve a website.
1. Have a clear Statement of Purpose. This applies to both the website as a whole and each particular page. Communicate the company purpose on the home page and the specific purpose on each individual page.
2. Do not link to the current page.
3. Keep the user informed.
a. Let them know where they are within the navigation of the site. Both the top level and any secondary navigation that is displayed.
b. Tell users about the system status when there is processing involved. Either show a hourglass, or some other icon to let them know that something is happening.
4. Provide good actionable search results. Understand what users look for on each page and the important words to them. Provide useful results and adequate descriptions to allow for correct links.
5. Provide contact information or access to contact information on every page. Users want to know that there are people behind the site and that they are available when necessary.
6. Provide quick loading pages. Even when there are alot of graphics or photos, provide content immediately and space for the graphics. Let users know that there is more loading, but give them results as soon as possible.
7. Provide clear and consistent links.
a. Make the actual links descriptive of the results page, not ‘Click Here’ or ‘Learn More’. There are so many reasons that doesn’t make sense. Tell people where the link will take them and they will want to click it.
b. Use standard colors for links (both visited and unvisited). If you don’t use standard colors at least use the same colors throughout the site. and be sure they are visually distinct from the rest of the content.
8. Help users recognize, diagnose and recover from errors. Ideally you would prevent the user from making any errors, but they probably will at some point, so make it easy for them to get out of or resolve the situation.
a. Make sure the messages are clear and provide the information to correct the error.
b. Write error messages in English with no reference to error numbers.
9. Minimize the users memory load. This is especially important if the user is already an identified customer. They expect you to know things about them and not to ask questions that you already know the answer to. In addition don’t expect people to remember information from one page to another.
10. Allow for different levels of proficiency. Unless you have a captive audience (intranet) or clients (bank, financial services, etc.) most people have never been to your website before. Make the site easy enough for first time visitors to find the information they need to keep them coming back. Then make the tasks that you hope will be done regularly by returning visitors easy to do over and over.
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