DESIGN FOR ACCESS

thoughts and links on Web page design

The Web is a means of communication. Like other media, its use can also be an art. But primarily it is a way of talking with people.

Technical wizardry

Technical wizardry in HTML is tempting, even to those of us less or incapable of it, like myself. It's fun to be expanding the boundaries by finding new ways in which to do new things with new equipment. It's nice to feel one is at the cutting edge with fellow enthusiasts. But too often that misses the point:

"Magic wasn't difficult. That was the big secret that the whole baroque edifice of wizardry had been set up to conceal. Anyone with a bit of intelligence and enough perseverance could do magic, which was why the wizards cloaked it with rituals and the whole pointy-hat business. The trick was to do magic and get away with it." (Terry Pratchett, Moving Pictures)

Too often the technical wizardry in Web pages fails that test. The page looks great - but only if one has the latest equipment to handle it. For those who haven't the chosen browser or add-ons, or whose computer cannot run them, or whose connection is too slow to load the huge files, or whose display lacks the zillion colours, or whose own sight is limited, too bad. The magic just doesn't work.

Keep it simple

We don't want such technicalities to get in the way of sharing what the Web can offer. Good, functional, successful communications design isn't about having the biggest and best equipment oneself. It's about getting the best out of what most people have got, so they can communicate too.

If you keep your Web site simple:

you will probably find it easier to write, make fewer mistakes, and take less time;
more people can read your page because fewer are excluded by not having the hardware or software to handle it;
more visitors will wait for your page to load, instead of moving on because it is taking so long;
your page will be more reliable because there is less for you to mess up or set off some incompatibility (frame fans and Java speakers, please note);
your page will be easier to read because you will not have filled it with black or coloured background, with text reversed or in colours with insufficient contrast, which are so unhelpful to the many of us with poor eyesight or limited displays;
your page will be easier to maintain, and if it's for someone else, when you hand the page over they will be able to maintain it without special equipment which you have and they haven't;
and therefore it is more likely to be updated and remain of interest.

Interested ?

Then read on.

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This page was last updated on 2nd June 1998.