Double D, U, and A on the Web!

Yeah! That's a much better title. To explain it, it's defining design, usability, and accessibility on the web. So, taking a look at some of the title, how can we define design when it comes to the web. Web design is unlike most of the other designing areas we may be used to. Most of what we here is from people who don't really understand web design. Designing for the web is designing for simplicity, for specific users, for a purposes without confusing it as advertising or graphic design. When you design for the web, your website should serve it's purpose without becoming a TV add or purely a Flash animation. This also flows into usability. I said earlier web design should be simple, and a websites navigation is probably at it's core the more simple, yet most overlooked aspect of at website. The navigation links are how you move around the site, how a user who visits for the first time finds their way from your home page, to the information that they are really seeking. The navigation of a website should be in the front of your mind the entire time you're designing the website. The navigation should be usable, and it should change to let the user know where they are, where they can go, and should help them get back to there they came from. Finally we come to the accessibility of the web. There is now a program that allows blind people to use the internet. They type in a website, and mouse over the words or links, and a computerized voice will tell them what they are mousing over, and if it is a link or not. Even with this new technology, the website itself has to be set up for this. If it is not, the moused over links will be a jumble of code when the voice reads it off. So the web has gone from something only nerds use, to being something accessible for literally almost any person, regardless of a presumed disability. For those of you thinking of getting into web design, or are interested in learning more about it go to the website www.alistapart.com and read their articles. It'll not only help you become a better web designer, but it'll make for a better web for all of us.