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First, lets pay a virtual visit to a web site that is mydefinition of unfriendly, although it doesnt have all thefaults I will cover in this series of articles.On a group to which I subscribe, someone posted aninvitation to check out a free story. He even included someglowing reviews to whet our appetites. And the story soundedreally interesting. But when I went to the URL given by theauthor, the page wasnt the story I expected. Apart from aload of Tripod pop-up ads that I thought would never stopcoming, a Java splash page loaded in. That was followed by amost unexpected page--bright green print on a blackbackground. I think the author must have been pining for thedays before Windows made DOS computers so much easier to useas well as easier on the eyes! To add insult to injury, thewriter included a sound file with absolutely no way ofturning the sound off. Fortunately the file (mostly birdsong) wasnt objectionable. I didnt read the page ofcourse--after all, it wasnt the promised story. Since Icouldnt even find a link that looked remotely as though itmight lead to the story, I went somewhere else.The first thing I want to deal with that makes a web siteunfriendly is page width.Preferably design your web site to be viewable on a 12-13"monitor. (Yes, there ARE still some of these around!) A goodyardstick is to keep it within the default width of yourbrowser. I find it mildly irritating when Im forced to pullmy browser out to the full width of my monitor.However, having to scroll past the width of the screen isdownright irritating--a bit like trying to read a comic ornewspaper and having someone else continually covering upthe right-hand side of the page. If a site stretches past my15" (640 x 480) monitor I have to be very keen on itscontent to stay--and I probably dont go back to it. Pagelengths are not quite so important and will vary dependingon content, but its not a good idea to make them too long.Statistics from my own web site indicate that just over 20%of people are still using 640 x 480 monitors. So, if youdesign your site only for the majority of visitors, youreeffectively blocking out more than a fifth of Web surfers--or at least making it difficult for them to appreciate yoursite fully.

About the Author

Laraine Anne Barker writes fantasy for young people. Visither web site at http://lbarker.orcon.net.nz for FREE storiesand novel excerpts. Sign up for the NOVELLA OF THE MONTHCLUB, absolutely FREE!