Designing your web site
Why do you need a website? What is the main purpose of the web site? Who is the target audience? What type of content will the web site provide and how will the target audience interact with it?
These are just some of the points to consider before embarking on the design of a new web site and will be important in defining the web site specification.
The specification will form a definition of work between netexpression and the client. It is important that this document accurately defines the scope of the project and will include the following information:
- Purpose of the web site
- Target audience
- Site structure - organisation of content
- Style and layout
- Contact forms - information to be collected
- Responsibilities of client - e.g. provision of images and copy
- Maintenance - definition of responsibility and scope
- Administration e.g. domain name registration, hosting
- Communication - mode and frequency
- Training e.g. web site maintenance procedures
- Timescales and cost
The web site specification is defined jointly by the designer and client and signed off before building of the site commences.
It is often useful to produce a mock-up of the web site prior to embarking on the full design. This may be simply an illustration defining the individual pages of the web site and the navigation structure or perhaps a basic prototype site.
Coding of the site structure will be performed in XHTML. Presentation of content and control of layout will be through the use of cascading style sheets (CSS). Client side form validation scripts will be provided as appropriate using Javascript to ensure user provided information is complete and in the expected format before submission. This will be backed up with server side validation.
Netexpression will ensure that your web site is visible to the major search engines such as Google and Yahoo. This will be achieved through good coding practices, appropriate content and content organisation and by following the guidelines described by search providers.
During the design process all the code written to generate the web site structure and its presentation will be routinely tested to ensure it validates to current W3C standards. Additionally the functioning of the web site and the layout will be rigorously tested in a series of web browsers including, Internet Explorer (6 and 7), Firefox, Opera and Safari to ensure cross browser compatibility. These represent the most commonly used web browsers.
The web site will be routinely uploaded to the hosts server to allow the client to view progress and offer feedback. Once completed, the web site will be formerly handed over and any training, as defined in the specification, provided e.g. web site maintenance.