TLC
Media's Web Design Standards
For the most part, a web sites content comes from the client.
They provide the text for the pages and describe what they want
the site to convey. Good web design means more than just creating
a effective graphic layout and design. It means taking the client's
information and applying the latest tools and standards, comprehensive
compliance checking and validation, and effective SEO (search
engine optimization) methods. Only then do we consider the job
complete.
Content Enhancement: Plain Text Just Isn't Enough
Once we receive a client's content and have approval on the basic
"look and feel" of the site design, we use the latest
tools to make the content as effective as possible. This doesn't
necessarily mean flashy; to be the most effective, the content
must be optimized to best meet the customer's expectations of
the site. Using a tool just because you can isn't good web design.
Some of the tools that we use are listed below.
| HTML
4.01 |
The most current version of the HTML markup language used
to create Web content. Using the latest version ensures
compatibility and enables maximum functionality. |
| CSS
2.0 |
The most current version of the stylesheets protocol.This
also ensures compatibility and enables maximum functionality |
| Google
Maps |
A mapping service. Experience programming sites to use
this service allows us to create dynamic links for clients'
Web sites.
|
| Javascript |
A programming language that supports interactive features
such as our drop-down menus and the quick tips (such as
the definitions that pop up when you hover over the terms
in the left column, or "server-side" or "CGI"
below). |
| SQL
(MySQL, PostgreSQL) |
A database management program that supports interactive
and dynamic Web pages that interact with a database, such
as a site that allows to select two or more products and
compare them side by side. |
| Perl |
A server-side
programming language used for processing text. It is used
to write CGI
programs that allow interactive Web pages. |
| PHP |
A server-side programming language used to create dynamic
Web pages. |
| ASP |
A protocol that supports dynamic Web pages using HTML,
scripts and ActiveX controls. |
| Visual
Basic |
A programming language that supports creation of custom
programs. |
| QuickTime |
An audio/video format for displaying movies on the Web. |
| Flash |
An animation program that supports Web animations such
as an animated logo. |
Compliance, Validation, Compatibility
Using the latest tool is great, but the best site in the world
is worthless if the customer has trouble seeing it. To maximize
the number of people who can see your web site as it should be,
our design process includes compliance checking, markup validation
and compatibility checking.
Compliance checking ensures that the site is compliant with accessibility
standards. This compliance ensures that you don't lose potential
customers simply because they're using an accessibility tool such
as a browser reader for the blind.
Markup validation compares the coding on the website to established
standards. Adhering to these standards allows the site to be properly
displayed by browsers that implement and rely on the standards.
While all browsers do not implement and rely on all standards,
valid markup makes the process of browser compatibility checking
much easier.
We check each page throughout deveopment to ensure that it displays
the same (or as much as possible) regardless of which browser
that is used to view it. We use both Mac and PC computers to do
this, which ensures that our client receive a site that maintains
its appearance across multiple browser platforms.
Currently, we check Web site appearance using the following browsers.
Windows
Browsers |
Firefox
Internet Explorer
Mozilla
Netscape
Opera
|
Macintosh
Browsers |
Camino
Firefox
Internet Explorer
Mozilla
Netscape
Opera |
SEO -- Search Engine Optimization Techniques
SEO, which stands for search engine optimization, is a major
part of web design. Where a site ranks in a search engine based
on what key words directly determines how many potential customers
see the page. If you sell hyper-chromed widgets, then you want
to be one of the first pages that people find when they search
for hyper-chromed widgets. The higher you rank, the sooner people
will see your link; and the sooner they get to your link, the
less chance that they will find one of your competitors first.
There are several ways to optimize a site, but the absolute minimum
requirement is to maximize each page's Title, Description and
Keywords.
The Title is what you see at the top of your browser. Most search
engines list this as the name of the page. The title should contain
your company name and information that clearly identifies what
the page contains as it might be searched for via a search engine.
The Description and Keywords are invisible to the reader, but
they are very important to the search engines.
The Description tag allows the designer to write the description
that will appear for that page when it is returned by many search
engines. Without this tag, the search engine will generally list
the first few lines of visible text on the page. This can lead
to some confusing descriptions to say the least. Controlling how
the page is described allows you to clearly market the page.
Keywords are specific words and phrases. Optimizing your keywords
is another way to improve where your site appears during a search.
Please note that while optimizing the Title, Description and
Keywords is not a guarantee of high ranking,
it is a cornerstone of overall SEO.
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