In the last few years, the concepts of usability and accessibility have become ever more important to Web design. To make your site friendly to everyone who visits, it's important to keep both of these concepts in mind, and put them into practice as much as possible.

Usability

Usability is the technique of making something (in this case, a Web site) as easy to use as possible, so visitors can accomplish what they want in as little time as possible. There are a vast number of techniques to achieve usability, and we'll go over the basics here.

Don't Get Clever

Marketing people may get miffed when we say this, but overly clever names for the sections and links on your Web site are not a good idea Whenever possible, use terms that reflect what the user will experience or is looking for. Instead of saying "Vision," use a phrase such as "What We Do."

Using Color as a Guide

If you're building a large site with many sections, consider color-coding the sections. Color-coding helps visitors stay aware of where they are on the site and alerts them if they inadvertently switch to another section.

Don't Be Afraid to Use White

Make your text easy to read by sticking to black text on a white background as much as possible. Sometimes, to set a section apart from the rest of the Web page, you'll want to use a light background color. That's okay, as long as it's light enough to still be readable. White text on a black background is also fairly easily read.

Do Your Homework

It pays to find out more about usability. Check out the following Web sites to solidify your knowledge:

• Usability.gov
• Usability First
• Useable Web

A lot of sites are dedicated to this theme -- use your favorite search engine to find more.

Accessibility

Accessibility is the practice of making your Web site as usable as possible for people with disabilities. There are quite a few tools available these days to help people with disabilities use the Web. Just a few tricks will make your site much friendlier to these tools.

Alt-Text, Alt-Text, Alt-Text

Every image you use on the Web has the option of showing alternate text, or alt-text. This was originally developed because in the olden days some browsers could not display images, and some people set their browsers to not load images to save download time. Nowadays, there are Web navigation tools for vision-impaired people that actually read the contents of your site to the user. If there is no alternate text for your images, these visitors will have no idea what the image is. Even worse, if you're using images for your navigation buttons, the user won't be able to navigate the site without alternate text. It's quick and painless, so be sure to include it.

Avoid Image maps

Image maps are images where certain parts of the image are clickable and linked to other parts of the Web site. These are difficult for accessibility tools to interpret, so it's best to avoid them. If they must be used, be sure to include the same links as regular text links on the same Web page.

Learn More

A quick search on the Web leads you to a wealth of resources on Web site accessibility. You can also check out these Web sites for more information:

• Section 508
• Web Accessibility Initiative
• Dive Into Accessibility

Be sure to read up on this subject before you get too deep into your Web site construction. If you plan for an accessible site from the beginning, you'll save yourself a lot of trouble down the road.

Next Up

You've learned how to use colors, fonts, and image to create a great Web site design, and now it's time to put your ideas and design together to actually create your first Web site. First, though, try your hand at the quiz and assignment to make sure it all sank in. And don't forget to visit the Message Board to swap Web design ideas with your classmates and instructor.