A List Apart 211

January 31, 2006, 7:12 PM | 0 Comments

If you haven’t had a chance to read today’s issue, or you’ve never heard of A List Apart before… you’re missing out.

Today’s issue of A List Apart (an awesome webazine for developers) contains 2 very good articles that every web developer should put on their must-read list and immediately add to their favourites. Just a suggestion though.

In Search of the Holy Grail covers what is considered to be the ‘Holy Grail’ of CSS layouts. A 3-column layout with header and footer where all 3 columns are fluid and the source is in the ‘perfect’ order for screen readers or other devices concerned with accessibility. If you’re looking for a good tutorial on how to accomplish this layout, you’ll be overjoyed, because this is a great one.

Home Page Goals covers what I think are some excellent guidelines for any site’s home page. Remember, first impressions really do count on the web. To paraphrase the article, it basically covers the following goals:

State the purpose of the site - new users will want to know right away what your site is about. Make sure this information is easy to find on your home page.

Don’t annoy your regulars - repeat visitors already know what your site is about, so don’t get in their way by giving too much prominence to the purpose of your site.

Feature your newest content - your visitors will want updates, so make sure that the newest content is always easy to locate.

Make sure your navigation is consistent - this if fairly self explanatory.

I was pretty impressed when I read this issue of A List Apart this morning. Their content is always great, but today’s issue was exceptional, especially the article about goals for a home page. We’ve all had clients who were more concerned with getting something online than they were about what actually went online.

Posted in: CSS, Design, Web Development, Web Standards