Day 1

Communicating Data on the Web:

• Introduction and Objectives:
• Communicating Information to an “unseen” Audience

Attention-Grabbing Indicators:

• Identifying the Audience
• Reaching a Web Audience
• Retaining Site Interest
• Developing an Audience for Further Reading

Relearning Writing Skills (for the Web!):

• Typography:
• Readability vs. Legibility – I Shot the Serif
• And to Cap it All!
• If it Looks Hard to Read – it is!
• Spell it Right!
• Text files vs. Graphics files
• Default Fonts and Sizes – Don’t be a Control Freak
• The Dreaded Variables

Making On-Screen Data Readable:

• Design Principles
• Alignment:
• Choose one, just one!
• Living on the edge – Get off it!
• Proximity:
• Developing a Squint
• Paragraphs vs. Breaks
• Relationships
• Organised Space
• Repetition:
• A Sense of Belonging
• Unified Websites
• Guiding Without Instructing
• Elements of Surprise
• Contrast:
• A Hierarchy of Information
• Creating a Focal Point

Day 2

Structuring Material:

• Planning made Simple – Sticky Information
• Navigation Design and Styles:
• Horizontal Formats
• One-Size Surfing
• Navigation alternatives:
• Buttons, Bars and Boy I’m Getting Lost!
• Selective Linking: Internal, External, Email and Anchors
• Let the Reader Know it’s a Link!
• Moving vs. Static Text - Tables or Frames
• Site-dependent Styles - Let the Site Decide!
• Index vs. Site Map
• Design Checklist

Creating Areas of Interest on a Web Page:

• The Aesthetics of Colour
• Browser-safe Colours – Paint by Numbers
• Graphic Rules:
• Bit Depth and Monitor Resolution
• File Formats – To GIF or Not to GIF
• Image Maps – Serve yourself!
• Thumbnails

Best Practice:

• Seeing a Site at its Best
• Site Management
• Browser Considerations
• Offline Browser Check
• Search Tools
• Cascading Style Sheets
• TrueDoc Fonts
• Font Embedding – OpenType

Summary