When you create a new site, or new content, it might be something you’re eager to tick off your to-do list so you can move on.
But please remember the visitors you’re making it for, and pause awhile to make sure it will actually work for them. I see so many instances where this clearly hasn’t been done.
Try to look at your pages like a new visitor. They don’t know what you know about what’s further down the page or two pages over. They only know what they see at any one time. Can they see what they need to? Is stuff getting in the way and frustrating them?
Below you’ll find a few specifics to watch for.
(Tip: I talk about zoom settings in your web browser – if you haven’t previously found how to adjust the close up/far away setting, hunt it down in the menu. It’s a useful tool, especially if your eyesight sometimes needs a bit of help.)
Page layout and screen format
I’ve been noticing this a lot recently. I still use a 4:3 format monitor, and there seems to have been a shift to assuming everyone is now on the wider 6:9. So page designs made of blocks sometimes break and I have to reduce the screen zoom % to get everything to slot into its proper place.
You don’t have any control over a visitor’s monitor and settings, so try to get your design working with as wide a range as possible. That means checking a page design on two or three devices to see how it behaves: at least a desktop and a phone. [Read more…] about Web pages – check them out before you check them off