Web page pitfalls by

Many web pages do NOT portray the message that is intended. They hang (stop), take a long time to load, leave awkward spaces or even slow down your computer. It may be your link to the internet, or the internet itself. But it may be that the web page has

been designed with the latest web browser/editor which uses facilities not available on the browser of your potential customer/viewer. That viewer may even switch off certain attributes which negates any efforts you, or your team of designers, produce to make the page "glitzy".

Here is a table of "Features" you might want to avoid.

Feature		Alternative
Pictures	A lot of data makes up a picture. It all has to be loaded to the viewer's computer.	Use small pictures (thumbnails). Keep pictures on a separate page - not the front page. Logos, buttons & simple pictures using the GIF format are small and quick to load.
Animation	They usually annoy me. but maybe you are not selling to me Animations are unpredictable on different browsers. They may not be supported, in which case an awkward space may be where you wanted the animation.	Animate little gismos that you consider expendable, if you must.
Mouseovers	The web designer can dictate actions to occur when the mouse is over a certain piece of text or image. It looks great when it is supported.	Stick to simple links for text. For images, use the "alt" text for effective additional information - it may not be supported but it will not throw the text in unwanted areas.
Frames	See animation	It is unlikely that you really need frames.
Sounds	I do not switch my sound on unless I want to listen to sounds - not when you want me to listen	How about providing a link to allow the user to download the sound (audio clip) with a brief introduction and length of recording.

Some browsers will attempt to work on your feature with a possible draining of resources - which annoys everybody.

There are at least fifteen browsers out there on different operating systems with many different versions and options. You owe it to yourself to verify that your image is being potrayed the way you want. Keep it simple.

Frames allow different parts of the screen to move independently to other parts. They are rarely necessary and rarely look the same as you intend on the browser of your potential customer. Keep it simple.

Animation should not be used for anything important. To have an animated piece of important text flutter toward the center of the screen, wait ten seconds before fluttering to a corner will probably be missed completely by 60% of your potential customers. Keep it simple.

Use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to reduce the size of your page and introduce some nice features - and consistancy.

Animation for a flag, a dog's tail wagging, a blinking light or anything which is expendable is probably not a risk. Just remember, an animation may not show at all. Keep it simple.

There are good, even excellent pages out there. Look at them. Learn from them. http://www.refdesk.com or http://www.mississauga.com are good examples. Alternativly, check http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/.

I am working on this page: Keeping it simple...

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