Sams Teach Yourself HTML 4 in 24 Hours
- Table of Contents
- Copyright
- About the Author
- Acknowledgments
- Tell Us What You Think!
- Put Your HTML Page Online Today
- I. Your First Web Page
- Hour 1. Understanding HTML and XML
- Hour 2. Create a Web Page Right Now
- Hour 3. Linking to Other Web Pages
- Hour 4. Publishing Your HTML Pages
- II. Web Page Text
- Hour 5. Text Alignment and Lists
- Hour 6. Text Formatting and Font Control
- Hour 7. Email Links and Links Within a Page
- Hour 8. Creating HTML Forms
- III. Web Page Graphics
- Hour 9. Creating Your Own Web Page Graphics
- Hour 10. Putting Graphics on a Web Page
- Hour 11. Custom Backgrounds and Colors
- Hour 12. Creating Animated Graphics
- IV. Web Page Design
- Hour 13. Page Design and Layout
- Hour 14. Graphical Links and Imagemaps
- Hour 15. Advanced Layout with Tables
- Hour 16. Using Style Sheets
- V. Dynamic Web Pages
- Hour 17. Embedding Multimedia in Web Pages
- Hour 18. Interactive Pages with Applets and ActiveX
- Hour 19. Web Page Scripting for Non-Programmers
- Hour 20. Setting Pages in Motion with Dynamic HTML
- VI. Building a Web Site
- Hour 21. Multipage Layout with Frames
- Hour 22. Organizing and Managing a Web Site
- Hour 23. Helping People Find Your Web Pages
- Hour 24. Planning for the Future of HTML
- VII. Appendixes
- A. Readers' Most Frequently Asked Questions
- B. HTML Learning Resources on the Internet
- C. Complete HTML 4 Quick Reference
- D. HTML Character Entities
Web Page Design
So far, this book has focused on the exact mechanics of Web page creation. Before getting into the nitty-gritty of spacing and layout tricks, you should take a moment now to step back and think about the overall visual design of your Web pages. Now that you know basic HTML, you need to learn how to apply it wisely.
Every aspect of a Web page should reflect the goals that led you to create the page in the first place. Not only should the text and graphics themselves communicate your message, but the way you fit those elements together can make an enormous impact on the reader's perceptions of you and your company.
Table 13.1 is checklist to help you think about the key design elements of a Web page. You should aim for most of your pages to meet the recommendations in this table, although some individual pages will undoubtedly need to "break the rules."
Table 13.1. Key Elements of Web Page Design
| Things to Consider | Suggested Guidelines |
| Text content | Between 100 and 500 words per page |
| Text breaks | A headline, rule, or image every 40 to 100 words (except in long articles or stories) |
| Page length | Two to four screens (at 640x480 resolution) |
| File size | No more than 50KB per page, including images; animated GIFs can be up to 100KB per page |
| Speed | First screen of text and key images appear in less than 3 seconds over a 28.8Kbps modem |
| Colors | Two tofour thematic colors dominant |
| Fonts | No more than three fonts (in graphics and text) |
| Blank space | Background should show on at least 50 percent of page |
| Contrast | No colorin background should be close to text color |
| Tone and style | All text and graphics consistent in mood and theme |
| Overall impact | Page as a whole should appear balanced and attractive |
Most of the tips in Table 13.1 are common to any page design, on paper or electronic. Some, however, are particularly tricky to control on Web pages.
The next section of this hour presents some HTML commands for handling the blank space and overall visual impact of your pages. This hour then wraps up with some techniques for meeting the speed requirements of today's Web, even when you use relatively large images.
Image Spacing and Borders | Next Section
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