• Content
• Organization and navigation
• Style
• Usability

Home Page

• Does the content fit vertically on one monitor screen or at least is it obvious that there is material "below the fold"?
• Is the purpose of the web site clear?
• Is the authorship clear?
• How quickly does the page download?

Navigation

• Navigation Scheme
  • Footer on every page; includes
    • Date of last revision
    • Email link to site author
    • Copyright notice if necessary
• Navigation Structure
  • Are there cover pages for sections as needed?
  • Are there links back to section covers
  • Are there links to other major pages in that section?
• Navigation Bar
  • Does it appear in the same location on every interior page
  • Does it always contain a clear link to your home page?
  • Does it contain a systematic set of additional links?
    • To other main sections
    • To pages in the current section
    • To outside sites as necessary

Site Organization

• Put the entire site section in one folder
• Put all the images for that section in an images folder within the site folder
• Use relative links to other pages within the site
• Use absolute links to your home page and other major site areas outside the current site

Page Design

• No horizontal scrolling ever
• No page (file) longer than about 3 monitor screens
• Use the Top of Page link as necessary throughout the file and also in the navigation bar as necessary

Color Scheme

• Choose a consistent background design, if any
• Make consistent use of colored text
• Choose compatible colors
• Choose colors that are sufficiently contrasted with the background
• Choose colors that help convey the tone of the site
• Keep a site visitor’s desire to print a page in mind
• Choose link and visited link colors throughout your site that are consistent and compatible with your color scheme

Fonts

• Be consistent in your choice of font sizes for headlines and subheads
• Be consistent in your choice of font faces for body text
• Put your body text in a font large enough to read
• Use no more than two font faces in your site
• Don’t underline any word or phrase that is not a hyperlink

Images

• Always add the ALT tag to describe images for the visually impaired and for visitors who have turned off their graphics
• Always add height and width attributes for quicker downloading
• Check the download time
• Use borderless tables to control the layout of images and text

Browsers

• Review your site in Netscape Navigator as well as Microsoft Explorer
• Check your site with a modem as well as a direct network connection

Content

• Edit for clarity, accuracy, grammar, organization
• Post content sufficient to convey your idea
• Document content where necessary
• Observe copyright laws

Links

• Embed your hyperlinks within the text describing the site you are linking to; never use the phrase "Click here."
• Check your site periodically for link rot, i.e., broken links
• Check for annotations in lists of links; check to be sure that there is a clear reason why the visitor should jump to the new site.
• Consider opening links to external sites in new windows

Doodads

• Frames: are they really necessary? Are the worth the violation of ADA requirements
• Animation: is it necessary or not? Is it worth the download time? Is it worth the distraction?
• Music: necessary or not? Worth the download time? Worth the distraction?
• Scripts: necessary or not? Worth the download time? Worth the greater possibility of a browser crash?

For Further Reading
Lynch, Patrick, and Sarah Horton. Web Style Guide: Basic Design Principles for Creating Web Sites. A print version of the popular Yale C/AIM web site.

Nielsen, Jakob. Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity. Wisdom from the premier web usability guru.

Waters, Crystal. Web Concept & Design. Colorful and comprehensive with lots of illustrations. Includes good introductory information for the beginner on using layout, colors, and typefaces in web pages.

Williams, Robin, and John Tollett. The Non-Designer’s Web Book. Practical, very accessible introduction to creating and designing web sites