1. Readability
2. Navigation
3. Bells And Whistles (BW)
4. Load Time
5. Images
6. Frames
7. Web Programming and Forms
8. Security
9. Text
   
10. Browser Compatibility
11. Page Size and Scrolling
12. Page Counters
13. Background Music
14. Guest-Books
15. Advertisements
16. User Agreements
17. Privacy Policies

Readability: Content should be readable. A site should have a color scheme that does not irritate the eyes. For example, yellow text on a white background is a bad match, as well as very busy background images, unusual fonts, etc.

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Navigation: A good navigation scheme should conform to the "three click rule", that is, a site where you can get to any other major portion of it within three clicks of the mouse.Overall, site navigation should be intuitive and logical.

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Bells and Whistles (BW): BW is an industry term for Java/JavaScript/Flash/Shockwave or content that requires the user to have a browser plug-in installed.Web developers choose to include BW for several reasons.They might be trying to “impress” the user with his/her programming skills, or they may actually be attempting to provide something extra by implementing BW. Very often, BW are used so excessively as to drive the user away from a web site. BW should only be used when it actually does something for the site and the person who is looking at it benefits from it. Certain BW went out of style in 1996 (e.g. scrolling text in the status bar of the browser). JavaScript Roll-overs (when a graphical button lights up when you move your mouse over it) can add to a site, but can ruin it if done incorrectly. If a site uses Java as part of the interface, Shockwave or any other content that requires a plug-in or helper application, the site should provide an alternate method for viewing the content if possible, or at least a hyperlink pointing to a location where a user can get the required application or plug-in. BW can be highly beneficial when used correctly.BW can provide interactivity for the user that HTML cannot provide, such as in online games or interactive presentations. The usefulness of BW at a given website depends on the context in which it is being used.

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Load time: Site-specific factors that may affect how fast a page loads would be large images and BW. Slow servers or slow connections are not taken into account when judging web site design.

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Images: A site should not contain an unnecessary amount of images for reasons affecting load time. Images on the site should be optimized (using a standard format) for the web. Thumbnails (the “click here to enlarge” concept) of images should be made available when content like photographs are present. Alternate text should be associated with the important images, such that the text will be displayed if the image can’t be.

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Frames: Sites should not use frames excessively, only where necessary. Two frames are usually acceptable when it comes to navigation. Three frames are pushing it, unless there is a real valid purpose for it.

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Web Programming and Forms: When judging a site that uses forms to accept input for processing from the user, the internals of the site should validate the input and return error messages to the user where necessary.MAJOR security holes can be opened up on sites that do not do this (an explanation of these security holes is beyond the scope of this document), so this is something that should be critiqued rather strongly. Web developers that decide to implement form validation with JavaScript should be aware of any cross-browser issues with JavaScript, and that the validation may not work correctly or at all with older web browsers. Forms should also be laid out logically and the controls (check boxes, text boxes. etc) should be appropriate for the kind of data they are to accept.

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Security: Sites that accept extremely sensitive information from the user, such as social security numbers or credit card numbers, should always transmit this data using the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). SSL is a protocol that encrypts sensitive data on the side of the user before sending it to the server, where it is then decrypted and processed. This prevents third parties (“hackers”) from intercepting data on the way to the server for their own use. Although it is highly unlikely that data would be intercepted that way, SSL provides potential customers with peace of mind and assurance that their information is being transmitted safely. Use of SSL also adds credibility to the company or people that owns the site in questions. You can determine if a site uses SSL by looking at the “lock” located somewhere on the web browser window (mainly in Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE) and Netscape and Mozilla Firefox). If it is “locked” on a page that accepts the sensitive information, you can be sure that the site is using SSL to transmit the data.

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Text: Text should be in a font that would be present on all or most users' browsers. Too much text on a page is not a good thing either. Hyperlinks within the same page should be present to provide easy navigation of large text documents. Text should be big enough to see comfortably: text that is too small can be painful to read and text that is too big would take up too much space, causing an unnecessary amount of scrolling on behalf of the user. Text should never be IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS! Capital letters signifies yelling according to proper Internet "netiquett" and is highly inappropriate for web sites or email. Nowadays, blinking text is considered inappropriate mainly because it is annoying and can be hard to read.

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Browser Compatibility: Sites should not be browser specific. They should be tested in as many web browsers as possible and should work similarly in different ones, especially Mozilla Firefox, Netscape, and MSIE. Web developers who decide to include JavaScript or other BW content should be aware of any cross-browser issues with such content.

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Page Size and Scrolling: A good site does not rely on a user having a particular screen resolution. It should be easily viewable from at least a resolution of 800x600 pixels and up with minimal scrolling by the user. A resolution of 640x480 pixels also would be favorable for some older displays.

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Page Counters: Certain features on a web site might be considered unprofessional, especially on a commercial site. Page counters are not a reliable source of information and are often useless. When a site does not get a large amount of traffic, it is not a good idea to let the public know that by displaying a (most likely inaccurate) hit counter in the first place. Data obtained from a server log is a much more reliable source of traffic statistics.

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Background Music: On a commerical web site, background music is virtually *always* inappropriate, simply because it is annoying. It is distracting, and draws the user's attention away from the actual content of the website. For the same reasons, background music is considered annoying on personal web sites as well. It is important to remember that most people surf the web during the day, while at work. Most people will simply go to another web site without music to avoid disturbing their co-workers, or getting caught by their supervisor. If background music is required on a web site for some reason (which it almost never is), the web developer should provide a method of turning it off, and ideally, the default setting should be "off" as not to disturb or suprise anyone.

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Guest-Books:A guest-book on a commercial site is inappropriate. A more appropriate way to accept feedback from users would be to provide a customer feedback form which would automatically email the response to the site administrator, or to whomever the response would be of interest. A discussion board may also be an appropriate alternative. Guest-books may be acceptable on a personal site, but still, these kinds of "features" do not do much for the site itself, especially since personal sites are not visited as often.

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Advertisements:Many web sites generate revenue by selling advertising space. Advertising can come in several forms, however, the most popular type on the web is through the use of a graphic banner or blocks of text links. The current standard for banner size is 468x60 pixels, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (http://www.iab.net). Sometimes advertisements can be cleverly disguised as an actual "features" of the web site. Pop-up advertisements are generally considered annoying, as well as any other ad content that obstructs the main page content.

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User Agreements:Many sites that provide a service include User Agreements, or, interchangeably, Terms of Service (commonly abbreviated TOS), often used to disclaim warranties and eliminate any liability due to denial of service, or damages caused by such denial of service. Denial of service can include, but is not limited to server down time or bugs in software that make services inaccessible. Such terms should be clear and concise as to what the terms mean and what they cover.

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Privacy Policies: Web sites that collect information about a user should include some form of a privacy policy, which explicitly states what information is collected, when it is collected, how it is used and what measures are taken to protect such information. This practice started being widely used in late 1998 and early 1999, when many large Internet advertisers publicly announced that they would not advertise on any site that did not include a privacy policy. One example is IBM, who made a formal announcement of such a policy in the Wall Street Journal in early 1999.

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