Web content development

Overview

With skills in Adobe Dreamweaver® CS3 , Adobe® CS3 and experience in website design, maintenance and content management, Red Lettuce Communications can assist with planning and editing your website. This includes:

• information architecture—reviewing website structure, sitemaps and page structure
• content layout—developing text, graphics, main menus and sub-menus
• navigation—planning links between and within pages
• XHTML and CSS validation—ensuring that content is well formed for viewing on different browsers
• usability—checking browser compatibility and assessing the ease of use to find information
• accessibility—how information is presented to different users.

All pages are validated according to W3C standards—that's the World Wide Web Consortium, which has recommended guidelines for good web design.

Information architecture

We can review and critique website structure by firstly looking at the hierarchy of web pages, how web pages are linked to each other, and whether users can get to information within a few clicks of the mouse. Devising a sitemap allows a 'flat' structure to be planned so that the web pages with the most frequently accessed or important information are quick to find. Web page structure is also reviewed to see how menus, links and content are positioned.

Content layout

Text on screen needs to be presented in small 'chunks' that can be scanned quickly. You can get more people to read what's on your website by using:

• appropriate headings
• dot points
• short, succinct paragraphs in plain English.

We can undertake web content research, writing and editing to improve content. Using clear and natural language helps users to understand your message. A small amount of graphical information is also good design practice, because users don't want to wait for graphics to load—they want to read information.

Web pages are designed using cascading style sheets (CSS). CSS allows text styles to be set up, and to control the position of text and graphics on pages.

Navigation

Users must be able to move between pages quickly, so having an intuitive menu structure and good page navigation is essential. A clear and consistent navigation design for all pages lets users go straight to the most important information. Use menus and sitemaps for website navigation, and page links that have informative descriptions where needed.

XHTML and CSS validation

The content of your website needs to be readable by many users with different browsers and operating systems. It is important, then, to have valid hypertext markup language (XHTML) code. This ensures that all of your website appears as it should and that there is nothing missing from web pages. Similarly, cascading style sheets also need to have valid code.

Usability

Usability means how easy it is to find and use information, as well as how different browsers display your website. This depends on how the website navigation and page layout has been designed. Some usability issues include whether:

• the most important or frequently used information is easy to find
• information is easy to read and understand
• links to the correct information are clearly shown
• website and page navigation work properly
• pages and documents can be downloaded quickly for viewing
• graphics convey useful information
• check that pages display correctly in Firefox and Internet Explorer.

Accessibility

Accessibility means how information is presented to disabled users. People who are visually impaired, hard of hearing, have learning difficulties or are colourblind may have difficulty accessing some of the content on your website. We check web pages against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0. Our web editing covers:

• alternate text for links and graphics
• relative text sizing
• use of graphics to convey information to less literate users
• easy, intuitive navigation
• plain English language.