#20244
The Art of Topless Dancing and Information Design
Creating a web site makes for all sorts of strange working relationships. What does an information designer have to do to get a little cooperation?
Warren, Denice. List Apart, A (2001). Design>Information Design>Web Design
#19368
The virtues of simplicity are well-known among experienced systems designers. And many of the things that are 'right' with simpler software systems are also applicable to Web pages and site designs.
Sullivan, Terry. All Things Web (1996). Articles>Usability>Web Design
#21135
Ask Jeeves and Urinating Canines
First, there were butlers. Then, there were search engines. Today, there is Jeeves, a hybrid less expensive than the former and more user-friendly than the latter. Others have followed in Jeeves's footsteps, but his loafers are hard to fill. While he is no longer an original, he continues to be invaluable for net-novices and net-addicts alike.
Berkowitz, David. WebWord (2000). Articles>Web Design>Search
#20845
Have you ever tried to place an order with a salesperson or waiter and found yourself answering the same questions over and over again? There are many sites on the Web where this occurs, such as those with product locator searches, shopping carts, and other functions that are supposed to make Web sites more interactive.
Allen, Cliff. Allen.com (2003). Design>Web Design>Personalization
#18804
Asking for Usernames and Passwords on the Web 
The Web has moved beyond purely open content available to all. We now want to use it to collect and provide information that we want to restrict in some way – to members, or to staff, or because it is sensitive or personal data. One common method of restricting access is to ask users to enter username and password. Even this simple combination can be a source of annoyance and frustration to users but it does not have to be. This paper compares options for setting up and maintaining usernames and passwords, and also shows how to design a screen so that users are guided easily to the correct choices.
Miller, Sarah and Caroline Jarrett. STC Proceedings (2002). Design>Web Design>Security
#27863
Unlike JavaScript the use of ASP doesn't depend on someone's browser supporting it) is very difficult to learn, and this has come from the early languages like Perl, which are difficult to write and even more difficult to debug. Over the past few years two new languages have emerged, PHP and ASP. These are easy enough for even the novice webmaser to learn.
Gowans, David. Free Webmaster Help (2001). Design>Web Design>Server Side Includes>ASP
#14072
ASP, PHP, Java, JavaScript, XML, ActiveX, SQL... Mais de Quoi Parle T-on Vraiment? 
Ces termes affreux sont très à la mode dans le milieu du développement de solutions/sites Internet ou Intranet. On ne peut pas discuter 2 minutes avec un développeur sans qu'il en prononce un ou deux (voire tous si il est dans la catégorie 'Développeur souffrant de gros problèmes de communication avec les non-développeurs' !). Pour dire la vérité, il est même parfois difficile de s'y retrouver quand on est de la partie... C'est pour cela que nous allons essayer ici de définir simplement ces termes et de les regrouper par grandes familles. Ces termes caractérisent les différents langages que l'on peut utiliser pour le développement d'applications web. Ils se séparent en deux grandes familles selon que les scripts (programmes) s'exécutent sur le serveur ou sur le client.
Redtech (2002). (French) Design>Web Design>Server Side Includes>PHP
#26411
By utilizing breadcrumb navigation you allow your viewers to easily trace their path taken to the current location and back track if necessary.
Angeletti, Mark. Search-This (2005). Design>Web Design>Server Side Includes
#30670
Assemble a Cross-Platform Firefox Extension
XUL is a surprisingly easy way to build cross-platform browser extensions or even stand-alone applications. Discover how to build powerful, flexible Mozilla browser extensions that go beyond the capabilities of other tools like embedded scripting languages or CGI--because they're built right into the user's browser.
Ogbuji, Uche. IBM (2007). Articles>Information Design>XML>Web Browsers
#29738
Assessing Information Needs of Diverse Users to Guide Web Design and Content Development
This paper presents a qualitative study of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's diverse users and their mental models regarding injury-related content. The study employed an innovative modified contextual inquiry method utilizing tailored, in-depth interviews with five distinct user groups. Included in this paper is a detailed description of the background, framework, and method used for this study. Analysis of the full results was still in process at the due date of this paper. The results will be in the presentation's slide set and available from the STC website www.stc.org.
Pettit Jones, Colleen and Susan J. Robinson. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Web Design>Scientific Communication>Biomedical
#14381
Assessing Web site usability can be complex, because the medium can be both a document and a 'software product.' Documentation usability testing asks how headings, page elements, and index entries help users find the content they need, and whether that content is useful. Software usability testing asks how well the user inteface supports users’ job-task activity, indicates functionality, provides navigation signposts and program status, and prevents errors. A Web site must meet a combination of these goals—links should lead to the content that users seek, through pathways that users can easily follow without reaching a dead-end or getting lost.
Hinderer, Deborah and Laurie Kantner. STC Proceedings (1998). Presentations>Usability>Web Design
#15090
Lists several questions to pose when evaluating a Web site's form and content.
Smart, Karl L. Intercom (2000). Design>Web Design>Assessment
#14994
Assessing Web Site Usability from Server Log Files
White paper on how to glean usability data from web server log files and how to use that data.
Tec-Ed, Inc. (1999). Articles>Web Design>Usability
#30604
ATAG (Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines) Assessment of WordPress
This document assesses WordPress 2.01 against the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0.
Clark, Joe. JoeClark.org (2006). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Content Management
#21105
Getting stuck on a web page can be painful. The back button doesn't always work. While there are many ways to escape from web pages, many users don't know the tricks. A company can stop hurting users by doing more testing, using proper development methods, and being aware of the issue.
Rhodes, John S. WebWord (2001). Design>Web Design>Usability
#22738
Although blogs are generally linked with business, personal, and entertainment sites, Eugene Volokh, a professor of law at the University of California at Los Angeles, thinks that blogs are evolving into a major academic tool for universities. Members of the academic community have discovered that blogs offer the classroom a cheap, sociable, and fast way for everyone in the class to actively participate in discussion.
Lisson, Kristin. Techniques (2003). Articles>Web Design>Writing>Blogging
#26440
You can keep copy from turning zombie by starting with a clear idea of exactly what you want to say. It's tempting to just start writing, but this approach can leave your pages vulnerable to zombification, because it's easier to sound like you’re making sense than to actually make sense. Outlines can serve as an effective vaccine against living death.
Kissane, Erin. List Apart, A (2005). Articles>Web Design>Writing
#28397
Attention mapping is a tool to help you start to plan a visual layout around realistic communication between user and site. It can also be a helpful analysis tool, helping you work out what's wrong about a layout.
Hunt, Ben. Web Design From Scratch (2006). Design>Web Design>Document Design>Usability
#22708
Attractive Vectormaps: A Call for Well-Arranged Webmaps
If a user has a choice between two maps he/she will often use the map with the 'better' design. This means a map, besides being readable, should be visually attractive, comparable with other maps and eventually deliver some tools to navigate and interact with a map. A further problem is that a lot of maps are not always self-explaining by default. SVG offers some possibility to make maps well designed. The readability is dependent on several factors: e g. the chosen colors, used fonts or minimal dimensions for symbols, line-styles and fill-patterns. The article is pointing to basic principles for designing visually attractive maps.
Dahinden, Tobias. SVG Open (2002). Design>Web Design>Graphic Design>Sitemaps
#22932
Attractive, Accessible Web Sites: AKA, Disproving the Myth of Ugly
Web accessibility is not the sexiest subject in the world. Let's be realistic. And selling the concept is never all that easy as a result. Sure, you can harp on about all the 'business benefits' (potential increased audienced, reduced bandwidth costs, good PR), but what you really need to be able to do is show that it's possible to do this without compromising on the design, and that's often where the problems begin.
Accessify (2003). Design>Web Design>Accessibility
#14249
Audience-Driven Web Design: An Application to Medical Web Sites 
We begin by identifying the problem of defining medical Web site credibility and then identify the gap in Web design research, a gap that fails to identify or address specific audience needs in Web site design. We then present our process for identifying and fulfilling specific audience needs, describe a framework, and present a case study in audience-driven Web design using the framework to guide the discussion.
Swenson, Jenni, Helen Constantinides and Laura J. Gurak. Technical Communication Online (2002). Design>Web Design>User Centered Design>Biomedical
#19225
Auditing Software Tools for SENDA Compliance
This project has identified a number of tools that may be of use to the academic community. The starting point of this investigation was the W3C WAI web page that lists existing evaluation, repair, and transformation tools for Web Content Accessibility.
#22821
Authenticate and Track Users with PHP
Learn how authentication, cookies, and sessions can add security and a personal touch to your site.
Meloni, Julie. Webmonkey (2000). Design>Web Design>Server Side Includes>PHP
#27932
You can't always count on having a professional designer around to resize and position your images for you, but you'd rather your page layout didn't look like it was created by orangutans. Harvey Kane builds a script that makes your life easier.
Kane, Harvey. List Apart, A (2006). Design>Web Design>Document Design>CSS
#18632
Auxiliary Benefits of Accessible Web Design
This document is one of several resources created to assist the preparation of a business case for the implementation of Web accessibility. It describes the many business, technical and other benefits to the organization above and beyond the straightforward benefits to people with disabilities that can be realized by applying the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 1.0) to Web sites.
Arch, Andrew and Chuck Letourneau. W3C (2002). Design>Web Design>Accessibility
