Posts In Web Design & Development

CAPTCHAs - To Have Or Not To Have?

Hi,

CAPTCHAs, short for Completely Automated Program to Tell Computers and Humans Apart are automated programs that can can generate and grade tests that humans can pass but computer programs cannot.

However, CAPTCHAs can get quite irritating at times and it poses as a hindrance to users on the website. In fact, for all the time we spend on ensuring usability of a website design, a CAPTCHA can wreck the flow of the web page and add on to the workload of the users. It adds up as an extra step between the completion of a specific task.

One of the most important and most difficult tasks on a website is to get customers to make a conversion be it make a contact, purchase a product or service, download a newsletter, complete a form or any other call to action fulfillment. And if the way from initial communication to the final call-to-action page is not a smooth one, customers will get distracted and can even leave.

And CAPTCHAs can really pose as an obstacle in the users way!

Good CAPTCHAs vs. Bad CAPTCHAs
Good CAPTCHAs don't look like obstacles. Rather, they feel like an extension of the existing process and are an extra step that users need to fill in the HTML forms. And because extra steps tend to equal less conversions, it is important to make it as easy as seamless as can be. Therefore, instead of having complex non-decipherable texts, have simple capital letters in your CAPTCHA that lie in a straight line and are almost readable.

Bad CAPTCHAs are impossible to read. Users need to squint at the screen while trying to make sense of what is scribbled in the CAPTCHA. They usually have wavy text and disfigured alphabets and numbers that make them even harder to read.

So, even if you need to use CAPTCHAs on your website, make sure you don't hamper the usability!

Cheers,
Maneet Puri
Any Web Needs?

What Should Be The Ideal Width Of Your Web Design?

Hi,

How I wish visitors share the same vision as when I see while designing a website. However that is seldom the case. How you see your design is not exactly how other people might see it.

This is primarily because people view your website using different size of monitors that are further set to different color depths and resolutions. Moreover, they use different browsers with different window sizes. All these factors make a whole deal of difference to how visitors see your website design.

Perfect Size
This is why it is generally advisable to stick with a fixed width layout with a 960px web design width. It is just about perfect for any website and also reduces the “difference” factor considerably.

Perfect Resolution
1024 X 768 is the most popular screen resolution followed by the larger resolutions. However, this dimension can keep changing depending on the kind of audience the website caters to. For example, websites dedicated to design, photography, exhibits etc. will be used by people with large screens. Therefore, they need to be designed for them.

However, there are still other considerations that designers should explore. This is why 960px web design width is the best!

It leaves enough space for browser chrome and window resizing. All the elements like the title bar, search box, scroll bars, menus and toolbars take up space within the 1024×768 viewing area. Moreover, certain visitors don't have their browser windows maximized leading to more loss of space. A 960px width lets you include more information while still leaving room for any inconsistencies owing to window size.

A 960px width allows you to create well-proportioned designs. This is because t supports a large number of grids. So whether you need a multi column magazine style design or a simple 2 column layout, you have a steady answer.

Maneet Puri
Professional  Web Developer From India

4 Web 2.0 Trends For 2009!

Hi,

The world wide web has come a long long way since its advent. Though there have been changes by the day.. or minute.. or even by the second... It has made a giant leap from what it was and where it stands now. From Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 and paving way for more to come...

Here are the hottest Web 2.0 trends that have been high during 2009 and will be in the coming times as well:

Structured Data
Unstructured information of the past has given way to structured information in the present. The web pages have better HTML, better coding and improved website architecture. The data is more linked thus providing you with better connections. Also, microformats and RDFa contribute in improving the content structure. All of these contribute in improving the way information is structured on the web and thus providing web users a better user experience.

Real Time Web
Web 1.0 only provided a traditional search medium where users could search for information through various search engines. However, with Web 2.0, the concept of real time search has come into picture. This lets users search for information in real-time i.e. find out current and latest information regarding their query. Thanks to microblogging sites like Twitter, you can find what is being said about something right now at this time. Even Google has adopted real time search with its Show Options.

Personalization
This is because of the rise of social media in the Web 2.0 era. Social media is powered by the web users and their inter-connections. This facilitates interaction and information sharing on a personal level.

Mobile Web
With the evolution of technology and increasing accessibility of smart phones, more and more people are using the mobile web to browse the internet. Also it becomes an easier way to access the web when one is on the run. This has opened up an entirely new audience segment that website owners can cater to. Also, there is a huge surge in mobile web design and mobile based applications.

Maneet  Puri
Professional Web Developer from India