www.dub3 design

Design Principles

We try to keep it simple so a website is easier to maintain and loads quicker.

 

Modularise - we use Adobe Dreamweaver library assets for common code including headers and footers.

 

No frames - they were a bad idea for many reasons discussed elsewhere on the web.

 

Menus - ensure there is a text menu for when the fancy menus don't work.

 

Macromedia Flash and Shockwave - these have limited usage for pretty animations with relatively small download sizes. We are not keen on web sites that use them intensively. Ideally you should be able to skip them. They should not be used on initial pages and definitely not for navigation.

Design Technologies

To create a professional long lasting web presence we use modern web design and media technologies, these include:

Web Site Optimisation

During web site development we pay as close attention to the underlying code as we do to the visible aspect. We code web sites in a way that best suites search-engine-spiders and web-bots to maximise the chances a high ranking.

 

It is possible to create a web site in various ways and still end up with the same visual result. Unfortunately not all web design techniques guarantee cross browser compatibility and the efficient indexing by search engines. Using valid XHTML we design web site code to be cross browser compatible and search engine efficient.

Image Optimising

Images and graphics will be created to the highest quality. We optimise every image to ensure high quality with the smallest possible file sizes to keep bandwidth cost down and customer experience optimal.

Pop-up windows and Redirects

Opening external hyperlinks in a new window is fine as long as the window is reused every time so that you only have one extra window open. Visitors should know in advance whether a link will open in a new window. Warnings can be via mouse-over-text or a different style for the link. On the whole we prefer to keep all the attributes of a new window available rather than hiding the menu / tool / status bar and resize options. An exception to this could be an image enlargement.

 

Automatic pop-up windows for adverts and links are a very bad idea and just annoy visitors.

Automatic redirections should be avoided as it messes up the use of the back button.

Cookies

We don't use them on our site. They have their uses but tracking cookies that watch where you've been can deter visitors. You should be able to navigate around a site without the use of cookies unless you're intending to buy something. Sites that use cookies should check and warn early on to avoid web pages failing and wasting visitors time. If you press a form button and get redirected to the same or previous page then the site usually requires to to enable cookies but didn't tell you.