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Today’s Tip:

Dotted underlines may look nice because they are not as jarring to the eye as straight lines but they have another quality about them you may not realize. Users have been trained to “skip” over links with dotted lines because far too often they are used to denote pop-over ads. Although they may look great on your website, their use may have a negative effect with your users.

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Today’s Tip:

Consistency means reliability, reliability means trust. Just like any product you use the more consistent it is the more you trust and use it. This also goes for your website.

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Today’s Tip:

It is important to follow the brand guidelines of external companies that you promote on your website. I am thinking social media in particular. There are so many variations of the Twitter logo that it can be difficult to identify it ata times. Adhering to the companies brand standards will ensure your visitors see and identify with that brand more quickly. The last thing you want to do is make your visitor stop and have to think about something on your page when they should be focusing on accomplishing their goals.

Show Notes:

• HigherEdLive – Managing Your Higher Ed Career

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Today’s Tip:

Shadows done right can make a world of difference in an website. Far too often shows are used as a way to create “depth” but are kept at the default Photoshop settings which end up making them look bland. A true graphic designer can enhance any site by adding the right amount of shadow to create the feeling of depth and bring a website to life. Make sure you are not using the defaults, everyone and their brother can tell.

Show Notes:

• FollowEDU.com
• @WhoToFollowEDU

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Today’s Tip:

Always, always, always validate your form data before checking against the actual database. You should never trust the user, imagine every single person is trying to take advantage of your server. This means having a whitelist instead of a blacklist for content. This means sanitizing all data and casting it to the correct type for the database. It also means, most importantly turning off all public error reporting on production. If the user (or bot) finds an exploit, errors shown on the screen only give them more insight in to their next move.

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Today’s Tip:

Every page on your site should have a primary navigation, this is where your visitors will look first for direction. There can be other menus on the page, but make sure they don’t interfere with the primary navigation. Once the visitor makes it past the homepage, the local navigation should take over as the primary and the university overall navigation should take a back seat. Think about each page individually as a landing page, and not as a top down view of your institution’s structure.

Show Notes:

• EDUniverse Signup
• EDUniverse Launch Party – February 24, 2012

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Today’s Tip:

Every field on every form should always have a label pointing to it. The label is the context around the fields purpose. Text on top or to the left of a field is great but if it isn’t wrapped in a “label” element then it means nothing.

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Today’s Tip:

Javascript should always be included at the bottom of a page. Javascript can only act on the Document Object Model (DOM), the HTML makes up the DOM. Without the HTML being loaded and rendered by the browser the javascript has nothing to work on. Avoid loading the files too early and potentially slow down the rendering of the page by the browser. It might seem like milliseconds, but those add up and your users notice. Moving your javascript to the bottom of the page will decrease visual loading time which in turn will result in more clicks by your users.

Show Notes:

• @WhoToFollowEDU
• followedu.com

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Today’s Tip:

There are quite a few philosophies about which links on a page should open in a new window and which should stay in the same. The largest group believe all links should open in the same window no matter their destination so the user can control their experience. Others believe that only links that are on a separate domain should open in a new window. And the smallest segment believe any link with a different subject should open in a new window. No matter which philosophy you follow, stick to it and be consistent. Personally I am in the first camp.

Show Notes:

• .eduGuru
• HigherEdLive

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Today’s Tip:

It is important to keep your visitor engaged with your website but that engagement must happen on their terms, not yours. Making anything move on a Web page should only happen if the user has acted on something to make it happen. There are a few instances when it is ok to move elements without the user taking action but they must first be justified with real user data. It comes down to the golden rule of the Web, treat users as you wish to be treated.

Show Notes:

• EDUSnippits

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Today’s Tip:

Creating an internal API is a great way to keep data consistent across campus and off campus. Having a single source of data to read and write from keeps everyone on the same page. Duplicate information isn’t just hard to maintain but more importantly can confuse visitors.

Show Notes:

• EDUniverse Signup

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Today’s Tip:

Ensure you have enough contrast between background colors and text. This applies to all areas of your website, not just the main content section. Use a tool like http://snook.ca/technical/colour_contrast/colour.html

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Today’s Tip:

Visual design extends beyond the look of your overall template, visual hierarchy of content plays a big role in user experience. Navigating to a page is only half the battle, even less if the user uses Google, finding information on the page is the real reason the page exists. Ensure each page has an appropriate header structure, paragraphs, and lists. Then make sure the calls to action are prominent and go to relevant locations.

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Today’s Tip:

CSS frameworks are great for keeping a consistent codebase throughout multiple sites but should just be considered a starting point. Once the initial site is setup, pull out the elements needed and get rid of the rest. Some frameworks can carry a large overhead that just isn’t needed once the site goes to production.

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Today’s Tip:

Try to think of a website that you visit purely to admire the design and don’t pay much attention to the content or the goal of the site. I have a feeling you can’t think of any or a handfull if you’re a Web design and you browse the Web for inspiration. Believe it or not, this is exactly how your visitors see your site. You’re site can have a few flaws and no one will notice. As long as the content is relevant, up to date and they can easily navigate to it. Don’t get hung up in the thick of the thin details.

Show Notes

• EMG International Brand Master Award
• Nomination Form

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Today’s Tip:

“Losing 80% of your screen space forces you to focus. You need to make sure that what stays on the screen is the most important set of features for your customers and your business. There simply isn’t room for any interface debris or content of questionable value. You need to know what matters most.”
– Luke Wroblewski

Show Notes

• Dave Olsen
• The Future Friendly Campus: A Manifesto

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Today’s Tip:

If an HTML element isn’t being displayed on initial page load or isn’t required for accessibility, it shouldn’t be returned in the initial HTTP response. Any items that are interactive or timed should be built after the fact in a separate request. This will allow the initial page load to be as light as possible and give search engines only pertinent information to index. The user doesn’t need to download the extra bits or search engines don’t need to index the empty div tag that your site uses to “close” a hidden dialog box.

Show Notes

• EDUniverse Announcement
• EDUniverse Signup

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Today’s Tip:

Every page on your site has a primary audience. The primary audience of each page may not align with the majority of traffic to that page, and that is ok. Tailor each page to that primary audience and make it easy for them to see and complete actions. If there are options for a secondary or internal audience it is more acceptable to make them take a few extra steps to get to their customized information since they already have an impression and vested interest in your institution. They have a higher threshold of tolerability.

Show Notes

• mStoner Blog
• mStoner Blog on Twitter
• Project codename #thunderpuppy
• #AMAHigherEd on Twitter

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Site Scores:

Today’s Tip:

Your entire website should work with and without a mouse. Not everyone uses a mouse and keyboard to navigate the web and you shouldn’t penalize people who browse it differently. On a mobile device you might only have touch ability so hover doesn’t work. On a mobile phone, depending on the software or hardware keyboard, you may not have an “return” key. As long as you don’t rely on a specific piece of hardware your site should work fine on any device. Think progressive enhancement, not graceful degradation.

Show Notes

• Cecilia DeNardis
• .eduGuru – Halloween 2011 Roundup
• Previous Review: Episode #45 – Overall “D”

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Site Scores:

Today’s Tip:

No matter what CMS you use there is no reason to put a link to it or your login page from your homepage or footer. It doesn’t add any value to your page and is just another item to distract your user. Secondly, exposing what CMS you use can open your site up to potential security exploits that you may not even be aware of. It is better to be safe than sorry. Your internal audiences should bookmark the login page.

Show Notes

• HighEdWeb 2011 Twitter Hashtag Stats: #heweb11
• EDU Snippits

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