Public Library Website Design
A public library contacted me today and asked if I could "Jazz up" their website. When I asked what they meant by "Jazz up",
they said they would like Flash animations, dynamic menus, pop-up windows, custom tooltips, Javascript slideshows, etc.
I looked at their current web site and found it to be plain but really easy to use.
It was certainly nice of them to contact me and I'm not one to turn down work (especially for a library web site) but
I had to state my opinion that their website was actually fine as is and that adding such "whistles and bells" to it would actually make the site
much more difficult to use by seniors and computer shy folks of all ages.
Plus the more things that you put on a website, the more things that can break on your website (and possibly cause your
website visitors' browsers to crash).
I've been teaching people to use web sites since 1997. In all that time, I've never had someone complain that a website was
too plain (not surprising as plain websites tend to be more user friendly than average).
On the other hand, I have had people get confused by such things as busy interfaces, animated menus (which require a steady hand which many users do not have) and links which
open new tabs and windows (unbeknown to the user).
People visit library websites to browse the library catalog, view their patron records, check the library hours, get department phone numbers, etc.
People do not visit library websites to be entertained by Flash animations and other "cutting-edge" web technologies.
Basically it comes down to this, if you are in the midst of re-designing your library web site, think minimalism, think about how you can make
it as easy as possible for your computer shy clientele to find the information and services they are seeking on your library website.
Graphics
If you put photos and graphics on your library website, please optimize them for the web. You can buy a cheap copy of Photoshop Elements
3.0 on eBay that will make that optimization a breeze.
You can also use "Thumbnail" previews for your library images. There's nothing worse than having to wait a long time for a picture to download
that you didn't want to see in the first place.
Things to keep in mind
1) Remember that not everybody is web savvy --- some of your web site visitors can click links and scroll down web pages and not much more.
2) Think of what your web site visitors will be looking for and then put those things ("library catalog" link, "view record" link, "library hours" link,
"upcoming events" link, et al.) above the fold (i.e. as close to the top of the web page as possible).
3) Keep in mind that not everybody has a high-speed Internet connection --- use graphics and photos sparingly and "optimize" them for the web.
4) Remember that clean, minimalist web interfaces work best for the majority of web users. Give your site visitors plenty of "whitespace" to rest their eyes on.
5) Test your library web pages for valid (X)HTML and 508 compliance.
6) Ask some of your computer shy users to "test drive" your new library web site and make any necessary changes to your site design based on their valuable input.
Website Design and Construction Resources
Questions or comments about this article? Please drop me a line!
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