There are many silly mistakes that you can make with text

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Even in today's world of Flash animation, animated GIFs, sound files, VRML and other dazzling special effects, the basic reason why people surf the web is to read. Yes, the pictures are great, and yes the animations are wonderful, but what people really care about is what you've got to say.

That being said, it's so very important that you don't destroy your message by presenting your text in ways that discourage people from reading.

One of the most classic mistakes is to make your text very small. After all, you've got a lot to say and you want it to fit on one screen, right? So why not make it as small as you can?

There are times when you want to make the text small. A link at the bottom of your page to your privacy notice is a good example. If someone wants to see this they will find it. Otherwise, it's just something that you have to put there.

Another mistake is to TYPE IN ALL UPPER CASE. This, fortunately, is generally restricted to the newest of the newbies. People soon learn that all caps does not mean "give me your attention" on the web - it means shout in your face. It's also a good way to get people to hit the back key.

On the other hand, a very common problem is to make your text a similar color to your background. If I run into a page with everything like this I hit the back button fast.

Thank god most people understand that blinking characters are not cool (and not supported by Internet Explorer, which is a good thing).

Something which I see all of the time is sites which use non-standard fonts. I know that the special font which you paid a hundred dollars for is awesome, but believe me I'm not going to pay a hundred dollars just to see your web site display correctly.

You can get away with this, if you include a button to download the font and complete instructions for installing it. Be sure to include an alternate, more common font in your font list though, for those people who do not want to download the correct one.

You can use downloadable fonts, but be aware that browser support and standards are spotty at best. Even if you do include downloadable fonts, be sure and specify alternates in your <FONT> tags just in case the browser did not do the download.

To sum it up, what I do is simple. I write my document, then sit back from the screen about 4 feet. If I can still read the text without trouble, then I ask my wife to do the same thing. If we can both read it, then the document is fine. Otherwise, something has to change.

Additional Reading

• A poor design chases away visitors and gives you a bad name Design your site poorly and your visitors will go elsewhere
• There are many silly mistakes that you can make with text People come to your site for the content, and text is what they usually way. Make sure they can read it without being annoyed.
• Graphics are great unless you make some of these mistakes Graphics are great except when you make some of these stupid, idiotic mistakes. (See also Graphics Formats, Graphics Formats - GIF, Graphics Formats - JPG and Graphics Formats - PNG)
• Use animated GIFs very sparingly Animated GIFs are excellent when used properly, but it's easy to overdue it and chase away your visitors. (See also Graphics Formats - Animated GIFs).
• Be careful with various sound options Adding background sound to your pages is generally a mistake
• Video is tough to do correctly Careful with those videos - visitors like video but load times make it difficult to do correctly.
• Be sure and carefully plan your site navigation Carefully plan your site navigation or your visitors will not come back
• Layout your pages properly to keep people happy Plan your page and site layouts well to keep your visitors happy and fulfilled
• Use Java sparingly If you use Java without allowing for non-java visitors you will loose people immediately
• Don't use ActiveX on an internet site My advice is to not use ActiveX at all on an internet site. It's fine to use it on an Intranet site as you control the environment.
• Colors can make or break a web site Want to really lose your visitors fast? Use a bad combination of colors on your site! Make it look like an LSD nightmare.
• Organize your site Properly organized sites are a dream, disorganized sites are a nightmare
• Keep your pages relatively short Short pages are the rule in web design. One to three screenfuls is best, longer is a site killer.
• Advertising is a necessary evil You generally want to advertise but keep it short, simple and tasteful (See also The secrets of how to advertise your web site).
• Use Rings wisely Yes you want to use Rings, but don't use them incorrectly
• Careful with dynamic HTML Be careful with dynamic HTML. Can increase load time, make for slow, clunky sites, and is incompatible with earlier version browsers.
• Don't change the cursor unnecessarily Be careful with dynamic HTML. Can increase load time, make for slow, clunky sites, and is incompatible with earlier version browsers.
• Popups are stupid and obnoxious Don't use popups ever. They are annoying, stupid and scare away visitors
• Are Popups Ethical? Is it ethical to place popups and popunders all over your web site? Depends upon what you are trying to accomplish
• More on Popups, Popunders and other Unethical Behaviors There are many unethical devices such as popups, popunders and so forth. Are they needed or desired? No, they are not.

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