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Web Site DesignWeb Site Design
Robert E. Irie,SPAWAR Systems Center San DiegoIntroduction 768
Web Site Components 768
Content 768
Presentation 768
Logic 768
Separation of Components 769
Implementation Issues 769
Static Sites 769
Dynamic Sites 769
Client Side 769
Server Side 770
Web Applications 771
Design Issues 771
Usability Issues 772
Basic Web Site Types 772
News/Information Dissemination 772
Portal 772
Community 772Search 772
E-commerce 772
Company/Product Information 772
Entertainment 772
Basic Design Elements 772
Accessibility/Connectivity 773
Consistent Page Layout 773
Consistent Navigation Mechanism 773
Miscellaneous Interface Issues 773
Graphics 774
Layout Styles 774
Search Engines 774
Cross-Browser Support 774
Web Resources 774
Conclusion 774
Glossary 775
Cross References 775
References 775INTRODUCTION
Designing and implementing a Web site is increasingly be-
coming a complex task that requires knowledge not only
of software programming principles but of graphical and
user interface design techniques as well. While good de-
sign is important in regular software engineering and ap-
plication development, nowhere is it more essential than
in Web site development, due to the diverse and dynamic
nature of Web content and the larger intended audience.
This chapter will cover some of the issues involved with
the two major components of a Web site, its design and
implementation. The scope of this chapter is necessarily
limited, as Web development is a rich and heterogeneous
field. A broad overview of techniques and technology is
given, with references to other chapters. The reader is di-
rected to consult other chapters in this encyclopedia for
more detailed information about the relevant technolo-
gies and concepts mentioned below. Occasionally links to
Web sites will be given. They are either representative ex-
amples or suggestions for further reference, and should
not be construed as an endorsement.WEB SITE COMPONENTS
A Web site is an integration of three components, the con-
tent to be published on the Web, its presentation to the
user, and the underlying programming logic. Each com-
ponent has its own particular representation and role in
shaping the overall user experience.Content
The content consists of all relevant data that are to be pub-
lished, or shown to the user. It usually constitutes the bulk
of a Web site’s storage requirements and can be in the formof text, images, binary and multimedia data, etc. Static
textual and graphic content can be stored as HTML pages,
whereas multimedia files like videos and sound recordings
are usually stored in large databases and served, in whole
or in parts, by dedicated servers. Most of the discussion
in this chapter will focus on the former type.Presentation
The presentation component involves the user interface to
the Web site and the manner in which content is displayed.
Typical elements include the graphical and structural lay-
out of a Web document or page, text and graphic styles to
highlight particular content portions, and a mechanism
for the user to navigate the Web site. Originally, files with
HTML markups were used to store both content and in-
formation regarding its presentation. It is now common
practice to store neither exclusively in HTML. HTML is
primarily used to describe the structure of a Web docu-
ment, by breaking down the page into distinct elements
like paragraphs, headings, tables, etc. The actual textual
content of the document can be stored separately in a
database, to be dynamically inserted into the HTML page
using programming logic. A separate file, called the style
sheet, can be associated with the HTML page, and con-
sequently the content, to affect the presentation. A style
sheet file can describe how each structural element in an
HTML file is displayed; sizes, colors, positions of fonts,
blocks, backgrounds, etc., are all specified in a hierarchi-
cal organization, using the standard Web-based style sheet
language, cascading style sheets (CSS) (Lie & Bos, 1999).Logic
The programming logic determines which content to
display, processes information entered by the user, and768