myCSUSM
Web Best Practices
Want to make a beautiful and successful website? Follow our web best practice tips to create the most responsive and accessible site content possible.
Tip 1: Avoid Using Fliers
Instead of putting an image of a flier on your site - try making a web version of that content! Use visual elements of that flier and make a custom image that is interesting and engaging to users and then type out your flyer's content directly on the page.
There are risks to having fliers on your site! If you leave your flier as an image:
- it likely is not accessible to non-visual users and is not legally allowed on the site!
- You may get an accessibility warning about content, risk having content removed, or lose site editing access due to continued inaccessible content being put on your site.
- it most likely will not be able to be read by visual users on a cell phone due to the image being scaled down to fit on a small screen.
- and the viewer has loading issues (broken file link was used, slow wifi, etc) a viewer would miss all of the image's content that wasn't captured in the alternative text.
Tip 2: Avoid Generic Phrases like "Click Here"
Instead of using a generic phrase like "here" or "click here" make sure the linked text is a unique phrase on your page.
Why? Having a generically named link has a heavier cognitive load for all user types. Users typically like to skim pages to find an answer that they are looking for; generic link names slow readers down and adds a level of frustration.
Learn more about making links in OU Campus
Tip 3: Spaces After Sentences
While hotly debated - there should only be one space after a sentence has been completed.
Why? The fonts chosen for the campus website gives ample spacing between characters and two or more spaces is unnecessary.