Designing Accessible Websites
In order to enhance the accessibility of your website the key is to ensure that people can find it. Obscure names may work on television but they don't work on cybervision. If you want people on your site you have to make it easy for people to find you. So the first thing you may want to consider is the name of the site. You can maintain an obscure or cryptic business name if it pleases you or if it is long standing, but make sure the web address is as close to being intuitive as possible. For example a lightening company called Regency may prefer to use BriteLights.com as their address. An accounting firm might have numbercrunchers.com as their web address, while a medical health line might use health101.com as their address. This is not to suggest that you can't honor your business name, especially if you offer a service such as grooming, renovations, legal counsel, or training. Just keep in mind that names work for people already familiar with your business, service or product. But if you are in the start-up phase or if you want to insure that you have maximum web traffic, consider using a name that will come up in browser when individuals are searching for the product or service in which you specialize. Another option is to have more than one web address connect to the site. Link your business name and a more generic name to your website and you will ensure that your site is accessible.
Another factor to consider when you are ensuring accessibility is the ease at which your website can be navigated. Most websites today have a navigation bar across the top or down the left or right side. This has become an industry standard. While it is possible to stick a navigation bar on the bottom of the page don't do it. Now one will look there and by the time they do, they will be frustrated enough to click the X-box and you don't want that, at least not before they have purchased your product. Keep your navigation bar visible and well labelled.
A quick word when setting up web pages, make sure each page opens to a new window. In the past this was consider a personal preference, but again this has been standardized by common practice such that it is expected by most users. The good thing about opening a new window for each page is that if the user closes the page they remain on your site. This is important because attendance is how we measure accessibility. If people are on the site you know they found, but you also need to consider keeping the traffic on your site long enough for you to make your points or sell your products.
One topic that must not be overlooked under the auspice of not wanting to appear pretentious is the look or visual appeal of your site. If your site looks good it will draw people in and in so doing become much more accessible to users. A site with poor visual appeal will lack the polish and sophistication of power sites like HP, Sony or BestBuy. Let's face it even companies that don't rely on internet revenue are ramping up their sites to such a degree that even the most e-bay sceptical consumer is willing to dispense their credit card numbers on the internet. Even if you are a small business or one person operation offering a service, by purchasing professionally designed web pages, you will be able to acquire the tools needed to launch a successful and attractive website.
PoweredTemplate.com offers a professional look for your web pages without a professional price tag. There are even a number of free products like Microsoft Word Templates and free Web Pages ready for download. In a matter of hours you can create a professional look that zips with polish and panache.