5 Web Development Standards That You Must Ensure in Your Website

Web development isn’t all about coming up with a unique and creative design. It’s something people will use, and thus, it needs to follow a few standards so that others can use it properly.

So, what exactly are these web development standards that you must ensure? Let’s take a look at some of the most important ones of these standards.

#1 Simplicity in Terms of Design

You can’t make an inviting website if you fail to guarantee simplicity in its design. Even when you’re trying to be creative, it won’t appeal to your visitors or customers if they can’t navigate through it properly. Thus, ensuring simplicity in terms of the website design is of utmost importance.

The web pages need to have uniformity. Each web page will have a purpose of its own. However, the main design elements need to be the same. These include the navigation bar, header, footer, sidebar, and so on. On top of that, there needs to be consistency in color and other design factors. We’ll talk about that later.

While ensuring simplicity, you must keep your target user group in mind. Some websites, mostly eCommerce ones, usually cater to diverse age groups. In such cases, you need to ensure that those even above the ages of 60 or 70 can find their way around your eCommerce site.

#2 Ensuring Adjustability

There was a time when people would see responsive web design as an extra feature. Back then, people didn’t talk about it much. With over 80% of the world’s population owning a smartphone, responsive design has become a necessity these days. 

No longer are people bound to use the internet on their desktops or laptops. They can use it on the go via their mobile phones or tablets. Smart TVs also allow you to browse the net. Even cars and refrigerators have internet access these days.

So, as the device domains you can use to access the internet are expanding, responsiveness has become mandatory. With a responsive design, your website will automatically adjust itself to whatever screen the visitor is on. That’s the only convenient way of browsing the internet at the moment. 

#3 Maintain Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

The world is very much centered around digital assets at the moment. From mobile apps to websites, digital products dominate our lives. Thus, we must ensure digital accessibility for all, irrespective of the disabilities they might have.

To ensure web accessibility, you must ensure that your website has a simple layout with a properly-sized font. Your website visuals (images and videos) must have alt texts and captions. That will enable screen readers to dictate the website to visually impaired people accurately.

Apart from all these, there are a few other guidelines your website has to adhere to. Contact a website accessibility company if you don’t know how to ensure all these standards on your website. They can also suggest a few additional guidelines based on the type of your website or your target user group.

#4 Following a Visual Hierarchy

Visual consistency and hierarchy are necessary for a user-friendly interface. Ensuring these qualities in your website suggests that you’re willing to provide an interface that users can easily understand and feel comfortable with.

To ensure visual hierarchy, you start with the colors. Usually, people opt for a color palette that’s synonymous with their brand or company colors. A color palette will have both light and dark shades. It’s up to you to decide what type of shade you want to implement on which part of your website. 

After that comes the font. You’ll usually see websites using a single font throughout their pages. However, you can opt for two or three different fonts. In that case, you must make sure that your website’s main content or body uses only one font. You can use the other(s) for the navigation bar or the header and footer areas.

Lastly, you have to keep your image sizes consistent. Even if not the same size, the grids you plan to arrange the pictures in must be the same size and structure. For instance, you may have a hero image on two or three web pages. Their height and width need to be the same on all those pages.

#5 Utilizing APIs and Widgets Only When Necessary

APIs and widgets have made life much easier for web developers. With just a few lines of code, developers can add entirely new functionalities and features to their websites. Besides, since the API or widget is based on another server, they don’t exert extra pressure on your servers.

However, adding too many APIs and widgets will destroy the user-friendliness of your website. Therefore, use only what you must. For instance, you can either use a weather API or an API that shows regular traffic updates. In such cases, choose the one that your audience will find the most useful. Never overwhelm the website with too many widgets and APIs.

By ensuring all these, you can develop a website that will be user-friendly, good-looking, and, most importantly, accessible to everyone. 

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