Creatively designing sites
A well-designed site merges sensitivity and expertise in aesthetics, architecture planning and usability testing, as well as knowledge about accessibility issues.
Interface Design
Webpage design is more than making something function, look pretty or state the obvious. Good motifs and colors combined with carefully chosen words on your website pages welcome customers to see and understand your business, cause, information or products.
Design expresses your vision.
Good design works like magic to make your website easier to use. WebXemplar creates professional, sophisticated, and practical interface designs to entice visitors to visit your site again and again. See our Portfolio Details for examples.
Use your existing artwork or let us create new brand images to craft an inspired Internet look and feel. We complement design with multimedia elements including audio, animation or Flash presentations.
WebXemplar combines a variety of interface design essentials, including:
- Graphic design
- Information Architecture
- Copy writing & editing
- Optimization for fast page loading
- Cross-browser and cross-platform compatibility
- Usability Testing
- Accessibility Analysis
WebXemplar values aesthetic aims but we moderate our artistry with a firm respect for the rule that web usability and accessibility are paramount to success on the Web.
Usability
Today, the most difficult part of creating a successful website is finding and learning how to use the right technology products and services to achieve your cyberspace goals. There are thousands of options in software, hardware, design, outside vendors, and database solutions.
WebXemplar knows the industry and can provide you with a choice of solutions. We recommend the best techniques to achieve simple yet stunning results.
WebXemplar’s distinctive philosophy emphasizes the importance of usability testing.
“Usability” means that regardless of how, when, or where your visitors enter your site, they will be able to find their way around easily. WebXemplar ensures a well-built website that satisfies users and builds upon your reputation for excellence.
WebXemplar's Portfolio includes examples of well-designed Websites that follow basic usability principles, such as:
- Focus on visitors and their tasks, not the technology
- Consideration of the purpose of the website first, and the presentation second
- Sensitivity to the user’s view of the task
- Preference for keeping it simple to avoid user frustration
- Desire to deliver information, not just data
- Imperative to make it easy and essential for customers to buy or respond online
- Willingness to try it out on users, and then fix it!
By following these principles, you will avoid expensive website construction mistakes. Your site may feature the most advanced technology and the sleekest design, but unless it is easy to navigate and user-friendly, visitors will not stay long and they will not come back.
- Navigation options add functionality and usability to your site:
- Keeping page and graphic size down so pages load quickly.
- Structuring a site that is consistent and predictable.
- Controlling where visitors go with navigational elements.
- Putting your site through a usability test that will uncover navigation problems before you go live.
Usability testing is an integral part of the product development process.
Accessibility Testing
One of the greatest obstacles to universal Web access is site inaccessibility. WebXemplar specializes in building and updating Websites to meet accessibility standards and testing Websites to ensure successful functioning of accessibility features. The WebXemplar Team possesses a thorough knowledge of:
- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
- Section 508 regulations
- Adaptive technology
- Multimedia accessibility
- Exceptions to accessibility rules
What is Accessibility & Why is it Important?
Accessibility guidelines ensure that users with disabilities may access the content and information on your website. Let us help you follow them to provide rich and engaging web content that is accessible to your entire audience, including those with poor eyesight, arthritis, and hearing loss.
But accessibility is not only for those with disabilities. Guidelines allow everyone access to your website regardless of browser type, version, operating system, or device. Accessibility retrofitting will make your website available to people accessing the Internet with PDA's and other electronic devices.
Across the U.S., federal website designers and developers are working to update U.S. government Websites by implementing standards set forth in Section 508 of the U.S. Federal Rehabilitation Act, which ensures that people with disabilities have access to goods and services provided by the federal government. New legislation enacted on June 25, 2001 requires all organizations receiving federal funding to comply with current W3C and Section 508 accessibility standards.
Adhering to accessibility guidelines ensures access for every individual and ultimately results in a positive, high return on your website investment.
Ensuring your site's accessibility will guarantee every person can access its functionality. Also, it eliminates time wasted in attempting to make your site work on every system.
WebXemplar tests each site for accessibility because is it the law and because it is the right thing to do for your business. Websites in our Portfolio illustrate compliance to basic accessibility guidelines, which include:
- Providing a text equivalent for every non-text element (e.g., via "alt", "longdesc", or in element content)
- Synchronizing equivalent alternatives for any multimedia presentation
- Designing web pages so that all information conveyed with color is also available without color
- Testing for accessibility with site checkers and assistive technologies