With Intel's Otellini phasing out, new CEO may bring fresh mobile focus

Chip maker has 6 months to find a CEO with mobile knowhow

Intel CEO Paul Otellini is getting ready to leave the company, and analysts say this could be a good change for the world's largest chip maker.

Otellini to leave Intel in May

Intel announced on Monday that Otellini, 62, will retire in May after nearly four decades with the company. The company's board of directors will conduct a search for his replacement.

Intel CEO Paul Otellini gives a keynote address during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January 2012. (Photo: Steve Marcus / Reuters)

Whoever takes over as Intel's next CEO will face a daunting job. The company has been struggling to find its way into the burgeoning mobile market and faces tough competition from Arm Holdings, whose processors and technologies are widely used in mobile devices. The company has also been challenged by the depressed PC market.

While most industry analysts say Otellini is leaving the company of his own volition, Ken Dulaney, an analyst with Gartner, Inc., said other issues could have influenced his decision.

"Anytime this type of thing happens, it's a bit of a surprise, but he's been there a long time," Dulaney said. "And there are other factors that may be a 'slight' influence, such as the decline in PC shipments and the fact that Intel has missed the growth in mobility in categories such as smartphones."

However, Dulaney noted, Intel is a very strong company with top-of-class manufacturing and a particularly strong server business. With that strong base, new leadership could be a welcome change, he said.

Dan Olds, an analyst with The Gabriel Consulting Group, said he's waiting to see who's on Intel's short list for the CEO position before commenting on Otellini's departure.

"I don't think it's necessarily bad, or good, news," he said. "It definitely means change, and some uncertainty, which is disruptive, but, Intel is fighting on a number of fronts and could probably use the shot in the arm that a new leader can bring."

With about six months to prepare for the big leadership transition, Intel is in a good position, according to Charles King, an analyst with Pund-IT, Inc.

"Today's announcement begins an orderly preparation for his departure, with the Intel board having plenty of time to search, vet and choose a replacement," he added. "This is diametrically opposite from instances where CEOs are shown the door without warning or even a prospective replacement standing by."

It also means the company's board should have time to find a new leader who has a firm grasp of mobile technologies and the expanding mobile market.

However, a new leader, whether well-versed in mobile or not, may not change the company, or its future direction, all that much, said Patrick Moorhead, an analyst with Moor Insights & Strategy.

Intel is such a strong company with a new mobile strategy that the departure of one CEO and the entrance of another shouldn't alter its course much, Moorhead said.

---

Best comptia A+ Training, Comptia A+ Certification
at examkingdom.com

Web Design Career Options

The number of specialties in the web design business is expanding as more elaborate features are added to web pages, features that require varying types of expertise.  It's a burgeoning field, clearly; web pages for businesses have gone from being an interesting and optional addition just a few years ago to a necessity today.  The entire retail business model is undergoing a tectonic shift as the result of web-based product sales.  Service businesses use web pages to solicit business, and corporations use them as public relations and investor relations tools.  As a result, new careers are emerging.

Most of the web design specialties today require some formal training.  You can select from a number of degree programs, depending upon your area of interest and your innate talents.  The permutations of web site use have occurred rapidly and continue to do so.  Businesses that use their web site as a marketing tool are suddenly confronted with the methods that have been contrived to use the social networks as outreach tools.  Many retail sites are developing more elaborate product displays.  Finally, many businesses see the need to upgrade their sites as competitors put up more attractive and livelier web pages of their own.

Best Web Development and Web Designing at alltechvirtual.com

Here is a list of academic choices that can lead to a career in web design.

Animation.  Multimedia art and animation are often used interchangeably.  In fact, animation is closer to the development of video-type presentations.  An animator may be called on to develop characters or product drawings, and then put them in motion using a computer animation program.  Video presentations are at the top of the list for quality web site features, provided they fit into the flow of the site properly.

Graphic Design.  This degree is often the choice of people who have been drawing since childhood.  Their services in web design are essential to, among other things, client relations.  Web designers prepare storyboards for client presentations that are critical to the planning phase.  Often a graphic designer may be called on to put storyboards or web page outlines into slide show format.

Web Design and Development.  This is usually a bachelor's degree program, and with good reason.  Web developers today must learn the skills required to assemble a web page that combines images, copy and multimedia in an attractive and compelling fashion.  That means becoming acquainted with several computer applications, and languages, including Java, Flash and other programs used for media manipulation.  In addition, a degree in web design and development will address the real costs associated with the business.

Information Systems Web Development.   This degree will give you expertise in a specific area of internet use: the management, security and interface with database systems.  Many businesses today base their customer relations management (CRM) on computer programs that record every interaction with a customer and information on that customer's preferences.  How this information is managed is critical; and management includes its distribution across the company intranet and through its web portal.  It's an important job that incorporates software management, network design and web access control.

Visual Communication or Digital Design.  These degrees look at web development from the perspective of its use as a visual tool.  What is seen on the screen dictates how viewers react.  There are guidelines for the fundamentals to this approach and a large body of research and literature on the topic of visual communication - which, in the case of the internet, is in digital format.  It's an excellent technical degree that provides a broad perspective on website usage and design.

Why Multiple Browser Accessibility is Important in Web Design

The world of the internet has matured rapidly in a very short time, and standards of web design have matured along with it. Less than twenty years ago, "accessibility" revolved around making sure that your web pages could be read on all three of the major web browsers - Internet Explorer, Netscape and Mozilla. Within a few years, the concept of accessibility had expanded to include making sure that web sites remained accessible to those using older browsers. This became even more pressing as professional web designers on the "bleeding edge" became enamored of playing with the latest technology long before it was available to the web audience at large.

Best Web Development and Web Designing at alltechvirtual.com

Back in those days, a web designer friend and mentor laid out his web design philosophy in a nutshell. Design for the trailing edge, he told me. Design accessibility into your web site from the start, or risk losing a chunk of your market. In other words, the more people you shut out of your web site by making it inaccessible, the smaller your market becomes. His point was valid then, and it's even more valid now.

These days, thanks to better technology, the concept of "web accessibility" has expanded further to include not only accessibility to multiple browser platforms, but accessibility to multiple device platforms as well as accessibility to people of varying abilities and disabilities. The audience for your site may include users who are visually impaired, hearing impaired or physically disabled. Some users may have cognitive and neural disabilities that make it difficult to navigate a complicated web page.

People who have physical barriers to using and navigating your website may make up as much as 20% of your intended audience - and that's just a start. When you include people who are accessing your web site on a mobile phone or hand-held computer with a small screen, those who are stuck with low-bandwidth dial-up access and those who may have other barriers to seeing your site the way you intend, you may be blocking as much as 30-35% of people who could become customers.

Making Your Web Design More Accessible There are some basic tips to help any web designer make his site more accessible to most of the population. Those tips include: - Provide text alternatives for every element on the page. That includes ALT tags for graphics that describe the image, transcription or description of any audio on the page, and even using captioning for video.

- Make all functionality accessible from the keyboard for users who can't use a mouse.

- Avoid content that is known to cause seizures.

- Make navigation predictable and easy to understand.

- Make web pages behave in expected ways. For instance, make all of your links look the same so that people understand which words are links.

- Provide alternate navigation to graphical menus.

- Provide a site alternative optimized for mobile phone access.

Professional Web Design Services In some cases, particularly for government web sites, accessibility can become a legal issue. Even when your aim is to be sure that your web site is available to the largest number of customers possible, there are good reasons to aim for good web design that meets all web accessibility standards.

One of the safest ways to make sure that a mission critical web site is accessible to every possible user is to bring in a professional web design company to create your web site. Professional web designers are trained to consider accessibility standards in their design, and keep up on the latest accessibility standards and technology to provide you with a web site that will be useful to all of your site visitors, not just those who have no barriers to using the internet.

Five Tips For Choosing a Web Designer

With the global recession still biting hard many people are losing their jobs and are looking around for something they can do to try to make up their income as quickly as possible. Many of these people start their own companies, normally using the skills they had in their previous employment. One thing most start up companies try to get sorted out relatively quickly is their presence on the web. Without personally knowing a web designer these people turn to the internet to try to find someone who can construct a web site for them and lead tehm through the various stages such as choosing and registering a domain name. However some so called web designers are seriously lacking in the skills required. With that in mind here are a few simple tips to help you evaluate and engage the services of a web designer:

Best Web Development and Web Designing at alltechvirtual.com

Tip 1. Cost

The first thing you should ask your prospective web designer is what the cost will be. Designers come in all varieties as do the charges for their services. You really want to have a designer work for a fixed cost rather than on an hourly rate. This way you can be assured what the final cost of your finished web site will be. In the current economic climate web designers may be flexible in their pricing so if the prices seem high, ask them how they can change the specification of the website to something which is more in line with your budget.

Tip 2. Reduce It Down

A quick search on the internet will produce lists of thousands if not tens of thousands of websites out there from which to choose from. What you don't want to do is waster your and web design firms time. So narrow it down to 5 or 6 companies to speak further to about the web design services they offer.

Tip 3. Portfolio.

Every web designer will have a portfolio of work which they will normally detail on their own website. Have a good look at the web sites they have done and ask yourself if you like the designs. If you want specific functionality on your own site have they got eexamples of something similar in their portfolio. Web designers come from a variety of backgrounds. Some may be from a graphic design background, others may come from a programming background and this will greatly effect the sort of site they are capable of. Of course decent web design firms will have a large number of staff each with specific specialisms enabling them to cope with most jobs, unlike the one man band web designer who is unlikely to have a broad enough skill set to cope with the more demanding web design project.

Tip 4. Research

Do some research on the companies name using Google and see if there are comments good or bad against the companies name. Don't be put off by an isolated comment however. Another thing you can do is make contact with the owners of websites in the webdesigners portfolio and ask them about their web designer - essentially you are getting references that will enable you to assess the competence of the designer.

Tip 5. Location

The internet is global and to a certain extent it doesn't matter if your web designer is next door or in another company. However there is a lot to be said for the ability to have a face to face meeting with your designer to discuss ideas in which case you will want to choose a web design company that is close by. If location is not that important to you remember one other matter, if the design company is in a different country and something goes wrong, the costs of taking matters to court, potentially in a different country, can be astronomical.

Great Ideas For Successful Web Design

According to Bill Gates "Information technology and business are becoming inextricably interwoven". Therefore, it would be meaningless to talk about one without talking of the other.

In this age of technology, web design plays an important role in gaining maximum exposure and maximum return on investment from your website. With so many online businesses, very few are able to make their existence prominent in the web world. A good web design involves characteristics such as an attractive content, user-friendly basic navigational tools, and an interface to hold visitors interest. With an innovative and exciting approach, you can easily generate income from your online business.

Best Web Development and Web Designing at alltechvirtual.com

So, let us check out a few interesting techniques to make your web design successful for a long run.

Branding your website: almost every website needs logo design and branding. Every individual visitor when visits your site the first thing they look for is branding. Your logo must represent your organization's branding, ethics, and essence. You can also look at some successful websites and find out how their logo has become their brand and everyone recognizes them with their logo.

Choose right images: you can use photography to make a website looking into a creative web design. Photos highlight your business, business services, or products.

Focus on content: once you have branded and used images the next step, rather the most important step is to focus on content. Experts consider it one of the crucial aspects of web site creation. If your website has good content, you will find endless visitors to your site. Your content will not only offer visitors information about your products or services but it will also guide them through the website. Nevertheless, while writing content, make sure it focuses on your motive; else, the target audience loses connection, or diverts from the website. This affects your website and you may not be able to draw traffic.

Acquire some knowledge of web design: it is better to research on web design and web development in the Internet. You can also learn about web development from various organizations. If you visit some web sites, you can also get some ideas, by analyzing the concepts used in their web design. This analysis will give you an idea how to use these concepts in your web design for your web site.

Respond as quickly as possible: this is important because designers and developers try their level best to make the website popular but it if the project comes to halt because they wait for direction or clarification then you won't be able to seal another project. So, try to give feedback to the web designer within 24 hours.

Use some eye soothing colors: use colors which are attractive but soothing to the eyes, they should not repel to customers. For example you design a website to target your South Asian audience so its better to avoid red color because they may get offended with this color.

So, what are you waiting for? Implement these great ideas of web designing to your website and make your presence in the worlds of Internet.

The Elements of Web Design

The elements of website designing are the building blocks constituting a designed webpage. If you aim to create effective and powerful web pages, it is crucial for you to have an in-depth understanding of the five basic elements, fundamental to web-page designing.

These five elements are:

o Lines and line work
o Shape
o Texture
o Color
o Direction

Best Web Development and Web Designing at alltechvirtual.com

How lines figure in the web page design- Lines are basic elements of web designing that are used to add style. Along with contributing to style, lines serve to enhance readability and comprehension of a design. They can be used either as a border around an element or as a divider to separate different elements. Lines can also be used as decorations or for accentuating contours around elements.

Shapes in web-designing- Shapes as basic design elements are made up of closed contours and/or by placing 2 dimensional or 3 dimensional objects in the design. Shapes can be categorized into three basic types: geometric, natural and abstract. They are used to convey meaning, organize information and can be used in several other ways also. For example, they can serve to add interest, sustain interest, guide eye direction around the design and help organize/separate elements in the design. Geometric shapes in design consist of rectangles, squares, circles, triangles and diamonds and are usually created by layout and CSS. Natural shapes, as the name suggests are those, which are commonly found in nature such as trees, ponds, puddles and leaves etc. Abstract shapes refer to those, which though possessing a recognizable form are in fact, not real. For example, a stick figure drawing of a horse is an abstract shape different from that of the picture of a real horse, which constitutes a natural shape. Abstract shapes are added in web-designs by using images. Some examples of abstract shapes are alphabet glyphs, icons, symbols etc.

Texture- Texture in website designing refers to a feel of the surface of the webpage and is the tactile part of the elements of web-design. Although texture of a webpage is visual, you are able to generate an illusion of smoothness/roughness/hardness or softness through introducing natural or artificial textures in your design. Texture in web-design is applied in several ways; e.g. through suitably textured backgrounds, special emphasis or by using stylized design features such as etchings or engravings. Incorporating texture in web-pages through background images is the most commonly used technique. You must however, remember that even when you do not use a special texture background, things may still possess an approximate texture. For example, images without backgrounds will have the texture of the images. Moreover, several elements present on a page provide a combination to present a textured look.

Color- Color is one design element to which all website designers pay the most attention. However, color is not an essential element of designing. The best way is to create a design in black and white and later on add color in bits to enhance design effects. Color is used in designs, in images, backgrounds, text foregrounds and accents. While in the foreground, colors are used in fonts and text color, in the background color is used to change the background of the element in the foreground. Color is also applied to borders around elements. It is added to web pages through images/photographs. For flat color GIF images and for photographic and multi-color JPEG images are used.

Essential Features of a Good Web Design

With the invention of computers, these days web designing has become another booming industry. Web designing has gained immense popularity, websites are considered as an important source of providing information. Every business concern these days has a website; websites can also be said as a very good source of advertising about the company their product offerings and other information with concerns to the company. It has become a recent trend in many business houses to do business on online basis.

Best Web Development and Web Designing at alltechvirtual.com

So in order to get good results through the website it is important that web designers make very nice, clean, professional-looking webpages. This article is going to explain about the essential features of a good web design. It is a very easy to design a nice, professional looking website, even if the companies do not possess much experience in the field of web design. The difference which would exist between the beginner web designers is the elimination of some of the basic features which are of vital importance for a good web page to give a good appearance in all cases irrespective of the different search engines.

The features of a good web design are as follows:

The major components which should be kept in mind in the formulation of a good web page are text, navigation tools, links, graphics and General design. These tips would be a handy tool for the beginner web designers.

Web designing requires creativity along with some handy rules which have to be considered. The text should be aligned in such a way that it is not interrupted by the background. The font size of the text should be big enough so that it does not cause any strain in reading. Be sure that information provided is in proper hierarchy and clarity of the idea behind writing must exist.

Text and Images must be strategically added on the web pages through effectual website design. Browser compatibility is as well a key need that must be dealt with during web design creation stage. For that reason website development process must make sure that a balance is maintained between the text and the images.

Navigation is a consistent process through the web site, these bars act as a clue to where the visitor is. So the buttons used for navigation should be clear and easy to understand. In case there is usage of frames then there usage must not be obtrusive. Incase the site you are designing is a very large one then it would be better to have a site map for easy search results.

As far as the links usage is considered the link colors must be set in such a way that there is proper coordination with the background color. The links are underlined so that they facilitate clarity in understanding. The graphics in the page should be such that the buttons are not too big, it is always better that each graphics possess an alt label facilitating the purpose of easy understandability. Use background safe colors for graphics and background. So while designing a web site keep the following tips and boost yourself to get good web design.

Getting Attention Through Proper Web Design

When web designing a page, it is important for every Web Design Company and for every web designer to attract attention to the most important events, items and contents in the site you are making in behalf of a client. Fortunately, there are various ways by which you can attract the attention of online users. Most web designers will find it effective to simply change the font size of the content headline. Setting the font size reasonably bigger is a sure-fire yet simple way to draw in attention. Newspaper and media companies will know this for sure. A good and experienced web design company should know this as well.

Best Web Development and Web Designing at alltechvirtual.com

Grabbing Attention through Typography

Using typography or varying font and font sizes to get the attention of online users is not really a new concept. However, before you go on and set your titles or headlines to 48px or even larger, you should know a few rules on typography that are best generally followed by a web design company. Here are some of them:

o Web design tip #1: Highlight only what is important. Before setting a headline to a much bigger font, you should ask yourself: Is this particular part really that important? If you are announcing a 20% off sale on regular cosmetics, for example, this will surely arouse interest but making your font unreasonably huge will likely to turn your customers off. And this is something that you and your web design company should avoid at all times.

o Web design tip #2: Consider the standard font size you use for the rest of the page. This is just plain common sense: if you type everything at 24pt, then creating a 30pt subject headline might not look all that different. However, a 16pt headline written on top of an 8pt text will look huge.

o Web design tip #3: Set standards on the use of font sizes. You should have already decided with your client as to the type of events that should merit an increase in the title font size, and up to what extent it should be. You and your web design company will benefit from this. Once you have laid out the plan, even if your client comes running back to you and starts pleading you to announce the recent cosmetic sale at 54pt, you should strictly follow the standard pre-determined size for the particular level of content.

Remember though that changing the font size is not the only way that you can modify your web design to get as much attention. Playing around with your font will also prove useful. You can for example, use different fonts of the same family to highlight important events (using Sans-Serif and switching to Serif for added emphasis). You can also modify the color to instantaneously grab your viewers' attention. Similarly, you can change the weight and the style of your font by using the bold or italicized option to make certain parts of your site stand out.

Grabbing the attention of your online users is not just limited to fonts. There are still other ways to change your site's web design so that it gets the attention it deserves. Here are some of them:

o Web design tip #4: Use images. Graphics and images have always been effective at catching attention. A picture says a thousand words, as they say.

o Web design tip #5: Change your layout. Completely changing your layout is a very exciting way to get attention, for as long as you come up with an interesting new one.

o Web design tip #6: Use animations. Flat images tend to attract attention. However, these days, your web design company may have to ask you to come up with animation-based splash page to show off the kind of pages you come up with. They generally make your site look more dynamic and interesting to the eyes of your visitors. Be careful though, as you will need to think about site loading times beyond the web design stage.

Catching the attention of online visitors may prove relatively easy to do as stated above. However, it is just as easy to go way overboard with these attention grabbing techniques. You have to remember that if each and every line in your page is set in red or bold face and has blinking effects; nothing in the content will stand out after ll. Also, if you announce your 20% off on cosmetic site at the same intensity as an ongoing war, your online visitors will surely notice how strange, business-centered or unrealistic your site seems to be. They will learn to quickly ignore all the designs you make and look for another site that is more even-handed - much to the frustration of your Web Design Company

5 Things To Hate About Web Design And How To Fix Them

What do you hate most about websites? If you browse websites as much as we do, then there is a lot to hate. Because there are so many terribly designed, user non-friendly websites on the Internet today, we have put together this short but detailed list of things to hate about web design. In addition to compiling this list, we've also provided a solution for each of the problems.

When creating a web design, there are a number of things that a web designer should take into consideration if their goal is to produce a high quality, user friendly website.

1. Vomit Inducing Color Schemes

There is nothing worse than visiting a website and seeing a borderline-gruesome, mismatched, out of control color scheme. As basic as it is, some people have a terrible time choosing successful color schemes. Though there are millions of colors to choose from, it doesn't have to be a difficult process. Whether you want to pay for a piece of software that will significantly simplify the color scheme selection process or use one of the free color scheme tools available on the Internet, you will be implementing attractive and successful color schemes in no time.

To Pay

If you want to pay for a color scheme application that will do all of the work for you, then your best solution is the Color Schemer Studio. Located at http://www.alltechvirtual.com and available in both Mac OS X and Windows flavors, this tool not only builds you an entire color scheme based on a single color, but it also generates monochromatic, complement, split complement, triad, tetrad, and analogous harmonies based off of that same single color that you choose. It is absolutely remarkable. There are a lot of other neat and extremely useful features built into this application, too.

Not to Pay

If you would rather not pay the $49.99 for the Color Schemer Studio (even though it is worth every penny), then there are free alternatives available. Navigate to http://www.alltechvirtual.com and you will find a Flash based color scheme tool called the Color Wizard. Although not quite as user friendly as the Color Schemer Studio, the Color Wizard has a lot of features built into it. You can either enter a hex color code or move the sliders back and forth to find the color that you're looking for. The Color Wizard also gives you multiple harmonies based off of the single color that you choose. The Color Wizard is a solid (and free) color schemer product. The only downside to the Color Wizard is that it is available only to be used on the Internet. In comparison, the Color Schemer Studio does not require an Internet connection since it located on your computer's hard drive.

Less is More

When choosing your color scheme, don't use too many colors. The statement "less is more" should always be applied during the color scheme selection process. How many colors should one use? That's a difficult question to answer. Although there is no set number, it is generally best to work around three colors if possible:

• Primary color: The main color that occupies the majority of the page. The primary color sets the overall tone.
• Secondary color: The second color that has a purpose of backing up and reinforcing the primary color. The secondary color is usually a color that is similar to the primary color.
• Highlight color: This is a color that is used to emphasize certain areas of the page. It is usually a color which contrasts more with the primary and secondary colors, and as such, it should be used with moderation. If you're using color schemer software like the ones mentioned above, it is common to use a complimentary or split-complimentary color for this.

There are a lot of resources available on the Internet that explain color schemes in greater detail. However, if you use any of the color schemer solutions mentioned above and follow the basic tips which we have mentioned, then you shouldn't have a problem creating a beautiful color scheme for your website.

2. Flash-al Abuse

When used excessively or in inappropriate places, Flash is terrible for your website - terrible for Search Engine Optimization and perhaps more importantly, terrible for your visitors. Don't get us wrong - Flash is a remarkable program that allows creative multimedia geniuses to produce some fascinating work. However, the following implementations of Flash should be excluded from your website:

Navigation

Probably the most abused and misused method of using Flash, Flash navigation is usually bad or extremely bad. Why is it bad you ask? Well, there are a number of reasons:

• Search Engine Optimization: If you're familiar with SEO, then you know the importance of having text on your website. Text is what makes indexing your website in the search engines possible. The problem with Flash is that the search engines do not go inside of the Flash files to collect the text information. What this basically means is that when the search engine spiders crawl through your website and come across your Flash navigation file, they crawl right over the top of it. If you have keywords in your Flash navigation that are relevant to the content of your website, then they won't be indexed or even noticed by the search engine spiders.
• Page load time: Using Flash for your navigation will slow down the load time for your web page. Yes, using anything on your website will add to the load time; however, some things (such as Flash navigation) are avoidable. Some Flash file sizes are larger than others - the larger the file size means a longer download time means the more your already impatient visitors have to wait.
• User non-friendly: The purpose of website navigation is to provide for your visitors a means of, well, navigating throughout your website. Flash navigation crosses over from bad to extremely bad when the visitor must wait for an animation to complete each time their mouse cursor rolls over an item in the menu. In case you didn't already know, people hate waiting. There is nothing worse than having to wait even just a few seconds in order to activate a particular navigational item after rolling over it. Not only can the animations be annoying, but sometimes the menus are just downright confusing (i.e. Picture elements are used instead of words for each item).
• What about people who don't have Flash?: Not everyone is using Flash these days. Although it is usually rare that someone doesn't have Flash activated on their computer, it still occurs. These Flash-disabled users will have no way of finding their way around your website. And since one of the key ingredients to a successful website is navigation, not having navigation to those with Flash disabled will make your website look quite terrible (and more importantly, non-interactive and useless).

The best way to build a SEO friendly, fast loading, user friendly, ultra compatible navigational menu is by using CSS (cascading style sheets). CSS solves all of these problems that you will encounter when using Flash navigation. There a number of free CSS navigational menu resources available on the Internet. Dynamic Drive CSS based navigational menus located at dynamicdrive.com are extremely popular and widely used by web designers and web developers, including us.

Flash Intros

Without a doubt the worst way to use (or should we say misuse) Flash is to have a Flash intro on your website. In case you don't already know, Flash intros are those annoying animations that play when you first arrive at some websites. If the content of your website is engaging and useful, then there is no real reason to have a Flash intro. Adding to the fact that most people are impatient when surfing the web, many of them do not have the time or patience to watch a lengthy Flash intro.

If you're going to have a Flash intro, then at least include a "Skip Intro" button that is clearly visible to the user. Even better, instead of making the Flash intro something that is automatically shown to all visitors, place a descriptive link somewhere inside of your website that, when clicked, allows the user to view your promotional animation (usually what Flash intros are).

Finally, be careful with the inclusion of sound in your Flash intro. If someone has their speakers turned up to a high volume, then you could be responsible for scaring the living daylights out of them (and scaring them away from your website as well).

3. Information Overload

Having too little information on pages of your website can make them seem bare and boring; however, having too much information can overwhelm the user (which isn't something you particularly want to do). Ads, images, text, more ads, navigation, secondary navigation, content, more ads... they all start to add up.

Although there is no rule as to how much information per web page is enough, you should try and limit your web pages to the following:

• Header/logo: All websites need a header/logo to identify who they are. For usability purposes, try and keep the height of your header at a moderate size. Most of our headers are no more than 200 - 300 pixels tall. Anything taller than 300 pixels and you take the risk of forcing the user to have to scroll down just to see the navigation and content of your website. Yes, we want the user to look at the navigation and content of your website; however, less scrolling makes for an easier and more enjoyable visit for the user.
• Navigation: All websites must have a functional navigational system in order for users to be able to find their way around the website. Using vertical or horizontal menus are a matter of personal preference. Although one menu is necessary, try not to have more than one. Multiple navigational menus can easily confuse the user. If you have a lot of sections on your website, then try using a CSS drop down menu which will allow you to include a great deal of navigational items while taking up a minimal amount of space.
• Ads: Many websites provide a service to their visitors for free. It is because of advertisements that most of these services are available for free. When using advertisements, don't abuse their usage. Google AdSense allows a maximum of 3 ads per web page for a reason - too many ads can make your web site look like spam in no time. Placement of advertisements is also important. Don't try to trick your visitors by placing your ads in areas where they look like actual content on your web site. People do not like to be tricked. If they want to visit your advertising sponsor, then they will click on the ad.
• Content: Each web page should have an area for content. This main section should be the focal point for each web page. Having a lot of information about the topic for each web page is absolutely fine. Make sure not to include too many different topics on one web page. Instead, split the topics up and allow for each to have its own page.
• Images: Use images moderately and only when necessary in your content area. Images take longer to download than text. Make sure that your images are properly compressed so that the download time for your web pages are not compromised due to large images. Nothing says "amateur web designer" more than having large, uncompressed images that take minutes to load.
• Footer: The information contained in footers vary from website to website. Try not to stuff too much information in the footer - especially important information. Not all users scroll down to the bottom of web pages to see the footer - some stop at the end of the content. If you have important information that must be placed inside of the footer, then begin the footer soon after the content area ends. Placing the main links for your website in the footer is a practice commonly used by designers.

There may be additional things that a website requires depending on the topic and the industry; however, all websites should contain these 6 elements. Developing a navigation and layout strategy before building a website is essential in guaranteeing that your website doesn't suffer from information overload.

4. Image Text: A Big No No

Like a car inside of an airplane hanger, text does not belong inside of an image. The only exception to this should be using text inside of a logo. Yes, it can be boring using the same text that everyone else uses for their websites. However, you can still make rich and compelling designs without sticking fancy text inside of your images.

There are a few reasons why using text inside of images is a no-no:

• Larger image file sizes: Each piece of information inside of an image adds size to the file. As we mentioned earlier, the larger the file size means a longer download time means the more your already impatient visitors have to wait.
• Not SEO friendly: Just like Flash files, search engine spiders cannot detect the textual information inside of image files.

If you have an image that requires text, then try an alternative method using CSS layers. Not only is this method easy to implement, but it will help keep the image file size smaller. It is also SEO friendly.

5. Attack of the Columns

No, this isn't a spin off of the Star Wars movie. Attack of the Columns is a phrase we use when a web designer uses more than a few columns in their layout. Some designers believe that by using more than a few columns they can better organize and display the information on their web page. The problem is, just like information overload, using too many columns will overwhelm the user.

When more than 2 or 3 columns are used, a focal point is usually eliminated from the web page. Without a focal point, the user has no idea where to look. Instead, the user's eyes wander aimlessly throughout the web page. This will cause the user to feel confused and overwhelmed and might make them go to a similar website with a cleaner, less-busy layout.

Even if there is a focal point, there is probably going to be too much information on a 4+ column layout. If huge sites with massive amounts of content (i.e. Amazon.com) are able to work with a 3 column layout, then there is no reason that any other website can't do the same. Plan your layout before you start building your website and you will find that even if you have a lot information and content, a 3 column layout is more than enough.

Happier Visitors

These 5 Things to Hate About Web Design are very important - perhaps the most important things a web designer should take into consideration when building a website. All 5 of these items have one thing in common: when followed, the user will have an easy, fast loading, straight forward experience when they visit your website. What more could they ask for? Well, maybe less advertising.

Basic Web Design

You have your content.

Text, graphics, media. You know a simple color scheme and layout. You don't want to use a template, because you want a professional in the web design field to not only create the ideal code but also offer suggestions on improving interactivity, SEO, navigation, and other key points of a website. Fortunately, you've done all the writing and obtained the graphics already, so you should be able to get a pretty good deal.

This is simple web design. An easy process for most web designers, consisting mainly of laying out the pages with style sheets, linking them together, and perhaps a few simple javascript functions. In this case, you aren't paying for the designer's effort or hours; you're paying for its expertise and experience. This article will point out some of the things you should expect to get from the web designer.

Best Web Development and Web Designing at alltechvirtual.com

First, the layout. Don't be afraid to ask for changes. Laying out a site is not difficult, and adjustments can be made almost instantaneously in many cases. A professional web designer is not going to expect you to be satisfied with the first thing it comes out with. Here's a tip: the designer is using style sheets to adjust all the pages of the site by changing one. It's not hard to setup or adjust a large number of pages in this way, so unless you need a different layout for every page, a designer can easily make changes (if you do need a different layout for every page, the site design is no longer simple and you should expect a higher cost).

Expect--and request--advice about how to make your layout better. Remember, a lot of web designers will be linking to other websites they have designed from their own sites. They will want every site they make to be impressive. You are paying for the designer's experience in web standards. Use it.

The linking structure. If your web designer is not offering a linking structure with a simple website, find another designer. Specifically, your linking structure should include any button links that you plan to utilize, as well as text links. Ask for a site map. A user (or search engine spider) should be able to get from any page in your site to any other page in a couple of clicks.

SEO. Although web designers may require additional charges for detailed SEO work or research, if you know what keywords you are targeting, let your designer know. The designer can implement those keywords in ideal places in your web pages. You should also ask the designer to look over your content and make sure it is credibly optimized. Although on-page optimization is only one part of SEO, it is an important part, and one that even simple sites should be aware of.

Basic web design can be very advantageous, since you don't have to pay for much of the content, but you are still benefiting from a web designer's experience. Remember, though, that a professional web designer is going to charge a professional rate even for a simple task. You are paying for the web designer's knowledge and expertise. Don't make the mistake of ignoring it.

Web Design in 2010-2011 - Analysis

As we're coming to the middle of this year, everyone is trying to analyze the recent trends in web designing and web development. However, in this article, we'll see what web designers and developers are trying to utilize with the new features to create impressive designs. We will also try to look into the factors that are driving this change.

1. The days of static design visuals are dead
With the online technology that is available today, web designers are coding websites more creatively than using simple images and html/css. Clients have come to expect a higher level of functionality and interactivity as they visit more and more websites that utilize things like Ajax, and JavaScript. Whilst CSS3/HTML5 has started to step on the toes of JavaScript, JavaScript itself has started to inch into the territory of Flash. JavaScript has just finished a major revision of its specifications for the language. Once browser companies adopt these standards, web developers will be provided with more tools to improve their capabilities in creating web applications.

2. Grid-based designs, Mobile Designs, Retro Designs are gaining popularity as well.
But Grid based is used mostly in portfolios, product pages and big blogs; they almost never appear on corporate websites or in online shops. With the huge amount of data present, classifying information based on context rather than content will be paramount for companies which handle large amount of data (financial, social, etc).

3. Print Design influence
Traditional techniques from print design are increasingly being applied to the Web, be they layout techniques or rich versatile typography. Web Designers are taking layout and design inspiration from print. This includes lots of whitespace, large type,use of a grid and clear hierarchy of elements. The layouts of these websites often resemble those of print magazines or posters, with striking headlines, multi-column text, highlighted quotations, indented text, supporting imagery, side notes and footnotes.

4. Faster and better Web browsers
Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Opera has offered more choices to web users. But, well, it is part of a web designer's job to make sure that texts are easy and nice to read on all major browsers and platforms. With browser wars is in full force, Techniques for progressive enhancement are more commonplace than before, giving users of modern web browsers a better web experience than those who will not or cannot use them. This has surely drive competition in web designing.

5. Growth of community-oriented Platforms
In many ways, the growth of platforms such as Twitter and Facebook has led the web to be much more community-oriented. Along with these changes will come increased focus in getting information in real-time. Twitter is one of the examples that give immediate and breaking information on the sites. With more and more growth of such social media platforms and more people participating in the creation of information on the web, the way in which we obtain information has shift from being from a singular source, into a more community-created source.

6. Interactive Designs
Web designers of Web applications are paying significantly more attention to the way in which functionality is presented and are trying to improve the user experience with more interactive and responsive solutions. There's a lot more emphasis now on site usability and creating sites that are minimalist in design and easy to navigate (perfect use of CSS and a grid based layout). Horizontal scroll bars have been out there for a decade, but today it feels that they are gaining a new context. The move to horizontal scroll bars is probably an attempt among some designers to provide a more distinct user experience. One way to make websites more responsive is through "keypress navigation," which hasn't been widely adopted so far. But lately we've observed more designs implementing this effectively. Web designers of Web applications are paying significantly more attention to the way in which functionality is presented and are trying to improve the user experience with more interactive and responsive solutions.

7. Slab Typefaces
These are relatively new as in the past logos and headers were smaller and more understated by web designers. However, combined with the trend toward larger headers, slab typefaces demand the reader to take notice.

8. Rich and strong Typography
It has played a major role in Web design for years now. Bold, strong, heavy headlines can effectively convey the purpose of an e-commerce website or portfolio, while subtler headings help structure content and improve legibility. Obviously, the big change we're seeing today is richer, more versatile typography. Oversized logos on an equally oversized header and Footer. We've further noticed that Web designers are extending their font stacks, adding increasingly more fall-back fonts in case a specified font is not available.

9. Recent trends 
like embossing, PNG transparency, rich user Interfaces, Font replacement, Huge Images, Modal boxes(A modal box is like the pop-up's more sophisticated They serve as a user-friendly alternative to classic JavaScript windows), Media blocks, The magazine look, Carousels (slideshow navigations, in which the content rotates vertically or horizontally), Introduction blocks(place the most important message of the website right there and thus make sure that readers get the message as quickly as possible.) will continue to grow in this year.

10. More Personalization
As web designers look for more ways of attracting users and prospects to their websites and generating business online, personalization is emerging as an important component of managing the web experience for site visitors - and delivering business value. Be simple, invisible complexity, big and bold, art and creativity, bigger picture. Web Typography is going to reach some new heights in 2010-2011. JQuery, Mootools as well as CSS3 are evolving and reaching new levels of quality and 'interactivity'. Everything seems to be moving forward to larger elements which focus the attention.

If you haven't checked out CSS3 and HTML5 websites yet ( like http://www.alltechvirtual.com ), you should really look into it because they will change the way you design and code. You can take advantage of the new features to create cleaner and more efficient layout.

It is possible that we have missed some other great trends and factors. Why don't you contribute some interesting information here? Please don't hesitate to share it with us in comments.

Web Designers Are Made in Heaven

Web design is the skill of creating presentations of content that is delivered to an end-user through the World Wide Web, by way of a Web browser or other Web-enabled software like Internet television clients.

The intent of web design is to create a web site that is a collection of electronic files that reside on a web server and present content and interactive features/interfaces to the end user in the form of Web pages. Such elements as text, bit-mapped images, and forms can be placed on the page using HTML/XHTML/XML tags. Displaying more complex media (vector graphics, animations, videos and sounds) requires plug-ins; they are also embedded into web page by using HTML/XHTML tags.

Once you understand the term web design you might be able to differentiate between website graphic designer and website designer. Another thing is pretty clear that web designers have acquired skills which they are not gifted so naturally; some have acquired good and some are less skilled. Now, as a project owner, it is your job to decide who is good for you.

Best Web Development and Web Designing at alltechvirtual.com

Let us see qualities of good web designer. Here we will see interpersonal skills of web designer, not the technical aspects because technical aspects depend on the nature and demand of your project.

Good Planner

Good web designer need to plan ahead of the goals of website they are going to build. Web designer can put focus on possible people who might be interested in website.

Good Organizer

Web designing needs to deal with lots of stuff at a time. Designer should organize code files, images, texts, videos, audios, and a lot more. If designer don't put all in well-labeled folders and organize it in a good manner then some elements might be misplaced.

Good evaluator

Your web application is one kind of sales representative for you; therefore it needs constant faultfinding eyes so that final shape is a robust design. Your web designer need such eyes so your site can catch maximum traffic and you get maximum customers for your business.

Good Partner

Your web designer should have proper understanding of your business just like a partner so he/she can formulate effective design strategy that gives your business a maximum benefit.

Good Portfolio

Your website designer should have a good portfolio means he/she should have past experience in related field or technology so he/she can perform challenging tasks with a confidence. For instance your project need Ajax based application and designer's portfolio doesn't see any usage of Ajax at all then there are fewer chances to implement it correctly.

Good Relationship

Once your web design project is finished; you may require updates in your website. In such scenario, you may again need the services of your previous web designer because he/she is the person who is most accustomed with your project. In short, your web designer should be relation oriented and should believe in long-term relationship.

Good Communicator

Finally, your website designer should be good communicator since communication is a vital aspect from the beginning to the end of the project. Project designer should extract all needed information from the clients, convert it into coding, and deliver results as per clients' desire.

All of above are the qualities of good designer or rather a good professional, that's why I believe that good web designers are made in heaven.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3908988

How to Create Good Web Design

There are many different types of web design, from those built using website templates and 'build your own' site building applications to complex content managed and e-commerce web designs such as those used by big brand names like Amazon, eBay and Tesco. Some companies, even some big name companies, have unprofessional looking and badly designed websites. Some have amazing looking websites but because of their high graphical content and minimal text content can take an age to load, are not user friendly and do not provide what the visitor wants.

Good Website Design

Though many aspects of website design differ from site to site, many things remain the same throughout the majority of websites on the internet. Most notably is the navigation or menu. The way in which a website's menu works and looks is very important, as ultimately, visitors to a website are looking for certain criteria that will make them either stay and interact or leave. This ability for a website to keep visitors interested is sometimes referred to as stickiness. Visitors want an attractive visually exciting experience, but perhaps more importantly, they want 'ease of use'. Website usability is a key factor for websites that want their visitors to stick around, make an enquiry and ultimately complete a transaction and order a product or service.

Best Web Development and Web Designing at alltechvirtual.com

Easy to Use Web Design

Internet users tend to prefer easy to use websites, because they do not want to have to learn how to use a website every time they find a new one. They should be able to use a website after only a few seconds of looking around a homepage, any more and they will leave and browse elsewhere. The need for fast user interaction is vital and therefore having a fast loading website is also important for a website to succeed. Even with faster internet connections such as broadband, internet users don't want to wait around.

Just imagine, if you go to a shop on the high street and are totally ignored by shop assistants at the counter for 5 minutes, even after you have made it clear you want help. There is a correlation here to how an internet user may feel, when they arrive at a website that has been poorly designed, is difficult to use, unfriendly and slow to load. Making sure that a website has been well thought out and designed with the user in mind, displays a company's unique selling points within easily recognizable eye catching calls for action and has a clear, easy to use menu is key to its success.

Flash Web Design

With recent web design advancements, such as the introduction of Flash animation and high definition video content, impressive websites have been produced to take advantage of much higher levels of visual effects and interaction. However with this 'high end' web design, comes a price, more often than not, web designs which rely heavily upon Flash content are often ridiculously slow to load. They often have a progress bar, which slowly goes across the web browser to signify when the website will finish loading.

This is much like the progress bars that you may be familiar with if you use video editing or 3D rendering software, or if you use games consoles where they are displayed whilst you wait for games to load. Internet users on the whole do not want to wait 3 - 5 minutes for a web page to load even if it does feature high resolution images, animation or video. They want fast informative content rich websites. If they wanted to watch an animation or video they would watch TV.

Good Flash Web Design

This is not to say that Flash animation is all bad news and shouldn't be used in web design. If used subtly and in small amounts it can make a website more visually appealing without slowing the load time down too much. Suitable uses for Flash animation in web design are things such as; Flash banner advertisements, Flash video and interactive Flash forms for online questionnaires or business presentations.

Using Flash for a whole website design however, is not such a good idea. It slows the user's experience down because they have to wait for elements of it to load. Also, sites totally developed in Flash tend to use unfamiliar menu structures and features. This can confuse visitors who just want to quickly interact with the website and not be amazed by the way the menu animates. Just because you can do these things in Flash, it doesn't mean they have any real working value in the real world. They may look pretty, but if they are not functional and only irritate the visitor then they have no real value.

Flash Web Design & SEO

Another argument against using Flash to create a whole website is that it dramatically reduces the effectiveness of your websites' Search Engine Optimisation. Flash web designs are made up of one main file within a web page which search engines find difficult to index. This is because the text within them is usually graphical text and therefore is not usually accessible by search engines. Some recent developments allow some text to be displayed for search engines in Flash websites, but this is nowhere near as effective as text content within traditional HTML based websites.

Don't Write Off Flash in Web Design

Although Flash does have its limitations it also has its good points if used correctly. For instance; Flash animation is usually smaller in file size than traditional gif animation and because of the way it is made the animation flows smoother than gif animation too. Having said this, I would recommend only using Flash in small areas within a site to compliment other imagery that makes up the overall design. Finding a balance between minimal graphical elements, imagery, Flash and good quality informative text is the key to a successful user friendly website. This isn't to say that web design needs be boring. By working with quality web design companies there's no reason why you couldn't have a visually exciting, well designed, easy to use and successful website.

Visually Stimulating Web Design

When visitors first arrive at a website, they want to be impressed and engaged with what the website has to offer. This will be determined by the ways in which the web designer has laid out the website's content text, images and features. Arranging elements such as imagery, text, graphics, flash and video in such a way as to keep the visitor interested in the website is the key to good web design. If a website has poor design and doesn't grab the attention of the visitor in the first few seconds, then it may well be dismissed as just another average website. This ultimately means the visitor will go elsewhere to spend their time and, more importantly, money.

Good Web Design Layout

A lot of time and money is spent making sure that the right elements of websites are positioned in the right places. Companies spend large amounts of money conducting research into how internet users use their websites. This type of research shows where their visitors' eyes concentrate the most, which elements of the website they click on first and generally how they interact and use their websites. Most internet users will look primarily from the top left either across the page, or down the left hand side of the web page through an internet browser via a computer, mobile phone or TV set.

I would hazard a guess, that they are looking for the company's name or logo, their main selling points or slogans and then what the website has to offer in terms of what is featured in the menu. After which their eyes are probably drawn across the page content and over to the right hand side. Successful web design usually takes this into consideration and will ultimately affect the way a website looks.

There are of course rather famous exceptions to this rule for instance one rather well known search engine has a web design which is quite different. The main focus and core functionality in their web design is located right in the centre of the page. This however, isn't any ordinary website with tens or even hundreds of pages of products and services to display, its main focus is its recognisable logo and of course its search box. It does however feature a small minimal menu across the top of the web design, which flows from left to right. So even they have taken onboard some of the research undertaken into internet users' habits. If you go looking at websites after reading this article, I can guarantee that most of the web designs you'll see, will have a left hand menu and a defined header bar with a company logo and slogan across it.