[Web4lib] Library Web site redesign

[Tyson Tate]

Just because it *can* be resized doesn't mean that the users know how,
unfortunately.

I'm amazed at how many people with poor eyesight still don't know how
to resize text in their browser. You should either include a few icons
(many magazine and newspaper sites do this) that change the base font
size percentage or make your text larger by default.

Example: http://wired.com/ (upper right corner)

And, for what it's worth, I feel the type is too small and the
line-heights not loose enough in your design. It feels a bit cramped.
Opening it up a little will improve readability immensely.

One way to test type settings is you draw up your CSS and then apply
it to a super-long piece of text (a book from the Gutenberg Project,
perhaps) and sit down and read it for 10 or 15 minutes. If you start
getting annoyed, you'll probably want to tweak the settings for better
readability.

Some good starting points:

http://www.sitepoint.com/article/anatomy-web-fonts
http://webtypography.net/toc

Hope this helps!

-Tyson

On 9/11/06, Diana Myers Hyatt <dmyershyatt at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Thank you Araby,
> You have some great comments on how the information is
> organized on the page. The IT's design, I found, tries
> to offer too much information without organizing it in
> anyway. As you mention, everything is given the same
> weight.
>
> I have made the type rather small, but unlike the IT
> design, it can be resized in IE. I'm going to test and
> tweak this site this week, so I'll be sure to get
> users comments on the type size. I like the idea of
> moving up the AskNow section, and plan to promote it
> on other pages as well.
>
> --- Araby Y Greene <araby at unr.edu> wrote:
>
> > You've got a very nice start on a solid design for
> > your users. That's evident with a cursory look. It's
> > clear that you're still working on the top section,
> > and I'm assuming that validation to standards will
> > be addressed before rollout, but overall, it's light
> > years ahead of the city design.
> >
> > Your redesign is easier to "understand" at first
> > glance than the city's. Blocks of subtle color help
> > the visitor make sense of the the page. You've
> > avoided "too much information" by making task
> > information easy to find and have carried it
> > consistently throughout the site.
> >
> > Information for your audience is or oganized at the
> > top, where KIDS, TEENS, RESEARCHERS, etc., can find
> > it immediately. Obviously, you know more about how
> > your audience uses the site than the city's IT dept
> > (do any of them actually use the library?). It's
> > easy to navigate to detailed information.
> > Unfortunately, the city has design has carried
> > "everything looking the same" to a point where
> > everything on the page itself looks the same, has
> > equal emphasis, and takes a lot of scanning to
> > figure out what's important.
> >
> > Your design puts interesting stories in the top
> > center of the page. The city design does not. People
> > looking for jobs are motivated and will find it. The
> > other 99.9% of visitors will be more interested in
> > specifics about what's happening at the Library, not
> > a vague "Hey, we have kids' programs." I think
> > people love "Staff Picks" and book jackets, a
> > keeper.
> >
> > I do have one pet peeve, and that's fonts smaller
> > than "small" for body text and links. "Fine print"
> > is for contracts, not for public libraries that
> > server many people of all ages. I would also suggest
> > that you might more use of "Ask Now" if you move it
> > closer to the top of the page.
> >
> > I'm not sure if this message will appear properly in
> > the list because I'm using a Web version of MS
> > Exchange, which does not offer plain text as a
> > message option.
> >
> > Good luck,
> > -araby
> >
> > ________________________________
> >
> > From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org on behalf of
> > Diana Myers Hyatt
> > Sent: Sun 9/10/2006 1:36 PM
> > To: web4lib at webjunction.org
> > Subject: [Web4lib] Library Web site redesign
> >
> >
> >
> > I value the expertise and opinions of this group,
> > and
> > would like your comments about the redesign I'm
> > working on for the Riverside Public Library Web
> > site,
> > as well as one done by the city's IT department (the
> > library wasn't consulted or notified on this one).
> >
> > Here's the current site, which is really showing its
> > age: http://www.riversideca.gov/library/
> >
> > Here's my redesign so far:
> > http://www.riversideca.gov/library/library4/
> > I've incorporated the city's banner design since
> > "everything looking the same" seems to be the
> > ultimate
> > goal of their redesign.
> >
> > And here's the one the city wants us to use:
> > http://www.riversideca.gov/library3/
> >
> >
> > Since I'm working on this redesign myself and
> > there's
> > no one else at our library with a background in web
> > design, especially such issues as standards and
> > accessibility, I would greatly appreciate the honest
> > opinions and suggestions of this group. Take a look
> > at
> > the style sheets and source code if you can.
> >
> > If you wish you can email me at
> > dhyatt at riversideca.gov.
> >
> > Thanks for your two cents in advance,
> >
> > Diana Myers Hyatt
> > Library Associate
> > City of Riverside Public Library
> >
> >
> >
> >
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>
>
> Diana Myers Hyatt
> dmyershyatt at yahoo.com
>
>
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