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This site has been purposely designed the way it is in an attempt to
best meet the needs of various people who might visit it. I have
purposely
chosen a fairly minimalist design strategy since all types of users
basically
are just looking for information. This is especially useful for
providing accessibility to users with special needs, such as users of
screen readers.
For the purposes of this personal web site, I believe that the information structure is more important than providing a bunch of fancy bells and whistles. I don't need to add bells and whistles just to show off my prowess and you probably don't want your time wasted in loading and considering such.
The background I have chosen provides good reading contrast for most users; does not print on most computers (saving both ink and eyestrain on printed copies - especially those done in black and white); and demonstrates that I care enough to go beyond just using the default.
I only use use four main structural elements: {pages, headings, lists, and tables} to help organize and present my content. I avoid the use of forms, which are unnecessary in this relatively simple site and which often cause problems to users who wish to print all of a Web "page".
I have organized all the content into five major pages, one home page and four secondary pages. I subdivide material based on concern for "the Magic number Seven Plus or Minus Two" as much as possible.
Rather than providing links between secondary pages or back to the home page from secondary pages, I rely on users using the back feature of their browsers. This provides them a greater sense of the relatively simple structure of the site. The structuring of secondary pages has reduced the need for lateral links between pages to be a minimum. These are limited to the introductory section that provides an overview of the contents of the page and select references to related pages.
I am explaining why I did what I did because I do not believe that one design strategy fits all or even most applications. Each design has to be carefully thought out to meet the needs of its: different groups of users, different tasks, and different chunks of content. I hope that this site does that. If you have any comments or suggestions please contact me so we can discuss them.
Revised Feb 15, 2010