Web Bloopers: 60 Common Web Design Mistakes, and How to Avoid Them (Interactive Technologies)

S

Safeway.com's home page, duplication on, 102

San Francisco Superior Court website, juror information, 89-90

San Mateo County (California) Department of Transportation's TransitInfo search page, incorrect GUI toolkit jargon, 201, 202

SBC website

improved search controls on, 165

"literal text" versus "boolean" expressions, 161

scannability as a goal, 199

scenarios, describing task performance, 79

Sciencenter.org, patterned blue background on all pages, 256

screen pixels, 254

screen resolution, text size dependent on, 251

scripting language, required to set input focus in a text field, 140

scripts

checking browser version, 254

running, 63

SDExpo.com, hidden "click here " link, 237

search bloopers, 159-192

Search box, placing one on a page, 169

search controls. See also controls

avoiding jargon for, 165

baffling, 161-166

competing, 167-170

guidelines for designing, 164-166

keeping simple, 164

unique, 163-164

unusual, 163-164

search criteria

combining, 187, 188

reviewing, 189

search functions

costs of multiple, 169

providing identical, 57

tailoring to a site's content, 165-166

search methods , 178

Search Myopia: Missing Relevant Items blooper, 175-178

search order, 182

allowing users to specify, 185, 186

poor, 180, 181

search results, 2

emphasizing distinguishing data for, 173

ordering arbitrarily, 184

ordering of, 182

poor ordering of, 180, 181

search terms, displaying in editable form, 190

Search Terms Not Shown blooper, 189-190

searching, on the Web from the beginning, 159, 160

Sears.com

labeling image links as links, 226

simple search controls, 164

secure e-commerce functions, 33-34

"secure" protocols versus " insecure ", 58

security, requiring multiple levels of, 52

self-links

disguised, 112

in the navigation bar, 112-113

missing from navigation bars, 113-116

semantic tags, varying font sizes, 253

SeniorNet.org, "Enlarge Text" button, 251-253

seniors, websites intended for, 251-253

sentence case, 217

sentences, ending some with periods, 214

session cookies, 53

session IDs in the stuffed URL approach, 54

SFGov.org/juryduty. See San Francisco Superior Court website

SGI.com. See Silicon Graphics customer service home page

Shades Of Beige: Color Differences too Subtle blooper, 265-268

SharperImage.com

electronic products page of, 26, 27

task-focused search functions, 166

"Show All" option in Greyhound.com's departure -time menu, 66

Sibelius.com

appropriate default, 61, 62

error message with no navigation links, 116-117

mandatory choice, 148, 149

meaningless download locations, 58

Silicon Graphics' customer service home page

improvements to avoid the organizational chart blooper, 89

multiple links for customer support, 84, 87

SiliconValley.com, similar looking search results, 171, 172

single radiobutton, 146, 147

"single source" approach to content description, 30, 32

site architects , responsibility of, 283

site could figure it out type of pointless choice, 59-60, 61, 63

site lexicon. See also keyword lexicon

constructing, 211

creating, 214

developing, 205

Site Reflects Organizational Chart blooper, 84-89

site visitors , referring to as users, 207

SIwafer.com. See International Wafer Service website

SKU number, 209-210

slacvm.slac. stanford .edu, 6

Slims nightclub website, publicizing an event with incomplete directions, 35, 36

Slip.net, no default values, 128

sloppy writing, 217-220

software text, assigning the writing of, 206

software version, providing appropriate default for download, 61, 62

solid backgrounds, 256

solutions, providing for errors, 205

Sony Product Registration page, intolerant text field, 125-126

Southwest Airlines' website

error message providing a solution, 205

forgetting stated values from one page to the next , 46-47

spaces, nonbreaking, 235

spacing, reducing multiline link ambiguity, 235

spam, default option to receive, 136

Speaking Geek blooper, 199-206

special-purpose Search boxes, designing to look different from general Search boxes, 170

spellings

adding all plausible for keywords, 189

finding nothing with legitimate , 187

spurious search results, 179

Stanford University Bookstore website

example of too much text, 196

improved Checkout page, 198

menus with no defaults provided, 131

redesigning the Shopping Cart page with a checkbox, 135

State menu defaulted to Alabama, 136

Stanford University's website

About Continuing Studies page, 40, 41

"click here " link, 238

displaying editable search terms, 190, 191

textual links not underlined , 222

stateless system

problems of propagating data through, 53

the Web as, 51

stealth duplicate links, 93-95, 174, 238

strongly typed online forms and control panels, 123

stuffed URLs, 54

style guide, developing or adopting, 217

style sheets, defining font sizes, 254

stylistic consistency, 217

stylistic inconsistencies, 214

subfields, segmenting text fields into, 128

Submit script, triggering, 53

subsites, websites segmented into, 113

subtle color differences, avoiding, 267

Sun.com, avoiding multiple competing navigation schemes, 92