by Mike Cherim

There are a plethora of Websites out there, each one unique in its design, its content, markup, features, functionality, and in myriad other ways. Yet, despite these differences, there are specific needs that should be met with near consistency, Internet-wide, regardless of the site. Let’s take a look at twelve of these common denominators. Below are the first six.

1. A Proper Navigation Menu

"An easy to use and accessible navigation menu must be available. There are other concerns as it pertains to building a proper navigation menu, as well, such as…

* Its link styling the :hover, :focus, and :active pseudo elements.
* The semantic use of lists to properly organize your links into a proper menu.
* And even going so far as marking the current page."

2. A Meaningful, Well-Formed Title

"Ideally the content title should come before the site (this helps search users find stuff like your main content heading, instead of seeing your site name over and over again) and, if at all possible, each page should have its own title."

3. A Method of Contact

"offering a phone number and address is good, if possible, and a contact form is a nice option in lieu of a mailto: email link that not all visitors will be able to use anyway. However, since some visitors are robots or people up to no good, use a secure contact form."

4. A Site Map

Start your site map as soon as it starts to grow, or consider adding it to your site from the beginning. At first you can link to it from the footer, then later move the link to a more obvious location as the site grows, since more visitors will find it useful. On small sites I will often incorporate the site map into a “site help” or “site info” page, killing off numerous birds with a one stone — accessibility and copyright statements, privacy policy, etc.

5. Passive Accessibility

"Your Website should be accessible. Whether or not you do it for your visitors or for yourself is irrelevant."

6. Standardized Markup

"From using tables for layout, to the improper use of breaks, to using a "big-bold" font style instead of a heading. Using the right markup for its designated purpose, without going overboard by stretching it usage, is useful not to not only accessibility and usability, but the practice of using semantic markup helps ensure forward compatibility."

Please Read more at Twelve Things Most Sites Need - Part 1