Demystifying The Myths Of The Web!	Visited: 2220 Not rated Rate: Select 1 - Terrible 2 - Poor 3 - Average 4 - Good 5 - Outstanding
by Kabir Bedi September 17, 2009

The world of web design is governed by certain rules. While some are official, others are unofficial that are gradually perpetuated from one to others. However, not all the advices that passed on are correct. They are just myths that go round and round and make people believe that they are real facts.

Here are some popular web design myths and the actual facts behind them...

Myth: You should always use Web Safe Fonts

Fact: This may be a fact of the past! However in today's time, designers can afford to choose from a wide variety of font types. It is a common misconception that only 'web-safe' fonts can be rendered well in browsers. In fact, modern web browsers are able to render any font that users have installed. And as software packages become more popular, the list of usable fonts is just getting longer.

Designers shouldn't be scared of using new fonts. Rather, these new age fonts can highly improve the typography of the website and enhance the overall design. Just get some appropriate fall-backs and you are all ready to use fonts line Caslon, Jenson, Helvetica and so on...

Myth: Navigation should work the same across the whole Website!

Fact: This is perhaps the most common misconception designers have in their minds. This may have been true in the past because the prime focus was on deliver relevant content to the visitors. However, today websites have other objectives as well. And that is the reason why navigation system doesn't have to stick to a information management style. Rather, the navigation system of a website should cater to the requirements of the users and help them browse the website more easily even if it is differs across the various pages of the website.

Myth: Websites should always have Liquid Layouts

Fact: Liquid layouts are the ones that expands with the browser window. They are considered more flexible than the fixed layouts because of their ability to fill the browser window. If the browser window is too narrow, the design doesn't break and in case of very large screens, users don't see too much of whitespace. But then, the screen resolutions were more or less the same in the past where as today we have to cater to large screen laptops as well as super tiny screens of mobile devices. And it becomes pretty difficult to create a fluid design that fits well into all these screen sizes. Thats is why it is a more feasible idea to go with fixed layouts because most modern browsers have zooming feature that allows users to see a fixed width website the way they want to.

Though liquid layouts are not all that bad, you should make sure you define the maximum and the minimum widths in order to prevent too much flexibility that could hamper the user experience on the website.

Myth: JavaScript should be absolutely avoided.

Fact: JavaScript is not enabled on all the computer systems by default and most users don't even know they can turn it on. However, that is no reason that it should be absolutely avoided. In fact, most modern web browsers focus heavily on JavaScript. Instead of avoiding it, you should focus on building accessible websites that perform well with or without JavaScript.