3 Local Sites that Can Improve Usability Today

Skyline Dental

This site has many things that could be improved on, but the biggest usability issue is the small navigation menu. A great way to resolve the issue would be to shift the business logo upward, and place the navigation menu in the green band across the top. I would also increase the font size to make it more legible.

KTVZ

This website has too many things competing for attention. The content should have a little more breathing room, making it easier for visitors to quickly scan the page. This issue could be improved by using a more traditional news layout, and separating out the top stories into headlines with small summaries beneath. The navigation menu should also be streamlined.

Downtown Bend

Downtown Bend has an extensive site. The main usability issue is that here should be search bar on the home page, making it easy for visitors to find information quickly.

3 Web Sites that Have the Look I like

Darling Studio

Darling Studio's website is simple and playful. The layout is very clean and minimal. I love the clutter free feel of the site.

Andrea Lindquist

Another simple layout, I like the opening modular gallery with links to different sections of the website. It's bold and playful.

Typo Boutique

This site has a lovely design, and a simple interface. The layout is minimal, with the emphasis placed on the products.

3 CSS Properties I Haven’t Used...Until Today

clip-path

The clip-path property is used to define a clipping region, to eliminate all but a portion of an element. This would be useful for showing a small portion of a photograph or design. 

text-shadow

The text-shadow property can be applied to text and text-decorations. It adds a shadow to the specified element. This could be useful for creating a simple logo or heading.

mix-blend-mode

The mix-blend-mode property allows an element to blend with a background or background element. This could be useful for creating dynamic content for the home page.

3 HTML Tags That I Haven’t Used...Until Today

The del element

I have never used the <del> element to cross out a phrase. The <del> tag is used to show information that was retracted. Now that I have used the <del> element, and I think this one will come in quite handy for editing my blog posts.

The optgroup element

The <optgroup> tag is used as a child of the select element to display a group of option elements together. This would come in handy in a selection menu for grouping different categories.

The mark element

The <mark> tag is used to highlight text. This is another tag that I could use in my blog posts to draw the readers attention to specific text.