As we all know, there are always two sides to every website design. The visual side that all users see with all the graphic elements, buttons, images, and the side behind it, which is the code responsible for the functionality of the website. How to achieve balance?
The enabling side does not contain just one type of code, but encompasses different ones. First of all, it is the HTML code, which creates a framework in which to embed CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) or programming languages such as PHP. In other words, HTML is used to structure page content, while CSS allows you to treat your website content and its style separately, and programming languages communicate instructions to the computer.
HTML itself doesn’t power effects like dropdowns or carousels. There is some code dedicated expressly to the user interface, while other code is used to process data and connect to the database. The ‘presentation layer’ refers to the graphical interface as well as the code that feeds it, including the code that controls interactive elements such as dropdown menus.
Submission code includes:
- HTML and HTML5
- CSS
- Scripting languages like JavaScript, jQuery, and Ajax.
Typically, all of those languages are cleverly intertwined to create a visually appealing and highly functional website design.
1. Creating multimedia interface
Immersive, animated design is achieved through the use of Adobe Flash or a combination of HTML, CSS, and other scripting languages combined.
For many years, Adobe Flash was in the lead, but it started to change. Today, with the development of HTML 5 and CSS, we can replicate more and more of the animation and interactive effects.
HTML 5, the most recent edition of HTML, has taken a huge step forward in terms of presentation layer design capabilities. It provides an enhanced toolset of elements and properties and recognizes the way designers work with and use particular elements. For example, it allows designers to define a navigation group with the new ‘nav’ element instead of the previously used ‘div’ element. The animation and interaction design support features of HTML5 have also improved dramatically, and the fact that HTML5 is supported by mobile browsers like Apple’s Safari has opened up the possibilities for web design.
A few words about Adobe Flash
Flash is an interactive and animation technology that allows you to create a highly immersive interface. As for the implementation of the Flash element in website design, the process is quite simple. The component developed in Adobe Flash is exported as a stand-alone .swf file, and in exactly the same way as an image, the .swf file is embedded in an HTML page. The .swf file can be a small part of the page or literally the entire interface. It should be noted that users must have the Flash player installed in their browser in order to view a page with a .swf component.
Despite the ability to create an impressive user experience, there are some downsides to using Flash. The most significant is the fact that Apple’s mobile platform simply doesn’t support Flash files. Therefore, the Flash website should offer an alternative version of the site for (Apple’s) mobile viewers (of course, only if the market is important enough for them). The invitation for the user to download the latest version of Flash Player on the iPhone is an irrelevant button, since even if he did download Flash, the site would still not be accessible.
HTML5 – Alternate Flash
As mentioned above, the combination of HTML 5, CSS, and jQuery code now makes it possible to render animated websites that were only possible in Flash. Using the ‘canvas’ element it is now much easier than ever to design a rich and animated user interface. Most modern desktop and mobile browsers support the HTML5 standard, making it possible to create a layout that works across a multitude of platforms.
1.1 DHTML, JavaScript, jQuery and Ajax
Please note that HTML only forms a structure for a content. Scripting languages like JavaScript, Ajax, and jQuery that control the behavior of user interface elements and the content displayed on a page are woven into that fabric.
javascript is a dynamic scripting language that is capable of complex animation and interaction effects, such as creating a drop-down menu or an expanding window layer. It allows to interact with the user, control the browser and modify the content of the web page that is displayed. When JavaScript is implemented in HTML, the HTML is called ‘DHTML’. Dynamic HTML (DHTML) allows you to create interesting animations and interactive components.
jQuery is a simplified form of JavaScript that focuses on commonly used interactions between JavaScript and HTML. It is designed to make it easier to navigate a web page. jQuery is free, open source software and is available online. You can copy and paste ready-made scripts into your web pages and customize them to serve your purposes. With jQuery, you can create animation and interaction design effects with much less code than you would with JavaScript.
Examples of jQuery effects:
- Expansion and contraction according to the windows
- Rotate image carousel
- Image zoom-on-rollover, etc.
Ajax (asynchronous JavaScript and XML) allows data processing, such as sending or retrieving data, to take place in the background (asynchronously) without interfering with the display or behavior of the web page. So there is no need to reload the page or click the “refresh” button and the data on the page can be refreshed/updated automatically.
1.2 Advanced CSS graphic effects
In the past, to create a graphic element, for example a button, we used to rely on bitmap graphics like jpeg or gif. Not only do they increase web page load time, but they also need to be created by designers familiar with software like Photoshop, and then changed by hand whenever you want to change the look of the site.
Today, CSS offers increasing levels of stylistic control over the appearance of elements. It is now possible to add gradations, rounded corners, reflections, and soft drop shadows to text and elements simply through code.
There are quite a few CSS graphic style controls that we can implement to avoid the use of bitmap graphics in the construction of the user interface.
Advantages of using CSS for our user interface include:
- Faster download times: CSS code is written only once and can be applied as a style to any graphic or text element;
- Scalable layout: CSS code allows you to apply scalable attributes to fonts and elements;
- Easy Maintenance: To change the size, color, and visual effects of a button, text, or layout element, we simply change the values in the CSS code and the change will apply to all elements assigned the particular style. ;
- Accessibility: In CSS we use real text for our buttons and interface elements, and these are labeled and identified in a way that screen readers can digest and translate for users who rely on those devices.
1.3 responsive design
The newest trend in website design is ‘responsive design’. It is an approach aimed at creating websites in a way that provides an optimal viewing experience that is easy to read and navigate on a wide range of devices. When the user resizes their browser window, the web page is immediately refreshed to optimally display at the ‘view port’ size. Viewport is a new term used by designers to refer not only to different sizes of desktop browsers, but also to mobile devices that have different fixed screen sizes.
Responsive design is made possible by the media queries part of the CSS3 specification. It recognizes the size of the browser and tells the page to load the appropriate style sheet, eg ‘widescreen.css’ or ‘mobilescreen.css’. It’s possible because different style sheets contain different layout systems, font sizes, and image optimization settings.
Last but not least, getting creative ideas for the user interface. There are many inspirations online. It would be wise to look at good design practices, break them down to their essentials, and see how some of them can be adapted for application in our own field.
