Deceptions of the Web
The Boston Globe
by Hiawatha Bray
May 23, 1996
It seems a high-techie haven, but popular software allows anyone to design a site.
More times than I can count, some public-relations type has bent my ear with what he thinks is the story of the century. "Klutznet Inc. has just launched is new World Wide Web site! You gotta write about it! It's really cool!"
I can stand it no longer. I want all of you out there to repeat after me: The Web is not cool. The Web is not hip. The Web is not on the bleeding edge. Creating a Web site is about as newsworthy as writing a letter to grandma--and almost as easy.
The World Wide Web relies relies on a set in instructions called Hypertext Markup Language, or HTML. By adding HTML commands to a document, you can control the layout of text, and the size and color of the type. You can add pictures and sounds. And you can connect one file to another with "hyperlinks" - highlighted text or pictures that carry you to other files at the click of a button.
It all seems magical when it works. But anybody can make it work. Hundreds of Internet access providers will gladly publish your Web site once you've built it. and mastering HTML isn't difficult. You don't have to learn it; there are a bunch of products that do the heavy lifting.
The most basic of these are free add-ons to popular word processing programs. WordPerfect Internet Publisher works with Novell's popular software, and can be downloaded from Novell's Web site. Or you can visit the Microsoft iste and downlead Internet Assistant for Microsoft Word. These programs let you do basic design. They're quite adequate for designing individual Web pages.
But for serious design, you'll probably want more robust Web-authoring software. Firms like Netscape, Microsoft and Corel will gladly provide them at a price.
Netscape's Navigator Gold sells for $79--a decent price for Netscape's excellent Web browser, plus an easy-to-use editor for designing your own site. If you need guidance, there's Page Wizard, an on-line guide that lets you create a simple Web page in just a few seconds. Navigator Gold even includes a superb feature that automatically sends your completed pages to your Internet access provider for publication.
Corel's Web.Designer carries a stiffer list price of $149. But in exchange you get a CD-ROM with dozens of generic Web page templates. Just fill in your own information and you're ready to go. Web.Designer also gives you hundreds of pieces of clip art to decorate your page.
Apple Macintosh users have Adobe's PageMill ($100); the program offers easy, if somewhat basic, Web page design.
I get in trouble when I say nice things about Microsoft. So I should point out that its impressive Web-authoring program, FrontPage, was created in Cambridge by Vermeer Technologies Inc. Microsoft bought Vermeer in January to help establish itself on the Internet.
FrontPage is a muscular piece of software designed for professional Web construction. It was created for corporate use, and may be too sophisticated for casual users. But it's got just about every fearture you could want. For instance, FrontPage lets you create a Web page with miniature pages or "frames" built inside, even though this feature is used only by Microsoft's archrival, Netscape. FrontPage even comes with built-in Web-server software so you can test your Web site design on your computer network.
FrontPage used to cost $695, but Microsoft plans to sell it for $149 this summer. A timed beta version of FrontPage is available free form Microsoft's home page, but it'll stop working on June 30.
There are lots more Web authoring tools on the market, with more to come. You can expect the prices of these products to plummet, too. Don't be surprised if Microsoft starts giving away FrontPage in a year. That means that the Web, already cluttered with gaudy, badly designed sites, is going to get worse.
Just because you can post your sales brochures or baby pictures on the Internet doesn't mean you should. And although HotWired thinks purple is a fine background color for a Web page, some folks might disagree. The best Web pages have just enough flash to catch the eye and lots of useful information, legibly displayed.
But if you insist on creating a state-of-the-art site, create one that a person could use with his eyes closed, or with a pencil clenched between his teeth.
Folks with physical disabilities want to go Web surfing, too. For instance, attach little text descriptions to all of the pictures and icons on your pages. These tags can be read aloud by the screen-reader devices used by many blind computer users.
That's just one way to make your Web page more accessible. A complete guide was recently published by the Trace Research and Development Center at the University of Wisconsin. To learn more, visit the Trace Web site at http://www.trace.wisc.edu/world; send e-mail to info@trace.wisc.edu; or call (608) 262-6966.
Boston's WGBH television station is leading the campaign for accessible Web pages. The station has set up a site at http://main.wgbh.org. Also, it has created a badge of honor that you can attach to your pages once you've made them more accessible.
So all of you Webmasters and spin doctors who want me to write about your sites can call me back when you've earned the WGBH seal of approval. That way, I'll know you really are cool.
