Web Developer Handbook
A collection of notes from a trainee front end web developer
2 min readJan 9, 2021
Decalogue
- Responsive
- Accessible
- Fast loading
- Fast operation
- Appropriate design
- Image files
- Google searchability
- Testing
- Brand name
Responsive
- Design for mobile first
- Design for desktop second
- Function over form
- CSS over JavaScript
Accessible
- Design for mobile first
- Size 14 font
- High contrast
- Large buttons for touchscreen compatibility
- Add titles and alt text to images
- Add titles to buttons for hover
- Add cursor hover to button and links
- Provide instant feedback to users
- Create a 404 page
Fast loading
- Minimise the number of files
- Minimise file size
- Lazy old images
- Load scripts last
Fast operation
- Use animations sparingly
- Efficient JavaScript functions
Appropriate design
- Determine brand culture and emotion
- Research similar brands
- Research current trends (Aaawards)
- Research AB testing results
- Create a colour and font scheme
- Create a logo
- Copy form and functions from other sites
- Uniqueness
- Draft the layout
- Implement
- Step back and review
Image files
- SVG for logos and simple graphics
- SVG for animations
- PNG for images with text and sharp lines
- JPG for photos
- Embed icons in CSS as background images
Google searchability
- Select a good URL
- Page names, descriptions and key words
- Appropriate H1, H2, … headings
- Add social images and links
- Run google developer speed tests
Testing
- Inspect total page size
- Run google developer speed tests
Brand Name
- Select a name
- Check URL availability (Always .com)
- Check gmail availability
- Check outlook availability
- Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc etc
- Ensure match to culture and emotion
- Check for conflicts and mispronunciation