I finished my redesign of my web page today. Knowing that I will be applying for positions in the fall, I of course want to put forth a competent, professional looking website to represent myself. The latest incarnation of my website was also a few years old, and standards have changed.
First to change was the background. Most sites nowadays have settled on black text on a white background. See for example ABC News, Amazon, or the NY Times. Google is the ultimate example: simplicity and austerity to begin, followed by a more complex page of returned results.
I did not want to match the one item basic nature of Google, however. I am a person, and I like to think that I am slightly more complex than a search engine. So I left in the six buttons that were originally on my site, and added three more buttons. I renamed "Documents" to "Newsletters" since that's all that was there, and added extra buttons to directly take viewers to my publications and computer code.
Below the buttons I added written links, which I had never done before. This is absolutely necessary for anyone using text-to-speech software or other accessibility aids who might be using my site, or someone who works faster with the keyboard than the mouse.
I have also switched over to using CSS style sheets. Hopefully, this will help me keep the look of the site closer to uniform over the subpages, and make updating the site easier in the future.
Another difference since I designed the page is bandwidth. I am now assuming that users are operating at least at DSL speeds for access. So I replaced the one smaller picture of myself with three larger pictures.
My web page is my virtual front to the world. For me, maintaining my web page is more fun than mowing a lawn or cleaning gutters, and the improvement tools are definitely cheaper than a trip to Home Depot.
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