The single most important factor to remember when designing web pages is that users will access them via a variety of different computers and browsers, which may mean that they see your pages in a different way than that envisaged when you designed them. This is because some computers and browsers may not support features such as colours, graphics and photographs.

Easy to read, Easy on the eye .....

Fonts and colours are important to Web page design. You should always ensure that your pages are both easy-to-read and "easy on the eye" by using light pastel-coloured backgrounds and dark text. It is tempting to use a variety of exotic fonts for your text. Resist this temptation; not every user will have these fonts. Instead use readily available fonts.

Background colours .....

Background colours should not dominate your pages. Use white, especially if your page contains mainly text, or if you prefer something a little more subtle, use a pastel shade of green, blue or pink. Always avoid the default grey background of most browsers to make your pages stand out.

Colours and hyperlinks .....

Due consideration should be given to the colours of your hyperlinks. Red is symbolic of "hot" and blue of "cold". Therefore, it makes sense to use red as the colour for links not yet selected or "unvisited" and blue for links already selected or "visited". Amongst primarily black text, red links will "demand" attention; blue links will not.

Formatting with tables .....

Finally, until decent formatting tags are readily available, make liberal use of tables to set your left and right margins; and remember, table cells can contain pictures and graphics as well as text. Also bear in mind that long lines of unbroken text are more likely to be overlooked than shorter variable lines of well-positioned paragraphs.