Hi guys,

This is my first site. I am studying CIW Web Design at the moment and have created this site for my nephew's new bussiness.

www.blackhillclothing.com

 

I used XHTML and a little bit of CSS as ive only learnt a small bit.

It does need an overhawl in terms of images throught out - i know this!!!

 

Please be honest with your opinions as its all good!!

 

Thanks

Well done on your first site! It's so refreshing to see a beginner build a site without tables!

 

A few small pointers though......

 

You don't need to (and personally I wouldn't) use image maps for links. It can be all done through css.

Also the images are a little stretched and fuzzy.

i dont think is to bad (i am on CIW Course as well )

 

There are areas i like, and some i dont.... I think the graphics need work... (i really dont like the star things) but i think that is pretty much a personal dis-like.

 

Not sure i ever seen any coding that everything seem to be a header.

(not sure the image map is needed) i think you could create a nice effect without image map.

In fact all the home page seem to be a image map?.... personally i wouldn't do that.... as what if text only web brower?

i think this is accessabilty issue.

 

How about setting the image as a background and making nav links into a list and sort the layout via CSS.

 

How far have you got on the course....... ? (who are you doing the course with?)

 

However it is much better then my first site *blush* i built my first on table *shock*

Hey, although i can see the image you are going for the graphics arnt working very well. Although i can see no problems with the content so far having it as an image is going to be bad for SEO and accessibility especially when your not using correct ALT tags for it.

 

I would remove the splash page or 'enter' page because i feel your homepage does that already.

My first thought is the pages are too wide & long. I have a horizontal scrollbar on my monitor 1024x768. I suggest making them a maximum of 980px wide so that the vast majority of users will not have the horizontal scrollbar.

I see no value in the splash page, especially as the home page contains nothing but navigation. I would suggest using the navigation on all the pages, and putting your content on the page as HTML instead of as images. Also, maybe make the about page the home page?

You can use the photos for backgrounds still, but I suggest using CSS to do this.

The contact page has far too much negative space, and I think it would be more user friendly if your links were more obviously links, using either a different font colour or other text decoration.

The product information pages could be tied in more closely to the main design. The big white column on the left is looking a little unfinished.

The font you have used for the navigation is just about usable, but IMO does not work well on the links page. It is too elaborate to be readable for longer text.

I think you have the beginnings of a nice design, but it needs coding properly in HTML/CSS, and a more consistent theme.

Good luck.

congratulation on not using tables! and your site doesn't look to bad either... WELL DONE!

I would not personally use an image with text for the whole background, I am sure that from an accessibility point the computer will be only able to read the alt image in the image, which you do not have one.

 

Again for the whole main page I would not use an image for reason stated already

the best tip I could give you is that splash pages are never a good idea.. I would remove that straight away..

 

also, it seems its all images, at the moment you have nothing for search engines to index

 

other than that not too bad for a first attempt

Thanks to all of you who have replied.

I appreciate every comment and suggestions made to me.

I can agree with all of them!!

I knew most of the 'bad bits' I have done - but at the moment i do not have the skills to write them using CSS

But am learning!

 

Will be re-writing this site as soon as i learn more CSS.

As for the pics - Mobile Phone quality (bad i know - but already in process of pro pics getting sorted)

 

Thanks again you lot!!

I love the photos, is the pro going to give you the same style photos or polished high quality images?

I love the photos, is the pro going to give you the same style photos or polished high quality images?

 

yeah all the photos for the 'products' will be taken again with higher quality and they will all be the same size on each product page, so they all fit and look the same. (consistent)

 

I will be totally re-writing this site soon as i can but will be trying to keep the same look and feel about it.

 

I am currently starting a new project so will be learning from my mistakes from this site with the new one!

congrats, i like the design and the layout but i feel i have seen this same kind of layout and design on a piczo website, i really dont think the design is the best it can be, i mean its really good foryou just starting out obviously but i think the design doesnt do you good.