A study of dynamic HTML and web page design.

Abstract

This study examined the impact of basic DHTML in Web page design, on users accessing and viewing information on a Web site. The goal was to incorporate Dynamic Style functionality and Cascading Style Sheets (basic DHTML features that enhance textual functionality) into an academic site, together with existing elements of page layout found in earlier browsers, such as tables, frames, colour, fonts and paragraph alignment, to measure their qualitative effect on users. Two Web sites incorporating the same content were designed; one catering to the lowest common denominator (limited to HTML 2.0 tags) which all of Web users can access in its entirety, and the other showcasing the improved features mentioned above, available in Microsoft and Netscape version 4 browsers. A comparative user evaluation of the two Web sites was then conducted to gauge the users' response to the old and the new in browser capabilities.