Screenshot: Article on IBM's developerWorks Web site. We know you're busy, so we'll cut to the chase. The following six articles contain the most critical information you need to make sure your Web site is useful and usable:

Writing for a Web Audience: Studies show Web visitors don’t read; they skip and scan. Will your Web site accommodate them?
Seven Steps to Easier Web Navigation: Even with great content, a hard-to-navigate website won't get used. Here's how to fix that.
Simplify and Sort for Better Searches: Learn how to make searching the most valuable part of your web site.
Accessible Web Sites Matter: Get a competitive edge by making your Web site accessible to millions more people worldwide.
No Weak Links: How many ways are there to weaken Web site links? I count at least 23. Improve your Web site's usability by eliminating the weak links.
Squeeze the Most Out of Web Graphics: Do you know how to get the most from JPEGs and GIFs while living with browsers' limitations?

Interested in usability testing? Look no further:

Remove Stumbling Blocks by Usability Testing: Help visitors navigate your Web site by removing stumbling blocks in advance. A well-planned trial run can prevent problems before they arise.
Usability Test for Success: Is your company's Web site as good as its people? Take this usability test to find out.
Focus on Usability: A user-centered design approach goes hand-in-hand with usability testing techniques that focus on user feedback.

Struggling to get started? These two articles are for you:

Web Commandments: Ten deadly sins and how to overcome them.
Web Ugly: Don't make Web pages that take forever to load, look ugly, and scream "amateur!" With just a little extra effort, your pages can look like they were created by a professional designer.

Going strong? You must love Web design and usability as much as we do! Read on:

E-Business--Up Close and Personalized: Use personalization and one-to-one marketing techniques to improve your company's e-business.
Reeling in the Sales: Getting a buyer to do more than nibble at your e-commerce site requires using the right bait.
Stir-Fried Graphics: Slicing graphics up into separate elements can improve resolution while reducing download time.
Taming the Web Color Monster: How to produce quality Web colors regardless of monitor resolution or browser.
Why Animate?: Must animation be superfluous? On the contrary. Sometimes it’s essential.
Widgets to the Rescue: We'd be lost without those little application tools that serve a limited, but invaluable, purpose.
Know Thy Users: One of the 10 commandments of user interface design has got to be "Know thy users for they are not you." This is not an easy commandment to follow.
Internet Incantations: The Internet can sometimes make a company's interface to its users frighteningly up close and personal.
Burn All GIFs?: November 5, 1999 was Burn All GIFs Day. Why Burn GIFs? Because they use the LZW compression algorithm. Find out why this matters.

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