Lab

Web-design software

The internet has been part of public life for over 10 years. Time enough, you would think, for someone to create a web-design package that wasn't baffling and frustrating. All too often, however, web design feels arcane and impenetrable, closed to all but the initiated. That's why this month we've reviewed nine web-design programs for normal people. Some have been designed specifically for beginners, while others are for users with a little more experience.

The first thing we considered when comparing the products on test was the quality of their output. By this we don't just mean whether or not the code conformed to W3C standards (W3C is the non-profit organisation responsible for web standards). Given that these programs are intended for non-technical users, the quality of their output in most cases will depend largely on the quality of the program's templates, its default settings and the advice given in its manual or help file.

We judged harshly any program with a clumsy or imprecise design environment, as there are few things more frustrating, particularly for users who are not comfortable with tweaking HTML code. As well as working with HTML, we wanted to see evidence that a program could integrate other web technologies. At the very least, this meant being able to create or link to Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). These enable you to customise the look of an entire site, applying styles to many pages at once, and are one of the main foundations of modern web design. We also looked at how successfully the program made scripting technologies and other dynamic web-design elements available to novice users.

Easy does it

Another important aspect is ease of use. By this we mean that important tools and features are clearly labelled and easy to find, that the behaviour of objects within a workspace is logical and predictable and that help files and tutorials are comprehensive and well written. Users should also be able to publish their websites to a web server without difficulty.

We also wanted users to be able to progress beyond the basics without having to upgrade to a new program. Preferably the software should allow them to move from using the visual workspace (usually referred to as the 'what you see is what you get' or WYSIWYG environments) to working directly with the code. If this option wasn't available, we looked for other facilities provided by the manufacturer to help users move beyond the templates.

Whether you're an artistic type who wants a blank canvas to work with or a techie who loves tweaking and tinkering, the best of these programs can make web design great fun. Read on to find out which programs are best for helping you get online.