Web safe colors
In web designing there are 216 web-safe colors, which is also known as Netscape safe or browser safe colors. Web designers stick to these sets of color for two reasons. First many viewers still use monitors that display only 256 colors. Second, different computers and different browsers display colors differently. Sticking to using these web safe colors will avoid color inconsistency across different types of monitors and equipment (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Browser safe color palette.

Design within image safe areas
If you design a web site to display best within an 800 x 600 pixel screen resolution, at the very least ensure that it looks acceptable and the message integrity is maintained for viewers who have a 640 x 480 screen resolution (Figure 10).

Figure 10. Message seen as viewed from a 640 x 480 screen resolution is very different from the intended message at 800 x 600 screen resolution.

Avoid horizontal scrolling
To read a long paragraph viewers will have to use the vertical scroll bar on the right hand portion of a web page. Scrolling vertically is bad enough but making your viewers scroll both vertically and horizontally is a sure way to loose your audience (Figure 11). Make it easy for your viewers to read or view your web site, do not make viewers scroll horizontally.

Figure 11. It is difficult to read the paragraph in the above web page because viewers need to scroll both vertically and horizontally.