Abstract
The phenomenal success of the World Wide Web has tended to be marred by Web developers’ tendency to ignore the needs and concerns of users regarding the design, layout and functioning of Web sites. Too many Web sites are irritating to look at or difficult to navigate, despite the work of Tim Berners-Lee and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to set standards and provide useful information for improving sites. When Jakob Nielsen listed what he believed to be the Top Ten Mistakes in Web site design in 1996 and compared this list again in 1999 he found nine out of the 10 problems still unsolved. He also found a further 10 problems, although these were more to do with content rather than technology (lack of biographies, lack of archives, headlines that make no sense out of context). Concludes that the collective efforts of individuals seem unable to make a difference and only official support and example, together with business need, can quickly and radically change attitudes.
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