Elements of Effective Web Design: Bandwidth

When making web pages, it is very important to consider bandwidth. Bandwidth is a term that relates to the speed at which a user can receive or send information. When users have to wait for long periods of time for pages to load, there may be a tendency for those users to leave out of frustration.

Consequently, bandwidth is an important consideration for designers. Many users deal with dial up connections that are slow. However, there are more users who operate at broadband than narrowband speeds (Web Site Optimization, 2005).

Still, Lynch and Horton (2001) suggest that designers limit the size of mandatory files that users receive when navigating through sites. This means designers must be careful not to use graphics or Flash presentations that are huge in size. Designers can ignore this suggestion and offer large files, but allowing users to choose between large bandwidth and small bandwidth sections may be the solution.

When designers decide to use graphics, consider manipulating the graphics with a software package. There are many software packages that can save images at a lower resolution. They can also shrink graphics to smaller sizes, which will translate into files that are easier on bandwidth.

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