The basic Yale page grid

The basic Yale page grid built on a design and identity framework that reflects these principles:

1. A layout and web interface that takes full advantage of the norms for information-oriented websites, and that reflects current web “best practices” as determined by a growing body of web user interface research.
2. A web standards-based approach that affords great flexibility in the visual aspects of most site elements, while maintaining clear connections to both the general Yale identity program and to our key user interface elements.

Rationale for the Yale interface

The layout and user interface of basic Yale page grid reflects the general practices of the information-oriented, text-intensive web sites that dominate the user experience of major commercial, government, press, academic, and reference websites.

While the web currently lacks the formal presentational and editorial standards of print publications [1], recent user interface research reflects the increasing consistency of general page layout and interface details [2,3], and web reader preferences for pages that reflect these general layout and interface norms [4,5,6]. The conventional header, scan column, content columns, and footer layout of the Yale grid pages reflect the “canonical form” of current mainstream web pages [7].

A generalized Yale web page grid

Web standards for Yale pages

Please see our current reference standards for XHTML and Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) markup for Yale web pages.

Next: Details of the Yale page grid

 

References

• [1] University of Chicago Press. 2003. The Chicago Manual of Style: The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors, and Publishers. 15th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• [2] Koyani, S., R. Bailey, and J. Nall. Research-based Web Design and Usability Guidelines. 2006. Washington, DC: Department of Health and Human Services, General Services Administration.
• [3] Nielsen, J., and H. Loranger. 2006. Prioritizing Web Usability. Berkeley, CA: New Riders.
• [4] Nielsen, J., and K. Pernice. 2007. Eyetracking seminar. Nielsen-Norman, Inc., New York, 2007.
• [5] Bernard, M., and A. Sheshadri. 2004. Preliminary Examination of Global Expectations of Users’ Mental Models for E-Commerce Web Layouts. psychology.wichita.edu/surl/usabilitynews/62/web_object_international.asp
• [6] Shaikh, A., and K. Lenz. 2006. Where’s the Search? Re-Examining User Expectations of Web Objects. psychology.wichita.edu/surl/usabilitynews/81/webobjects.asp
• [7] Lynch, P. and S. Horton, 2008. Web Style Guide: Basic Design Principles for Creating Web Sites, 3rd ed. New Haven: Yale University Press.   www.webstyleguide.com