Web Designer Training: Dreamweaver Functions That Improve a Site's ROI

The most basic training in Dreamweaver shows students how to create complex websites very quickly. But today's web users want more than just static pages of text - they want to interact with the pages. Designers are moving away from static pages to more versatile designs that make sites easier for the administrator and more fun for the visitors. If you're marketing yourself as a web designer, you'll improve your odds of winning higher paid jobs when you have the knowledge to build a site designed for higher marketability.

Cascading Style Sheets

With a little training, Dreamweaver can be used to create CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). CSS allows the designer to define the look of a site in one central place and includes definitions of fonts, colors, spacing and much more.

CSS ensures the website will keep a consistent look. Designers won't find themselves accidentally using a different font on one page of the site, creating a jarring experience for users when the style changes abruptly. A designer who wants to change the look of the site can do so easily by changing one file rather than going in and modifying every page on the site.

Another use of CSS is to allow the users to choose from a variety of styles. Using a dropdown menu a visitor's preference can be stored in the user's profile if it's a site that allows login, or in a cookie on their computer if not. Each user can customize the site to personal taste.

Perhaps even more importantly, CSS is far better for search engine optimization than are tables. The excess lines of code that tables generate in the source code make it more difficult for search engines to decipher the text on the page.

Rollovers

A technique to add the illusion of movement to a page is to have an image change to another image when the user moves the mouse pointer over it. You'll learn this is a technique referred to as "rollover" during your training in Dreamweaver courses.

Rollovers create exciting menus where elements change color or grow larger as the user runs the mouse pointer over them. Rollovers can also add functionality when items expand to an image that shows more detail about what the menu selection means. Entries could expand into submenus, allowing many entries to be fit on the screen without crowding or expand into info boxes to provide additional information about a product.

Browser Targeting

All browsers identify themselves to websites. Training in Dreamweaver shows you how to use this information to customize your website depending on the browser being used. While there may seem to be no reason to serve up different displays for Internet Explorer vs. Firefox, many people are using different browsers and you'll want them all to have a great experience on the site.

Additionally, more people than ever are surfing the web on their mobile phones. Some sites have a special address for mobiles to use while others are sophisticated enough to detect the mobile browser and display a different version of the page, optimized for the smaller display on mobile phones.

Vision impaired users may be browsing with a text reader. Rather than wasting bandwidth sending images, the page might instead show just a caption which the text reader can speak aloud to the user.

Training in Dreamweaver teaches designers to create more versatile websites which are easier to use, easier to update and will draw more visitors. Businesses invest a great deal of money into their websites and into marketing their websites. As a designer with extensive training in Dreamweaver, you'll be able to take on jobs with the confidence and expertise to ensure that your clients achieve a high return on investment from their websites.