Discuss the effective use of graphics. Include the questions to ask when considering how each graphic you add to a page will contribute to it.

What will be an ideal response?

We live in a visually oriented world, and there are millions of images available to use in a Web site. Because of the variety available, choosing which graphics to use in a site can be challenging. You should use graphics to make a Web site more interesting and provide valuable information. For example, maps and graphs can summarize information more succinctly and intuitively than words. As a society, we are accustomed to distilling information from images. The graphics you add to a Web site should enhance the feel you are trying to create and provide users with visual clues about the page content and/or the site's intended message. Most important, the graphics you add to a Web site should reinforce the site goals.

When choosing graphics for a Web site, consider what each graphic will add to the page. Consider the following questions before including an image. If the graphic does not add anything to the page, it should not be used.
• Will the graphic supply information or reinforce the page content?
• Will the graphic aid the user in navigating through the site?
• Will the graphic help the page to maintain the look of the site?

In addition, graphics you add to a site should be an appropriate file size. Consider the total file size of all the graphics in the Web page and the connection speed the target audience will have. If you are going to include only one graphic in a page, its file size can be larger. If you are going to include several graphics in a page, the size of each graphic will contribute to the amount of time it takes a user's browser to download the page. In this case, you might want to make the file size of each graphic smaller.

If the target audience is using a mobile device over a slower 3G network, graphic-intensive
pages might take longer to download, so keep the graphics to a minimum or choose graphics with small file sizes. Remember to evaluate each graphic's importance to the page. A user is more willing to wait for a page to download if that page is interesting and provides content the user is looking for. So, be sure to carefully consider the size and purpose of each image before choosing to place it in a site. The decisions you make affect the effectiveness of the site and the user's experience.