There is no defined page size, since users have varying size monitors, use different font sizes and operate a variety of browsers. A page that fills a screen for one user, may require another user to scroll through two screen lengths in order to view the entire page.
A reason to limit the length of the page is so that the user does not have to do an inordinate amount of scrolling to read the page. Keep the page content limited to one topic, and create additional pages for related subjects and sub-topics. Try not to split up a topic onto several pages, otherwise the user will have to keep hopping on links to follow the content. This will help to maintain page size and keep the users interest. The most important point is to determine what will work best for the users.
Occasionally there may be a need for a rather long page. A large directory or lengthy instructions might work best on a single long page rather than separate shorter pages. If a longer page is needed, links to the top and various other points in the page should be provided at several positions on the page to facilitate and speed navigation through the page.
The combined sizes of all the text, graphics, and applet files affects the download time of a page. No one wishes to wait a great amount of time to view a page. Basically a user has three options when downloading a lengthy file, they can wait for the page to download, load only the text and ignore the graphics, or not download the page at all. Many users will not select the first option (unless they are intentionally downloading a particular graphic or program they want). While the second option is preferable to the third, the users will miss a good part of the site's presentation and may miss some important content that is in the graphics.
A good rule of thumb is to try to keep the combined file size to 80 kilobytes or smaller (of course as modem speeds increase, file sizes can increase). Occasionally a larger size will be needed, but too many large files or files over 120 KB will tend to frustrate many users. If the expected users of the site have high speed Internet access, then larger file sizes can be tolerated.
The exception to the preceding paragraphs is discussed in the Audience section.
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Copyright
1995, 1997
E.T. Smith Associates
PO Box 148, Brogue, PA 17039-0148
York County, USA