These are not a set of rules but offer some useful pointers regarding web design for or with children.

• Avoid using too many fonts. When a webpage is viewed on the Internet, it is constructed on the other persons computer using the HTML code. If you have defined a font that they do not have on their computer, then the page will not look the way you expect when they look at it. The most common fonts are Helvetica, Times and Courier. Try to stick to those.
• Do not use frames unless you have too. Frames, which divide the screen into sections, make navigation a nightmare for younger children. Pages can be impossible to bookmark or add to favourites and it becomes almost impossible for children to add pages by themselves since destination frames etc. need to be defined. Very few school sites use Frames well. Some use them very badly indeed. You only need to look at many of the major technical sites on the web to see how rarely they are used by professionals.
• Add interactivity. Children enjoy making things happen on computers. If you are not yet skilled enough to add your own quizzes to your website, make some links to sites that do offer interaction.
• Do not use too many graphics. So many school sites suffer from huge download times. School sites exist where it takes several minutes for a page to download because the page is full of huge pictures straight from a digital camera. (the more expensive the camera - the longer the wait!) All graphics must have as small a filesize as possible and there should certainly be no more than 60k of graphics on one page unless you are prepared to see your visitors leave. See the tutorial on web graphics for the tricks used to reduce file sizes.
• Avoid lots of animated gifs. An animated GIF is a moving graphic image, which can be very effective if used well. As with all graphics, animated GIFs add dramatically to the time it takes for a page to download. Use with care and never have more than one or two on a page.
• Maintain a common look and feel. There are so many pages on the web that it is easy to get lost. Make sure people know that they are at your site by using a common theme or design element on your main pages.