Website Polish Checklist

The Ultimate Priority-Based Guide to Perfecting Your Website

Created using Dall-E

1. Caching — Crucial for performance and repeat visits.
2. Responsive design (mobile, tablet, desktop) — Ensure device usability.
3. At least 16px font size for all inputs — Avoid accessibility and usability issues.
4. Test for accessibility (ARIA roles, alt attributes, contrast) — Inclusive design is critical.
5. Set accent color — Enhance the user experience with a cohesive visual identity.
6. Prefetching and preloads — Improve perceived performance by loading resources early.
7. Optimize page load speed (use tools like Lighthouse) — Faster pages improve user satisfaction and SEO.
8. Reduced motion (respect prefers-reduced-motion) — Avoid overwhelming users with animations.
9. Meta theme-color — Customize the browser UI for branding and polish.
10. HTML/body background color — Prevent white flashes during page loads.
11. Validate HTML, CSS, and JavaScript — Catch errors before they impact users.
12. Lazy loading for images and videos — Reduce unnecessary bandwidth usage.
13. Inputs have correct type or inputmode — Improve input usability on touch devices.
14. Focus rings — Ensure keyboard accessibility.
15. Check on Safari — Safari often behaves differently; verify functionality.
16. OG (Open Graph) title, image, description — Vital for sharing links on social platforms.
17. No dead areas around labels/inputs — Prevent usability issues on touch devices.
18. Replace default iOS tap highlight — Make the touch experience cleaner.
19. Selection color — Subtle polish for user experience.
20. Minify CSS, JS, and images — Essential for faster page loads.
21. Favicon and touch icons set — Adds professionalism and polish.
22. Cross-browser compatibility (Chrome, Edge, Firefox) — Avoid functionality issues.
23. Verify proper 404 and error pages — Ensure fallback pages are helpful and branded.
24. Text wrapping and ellipsis for long content — Avoid broken UI on smaller screens.
25. Check on low power mode — Test that the app works well under constrained conditions.

Explanation of Priority:

1–5: Critical for usability, accessibility, and basic functionality.
6–15: High-priority enhancements for performance and polished UX.
16–25: Nice-to-have features that add refinement and prevent edge-case issues.

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