Website Polish Checklist

The Ultimate Priority-Based Guide to Perfecting Your Website

Aman Kumar
2 min readNov 29, 2024
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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