I don't want to go as far as calling these "commandments" but they do factor heavily in my marking scheme and they will ensure you have a good site from a design and usablility perspective.

Degrade gracefully
-check with several browsers, including older ones and cross-platform
-Alt tags for text
-check for load times, broken links, and problems in HTML code using NetMechanic 

Netiquette
-web maintainer email
-last date updated
-should be a link to MIT 220

Two methods of navigation
-one must be text
-make sure they're easy to understand
-better to use a link that actually says what it is, as opposed to a metaphor (visual metaphor is okay, but not textual)

Contrast
-high contrast between text and background
-keep in mind that folks with colour blindness can't distinguish shades
-check contrast by dropping into greyscale

Check the links
-seems obvious, but it's amazing how many sites have broken links

Consistent layout
-hyperlinks
-colours
-design
-pick a template or two, and use throughout site

Download times
-small pics/rollovers/animations
-break up pics if using large images
-small pages (see below)

When it doubt, less is more
-white space -don't be afraid of it
-max of two screens, as little scrolling as possible
-right scrolling is bad -- people don't like to do it
-design for screen size 800x600 or 640x480 or liquid design

Easy-to-read
-Font size not too small
-Good margin widths
-sans serif -- Helvetica, Verdanna and Arial

The full marking criteria is posted in the information section.

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