Biggest Mistakes in Web Design 1995-2015

#2 is still a huge problem. Half the time I can't figure out what a new startup or project actually does for me. All I can tell is that they claim to be innovative and better than their competitors.

"A long web page means you have failed to organize your site properly."

I think this is outdated. Longer homepages—ones that scroll down and appropriately present the content with good flow, organization, and spacing—are just fine. The Docker homepage[1], for example, is not afraid of the scroll bar.

I only bring this up because I think the opposite idea of trying to cram everything above the fold or spread it out across 12 micro-pages creates even more problems.

[1] https://www.docker.com/

Physician, heal thyself.

I totally agree. Long homepages is a good example of how much what is considered good web design has changed since 1994. I remember making lots of micro-pages, submenus and subsubmenus for even the smallest sites, to avoid scrolling on small 15" CRT screens in 1995. JavaScript was considered really bad practice until Gmail was launched in 2005 and jQuery in 2006. So there was no dropdown menus, unless you used applets. I remember overselling Java applets instead to clients in 1996 and 1997. Applets with listboxes and checkboxes looked different in all the different browsers. Embossed shiny buttons made in photoshop is hardly in use anymore.

In another 20 years time, what is considered good web design will probably be totally different anyway.

I agree with most of these, but as others have noted, the comments about JS are out of date.

I'd like to nominate as an honorable mention "giant popover that tries to get you to subscribe to the newsletter/install the app before you've even seen the site.", because that's not happening with me. Ever.