On the bottom of every page, I will identify myself as Elizabeth Peters, K-8 teacher
. (This way, users are more familiar with my background of the information.) 3.
Elizabeth Peters
1. How will you make your pages freestanding? To make my pages freestanding, I will include an informative title one each page that is clearly representative of the information to be found on that page. Also, on every page I will provide links that allow the user to contact the creator (myself) via email. To make the website easier to navigate, I will also include a “menu” on each page that will enable the user to navigate between pages without having to use the back button. In addition, I will include the date the page was last updated to ensure the user of the credibility of information on the site. 2. What 5 elements [actual text] will be on every page within your web site? On each page: 1. I will provide the title of the website “TRAILS” at the top of each page (I am not yet sure whether I will align the title as left-justified or centered). 2. On the bottom of every page, I will identify myself as Elizabeth Peters, K-8 teacher. (This way, users are more familiar with my background of the information.) 3. The last date the site was modified needs to be included at the bottom of each page to ensure the user of the validity of the information. 4. There should be a link to the home page (index page) so that the user can easily navigate between pages. 5. All pages should have a link to a menu page/site map. 3. List the needs and demographics of your target audience that you will have to consider during development of your site? First and foremost, I should address the intellectual skills/needs associated with the intended audience. Because my audience is three-tiered (students, parents, and educators), I must keep in mind the cognitive/intellectual levels of each audience category. Moreover, I must consider that this site may be used by an audience located far away from mountainous regions, or areas with outdoor trails, therefore I must make an extra conscious effort to find a way to make the information relevant to all audience types. Computer speed/bandwidth will vary among audiences (i.e. school systems typically do not have a very fast bandwidth); therefore, I must be careful when incorporating graphics and other large files.
Elizabeth Peters Finally, when considering the design aspect of my site, I must keep in mind that I want to keep my site open to a diverse learning group. Therefore, I must consider things such as colorblindness and limited vision. 4. Why is it important to build clear navigational aids? What might you include in this category that will make your pages easier to navigate? Clear navigational aids are important so that users can easily obtain the information that they are searching for. If a site is difficult to navigate, the information that you have (regardless of how good it is) may never be accessed. To make pages easier to navigate: 1. all links and titles of pages should be consistent throughout the entire website 2. a link to the homepage (index page) should be clearly identifiable on every page 3. each page will have a navigation “menu” (including a site map) which links the user to all pages located within the website 5. How will you avoid having dead end pages in your website? Each page will contain a navigation “menu” (including a site map) which links the user to all pages located within the website 6. What is the maximum number of links that you will have in the index? List what these will be? (approximately 18 links) 1. Homepage (index page) 2. For Kids page (page 1 of 5) - Exploring the Great Outdoors (page 2 of 5) - What Does it Mean to be Responsible Outdoors? (page 3 of 5) - What Can I Do? (page 4 of 5) - Having Fun Outside (page 5 of 5) 3. Parents page (page 1 of 5) - Importance of responsible outdoor activity (page 2 of 5) - Outdoor Time = Family Time (page 3 of 5) - How to Model Responsible Behavior (page 4 of 5) - Getting Involved (page 5 of 5) 4. Educators page (page 1 of 5) - Importance of teaching responsible outdoor activity (page 2 of 5) - Simple ideas of incorporating environmental education (page 3 of 5) - Lesson plan ideas (page 4 of 5) - Resources (page 5 of 5) 5. Site Map 6. Contacts
Elizabeth Peters
7. What do you think the bandwidth of your target audience will be? How will you design your interface design to accommodate this? This site will be designed to accommodate users with all bandwidth speeds. Graphic and image file sizes will be kept to a minimum.
8. How will you achieve simplicity and consistency within your design? Simplicity and consistency will be achieved through using the same basic layout/design for each page. This way, the user will come to expect where information and links will be located. Moreover, site maps and menu bars will allow easy navigation within the relative links. 9. How will you establish design integrity and stability within your site? Integrity and stability will be established through careful design and editing. I will check all information for validity, feasibility, mechanical/grammatical errors, and relevance to the purpose of the site. Moreover, periodic checks of links and updating information are required to ensure that the integrity of the site is upheld. 10. How will you offer feedback and dialog opportunities for your readers? Feedback and dialog opportunities will be offered through an email link that will allow the user to directly contact me. Information received via email should be welcomed at all times and addressed promptly (1-2 days). I hope to also incorporate a usability survey that the user can fill out and submit to me. This will enable me to more clearly understand the needs/problems the users are facing. 11. How will you make your site accessible to all users? All information should be easily accessible and all basic information should be clearly described through text. Any image used should contain tags that clearly describe the image portrayed or the intended portrayal of the image.
Elizabeth Peters When designing the page, the use/incorporation of “Cascading Style Sheets” (CSS) will allow the user to modify the site to best suite their viewing needs (i.e. font colors and sizes). Finally, the site should be viewed on multiple browsers to ensure consistency.
12. How will you guide the reader through the sequenced web pages within each section? In guiding the reader through sequenced pages, it is important to include page numbers that clearly indicate the page that is currently being viewed. Therefore on each page within a sequence, I will clearly mark that the reader is on page ___ of page ___ (i.e. page 2 of 5). Moreover arrow buttons (back and next) will be provided to allow the user to move in sequence and go back if needed.
