Effective Web Content Design For Rider University Jim Alexander Web Content Manager Rider University...
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Effective Web Content Effective Web Content Design Design For Rider University For Rider University Jim Alexander Web Content Manager Rider University June 22, 2000 Note: this is presented as a sample work product and From the Tool Kit:
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Transcript of Effective Web Content Design For Rider University Jim Alexander Web Content Manager Rider University...
Effective Web Content DesignEffective Web Content DesignFor Rider UniversityFor Rider University
Jim AlexanderWeb Content Manager
Rider University
June 22, 2000
Note: this is presented as a sample work product and is neither updated nor representative of any Rider University policy.
From the Tool Kit:
There are 1 billion web pages.
Yours will be one of them.
And you are the:• Author
• Page designer
• Typist
• Picture getter
• Proofer
• Publisher
Universal Connectivity
The Reality
Things aren’t always as they seem.
Your prized web page is only a small part of a much larger, little understood universe of information and factors.
Most of us first learned the mechanics of creating web pages.
But there are lessons we can learn about how to communicate our message through the static of the World Wide Web.
“… information architecture is really about what’s not obvious.”
-- Information Architecture for the World Wide Web. Rosenfeld & Morville
This is a blank computer screen.
“A blank piece of paper in a typewriter is the loneliest place in the world.” -- Wilbur Smith
“A blank screen that will become a web page is equally ‘lonely,’ and is also a battleground for space, content, and technical considerations.”
Focus on:
-- The Customer & their reactions
Rather than:
-- Your personal interests
-- Your technical skills.
-- What’s easy for you.
It helps to understand how people actually view web pages and react to what they see and hear!
•Usability Engineering
Types of Web PagesTypes of Web Pages
Directory
Advocacy - Expression
Personal (long page)
Same Page – scrolling down
Same Page – scrolling down more
Same Page – bottom, finally!
Entertainment
Technology - Sales
Sales
News & Info
But We are Rider University
• Communicate success, excellence and identity
• Accurate
• Current
• Respectable
• Provide information content
• Able to find the content
Elements ofElements ofPage ConstructionPage Construction
Plan !!
Web TV
How was this organized?
Tables!
No Columns
Columns
Alignment
Aligned Links vs. Embedded
Check Your Links!
Site Identification
Site Identification
NavigationNavigation
Don’t Be an Information Archipelago!
Navigation
Hi. Welcome to my site!This is pretty neat! I can use lots of fonts. It’s even better when I change them!
This is me in the middle, yada yada yada yada k;ldsfskf;lsfsj;saf ;jkjfyadadsjfkjf ;my brothers fsljdf;jdf;kjlasfdsafj;ljsdfj lkasd;f;saldfj
L;lfjsadjf yadayada and by the way I am a direct descendent of Lizzie Borden yada yada and plan to repeat her exploits; skjf;ajsdf ;klsdjfl;
dfklsdf;lkjdsfl;kjdsflsadfljf;jsadf
Message?
Key Words Up Top & Repeated.
Images Help Tell the Story
Alternative Text TagsAlternative Text Tags
Correct:
Missing:
Defaulted to file name:
Display size: 312 pixels wide.
1092 pixels wide, 13 K file size
Can You Read This?
Can You Read This?
Can You Read This?
Can You Read This?
Can You Read This?
Can You Read This?
Pale color background, contrasting text.
Pale color background, contrasting text.
Not as good. Even worse! This is OK.This is OK.This is OK.
This is Times New Roman
This is Arial
This is Courier
This is Comic Sans MS
This is Broadway
Download TimeDownload Time
10 Seconds. Great!15 Finger poised on mouse.20+ Bye!
50 KB aggregate file size
How to Help Download TimeHow to Help Download Time• Minimize use of graphics.
• Crop & resize graphics in image editor.
• Avoid “fancy things.”
• Reference standard site graphics.
• Keep pages short.
NO NO’sNO NO’s
-- Copyright infringement.-- Copyright notice on your pages.-- Creation dates.-- Advertising.-- Plugins except for Acrobat Reader and RealPlayer free version.-- Links to potentially offensive sites.-- Search engines on your pages.-- Cookies.-- Frames (they have their place…)-- Yes yes -- Ask for suggestions before using META tags.
AND…AND…
-- Run the Spell Checker!-- View your page in several browsers.-- Look at the page from home.-- Did you leave dead pages on the server?-- Make a note to revisit page for updates!
ResourcesResources
• Book list
• www.useit.com
• www.rider.edu/newsite
ResourcesResources
Graphic Blindness “Oh, I saw that graphic, but it looked like an ad, so I ignored it.”University of North Texas, controlled test of 12 and 16 year olds. 94% of them exhibited banner blindness and ignored graphic promotions, even when they contained a direct link to what they were trying to find.
Web Users -- Average # of pages viewed hourly: 71 (M) – 74 (F)
-- Types of connections (May 2000): 55 % 56K Modem 30 % 28 or 33 K Modem 9 % 14 K Modem 9 % Cable or ISDN (“…high speed is either too expensive or too fraught with technical difficulties.” --
Source: Nielsen/NetRatings, quoted in NY Times 6/29/00.
“While gazing at our monitors, our fingers rest on the trigger. In the blink of an eye and the click of the mouse, we’re gone. Watch me read a book or magazine, and then watch me on the Web. It’s hard to believe that I’m the same person. On the Web, I’m in control of the interaction.”
“How often do you land on a site, do very little, gain very little, and leave? The practice is quite common. The very nature of the web reinforces such behavior. Most web users are extremely impatient.
Site Savvy – Laura Wonnacott. INFOWORLD 7/3/2000
Writing Web Content: Tailor it to the media
