Modules 3 + 4 (weeks 7-12)

The web-tracking assignment is an ethnographic exercise that will help you explore the web's particular form and content requirements, as they differ from print and broadcast media. You will also learn about opportunities for journalists who work on web-site teams, either as content webmasters or writers or designers.

FOUR PRINCIPLES OF WEB DESIGN:

• Navigation: How easy is it to move through the site? Do labels for links provide good information about what is available once the link is clicked? Do you get lost? Is it easy to get back to the home page? Do you find the experience seamless or frustrating? Why?
• Presentation: This is all about style and looks. On a surface level, does the site's outward appearance invite you to stay?
• Organization: This is all about substance. Is there good information available at the site and is it organized logically? Are there too many clicks to get to important information?
• Change: Is the site up-to-date? Is information posted in a timely manner? Is there enough change going on to keep users interested in coming back to visit for new information?
  

Links to web design information:
www.useit.com/alertbox/ia.html (2006)

www.webreference.com/authoring/design/usability/ (older)

www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html (2005)

To complete the assignment by week 12, you will:
Select two web sites with a similar purpose, sponsored by organizational types that you would like to work for someday. After visiting these two sites for several days, choose one as a primary site. Continue to check both sites weekly. Post the URLs to the sites on your blog, along with a three-paragraph report to describe briefly how these two sites originally appeared to you and record your original impressions. Comment briefly on the principles of organization, presentation and navigation.

Keep a blog journal that records your visits to the site and the changes taking place.
Write a formal final report on your blog that's 12-15 paragraphs (about 3 pages, double-spaced). It should focus primarily on your main site, while comments about the other site should be used for contrast or comparison. Comment more thoroughly on the principles of organization, presentation, navigation, and change.

• What do you consider to be good about your main site?
• How could the site be improved by adding features available from the competing sites?
• How did your assessment of the site change from the beginning of this ethnographic process to the end? Why?
• How did the sites change over the two-week period? Was information up-to-date?

At the end of this report, in a separate blog entry, address the following questions in brief about your main site only:

• Is contact information available on the home page? Is a webmaster's name or company contact's e-mail addresses listed? Is the geographic location of the web site's organization easily determined? Are phone numbers or customer service contact information provided?
• Is there a text-only option on the home page? If so, is it easily found? Describe font usage and its readability/legibility, in terms of all potential users. Describe links and whether they are easily discernible from other type and image use.
• If audio and/or video files are available, discuss quality and appropriateness.
  Does it seem as though the site's developers are aware of accessibility for users of all abilities? Why or why not?
• Classify this web site as either Web 1.0 or Web 2.0? Why?
• Does the site require plug-ins? If so, is there an alternative way to access information on the site? Does it seem as though the site's developers are aware of accessibility for users who may own older hardware and software? Why or why not? Suggest improvements. Would a newcomer to the web find this site easy or difficult to use? Why or why not? Suggest improvements.

Other useful sites for designing and accessibility on the web:
Testing the Three-Click Rule
http://www.uie.com/Articles/three_click_rule.htm
The Myth of "Seven, Plus or Minus 2"
http://www.ddj.com/documents/s=4058/nam1012431804/
And the governmental contribution:
Research-Based Web Design & Usability Guidelines
http://usability.gov/guidelines/index.html
Working with color, for print and web
poynter.org/special/colorproject/index.html
Designing for print newspaper/magazine pages and web
http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=47