Throughout this course, we have been experimenting with website layouts and design. This is an important twenty-first century skill, in order to tell the difference between a poorly designed website and a properly designed website. Since I am no computer programmer or web design professional, I definitely learned a lot so far from this course and this process. I believe that when creating an online forum or website for students there needs to be some design elements taken into account. Since there is a myriad of resources and graphics available on the internet, it is necessary for one to use these resources in their web venture. However, one must not let the graphics overpower the website. The purpose of them is to simply enhance it and allow for an engaging atmosphere for the students. I gained a lot from reading the website:
http://library.albany.edu/imc/webdesign/index.html. One of the pages on this website that was the most helpful was the selection about color contrasts. From previous experiences with PowerPoint, I have noticed the importance of color contrast. "High contrast between text and background makes the text easier to read. Black text on white is the easiest. White on black, even though it is high contrast, is harder to read. Certain color combinations, such as red and blue, should be avoided because they result in extremely high perception problems."(Lipera, University of Albany). It is super important when creating websites and blogs to maintain a high contrast amongst colors in order for the website to be easy to read. When a website is difficult to read, nobody is going to want to use it and its' effectiveness will definitely dwindle. I think that this website would be beneficial to all who use the internet to create blogs, websites, and more on the internet. I think that this website is extremely accessible and allows for the public to gain a better understanding of web-design. I found this website which gives hilarious examples of poor webdesign. (If you would like a laugh and to see some examples of bad web design please view:
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/) Some of the categories on this website are overload (with many graphics) and "gorgeous websites from the 90's"- these websites are prime examples of what NOT to do when creating a website. I would recommend this website for anyone who is creating their own website on the read/write/web.
I have been personally using the web to create websites and blogs for a few years (starting from hometown.aol.com - where you can create personal webpage to my current facebook and twitter page). I wish I could link my original sites that I have created so you can see how pre-historic they are. As I recall, they are overloaded with graphics (such as a blinking stars background that was all the rage) and quite difficult to read. I would like to think that my web designing skills have matured and improved since those early days. (My last website that I created prior to this course was for a cultural club at Rutgers University, where I served on the executive board as the group webmaster. You can check out the website here:
http://lebanese-americanstudentsatrutgersuniversity.yolasite.com/) Now I believe in a more understated view of web design, such as this blog. I think the simpler the website is, the easier it is to navigate and peruse.
Source:
Lipera, R. (n.d.). Basic web page design and layout . Retrieved from http://library.albany.edu/imc/webdesign/page4.html
First, your post about Jobbs is excellent. I watched a documentary about him recently and it bought me to tears.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoy the web design site because it clearly illustrates what a professional web page looks like. I also found the bad web pages site hilarious! I also had a hometown.aol page. Wow, that was so long ago! If only I still had it and I could see how terrible it looked.
With web creation and layout, for me at least, it has been all about experimenting. I play around with settings, buttons, and anything I am allowed to play around it and find it always helps me learn more about technology in general.
Thank you Sandra! I thought it would be important and relevant to discuss the loss of Steve Jobs. His innovations have changed society forever.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that website design should be about experimenting! That is where the fun comes! I enjoy playing with fonts, colors, and more!
Louise,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for posting the links you did, they helped me a lot! Also, it got me to thinking about how the elements of web design should be kept in mind while in the classroom as well. For example, Powerpoints, bulletin boards, choice of websites, choice of informational videos, etc. Can you think of any other instances? Also, I realized that certain aspects of web design can truly help to reach special needs children as well. For example, a student who is visually impaired most likely will benefit from a better color contrast and bigger and neater font during a powerpoint, etc. Awesome post!
-Sammi
Thanks, Sammi! I agree with you that it is important for teachers to keep these aspects of web design in mind when creating visuals for students. I can remember plenty of times that teachers would show powerpoint presentations that would be so hard to read due to their graphics or lack of contrast. I think this would certainly be beneficial to many students with special education. I think one could use this a word processing document and create text that is easy for students to read (those who have sight disabilities). The possibilities are limitless.
ReplyDeleteWhat a good post! I completely understand what you are saying about old website designs. My method used to be trying out different color combinations until I found what looked best, but what I thought looked good wasn't always appealing to others. The informational website you provided are extremely helpful and I have already book marked them for future use. Thank you!!
ReplyDeleteGreast post and great links. I loved looking at the examples of what not to do when designing a website. You can see how trends change as time changes. It is great, though, that with technology as it is today, we don't need to be computer programers to create on the web!
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