dobrin / weisser / keller: technical communication in the twenty-first century. © 2010 pearson...
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Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 17Chapter 17
Websites and Websites and Online EnvironmentsOnline Environments
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Websites & the ProblemWebsites & the Problem-Solving Approach-Solving Approach Plan by considering audience Research the problem to
determine the information Draft and design the site to
communicate effectively Review and edit the website
after soliciting feedback Distribute by publishing online
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Basic Differences BetweenBasic Differences BetweenPrint and WebPrint and Web
Size and dimension
Navigational features
Visual components
Multimedia
Accessing speed
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Intranet Web PagesIntranet Web Pages
Serve a smaller, more easily defined audience
Are usually not designed to sell products
Are often information-heavy and graphically light
Often rely on a standard format
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Internet Web PagesInternet Web Pages
Often contain more introductory or contextual information about your company
Are more likely to contain “splash” pages to introduce the site or company
Are more likely to use design variations and textual elements to create reader interest
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Internet Web PagesInternet Web Pages
May contain a greater number of textual elements, visuals, and multimedia
Are more likely to include branding or marketing information to identify the company to potential customers
Are more likely to provide clear navigational features, since readers can be more diverse
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Web TerminologyWeb Terminology Web page: a document that is made available
through the internet (or intranet)
Web browser: a program that reads web pages
URL (Uniform Resource Locator): a website’s unique address
Home page: the main page users see when they access a website
Hypertext: any text that is linked
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Web TerminologyWeb Terminology
Link: a connection from one web page to another
Interface: the intersection between an individual system and the larger network
Navigation: the way in which a reader is directed to move through various web pages
Search Engine: an application that locates and lists web pages containing information relevant to the reader’s search parameters
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Web TerminologyWeb Terminology
Site Architecture: the structure of an entire site
Site Map: a web page that describes the architecture of the entire Web site
Server space: the physical space where web page information is housed
Cookies: software that stores visitor information
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
HTMLHTML
Is the basic “language” for web page writing
Stands for “Hypertext Markup Language”
Uses codes called “tags” presented in <brackets>
Provides structural, presentational, and hypertextual codes that tell a browser how to display a web page
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Basic Website TagsBasic Website Tags
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
XHTMLXHTML
Stands for “Extensible Hypertext Markup Language”
Is rapidly becoming the standard for web pages
Is “extensible,” meaning that users can expand or add to its capabilities
Uses stricter syntactical codes than HTML
Leads to fewer errors in presentation
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Tables and FramesTables and Frames
Tables: Place text and visuals on specific portions of a
page, like in rows and columns More accurately control how a page is
presented
Frames: Display information from separate data
sources Are rarely used due to difficulties with search
engines
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
CSSCSS
Stands for “Cascading Style Sheets”
Provides a given style throughout a web site
Allows writers to keep style files separate from HTML files to improve speed, accessibility, customization, and maintenance
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Web Authoring ProgramsWeb Authoring Programs
Are designed to assist web page construction without the need to know HTML and CSS
Are usually as simple to use as word processors
Often used to create extensive or complex web sites that would take too long to code
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
JavascriptJavascript
Can be inserted into HTML documents to create “dynamic content” in a website
Can also be used to “react” to events, such as loading an image after a specific amount of time
Is sometimes used to detect or save information about the readers of a web site
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
CGICGI
Is an acronym for “Common Gateway Interface”
Are programs executed in real-time, so that they can transmit and receive dynamic information
Can allow designers to create shopping carts, page counters, guestbooks, order and complaint forms, and response sheets
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
CMSCMS
Are “Content Management Systems”
Are programs that allow for collaborative writing of web pages
Are used to create virtual meeting spaces, image galleries, blogs, and podcasts
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
PluginsPlugins
Are small computer programs that interact with a web browser
Allow the browser to display certain types of documents, show interactive images, play music, or play video
Add multimedia functionality to web pages
Are generally free and can be easily downloaded
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Standard Web PageStandard Web PageComponentsComponents
Continuity and branding Navigation Splash pages and homepages Nodes and subpages Search Optimization and Metatags FAQs and Sitemaps Color
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Continuity and BrandingContinuity and Branding
For commercial sites in particular, be conscious of continuity in the design and the importance of establishing the brand
Make sure the flow through a site is uninterrupted
Use repetition of key elements for branding
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
NavigationNavigation
Make navigational cues informative and clear
Use a consistent navigation bar
Design tabs to show navigation options
Consider a search field for large or complex sites
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Splash Pages & HomepagesSplash Pages & Homepages
Splash Pages Create interest and reinforce branding by
demonstrating creativity here Offer options to navigate directly to the
homepage
Homepages Offer an overview of the site and its offerings Make the design clean, navigable, and
substantive
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Nodes & SubpagesNodes & Subpages
Nodes Think of them as “mini-homepages” that
introduce readers to specific topics Maintain a consistent design among them
Subpages Offer the more specific, detailed information
here
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Search OptimizationSearch Optimizationand FAQsand FAQs
Search Optimization and Metatags Optimize by registering with search engines
and ensuring clean code Use metatags, like keywords, to help search
engines find and catalog the site
FAQs and Sitemaps Anticipate questions and group them if
necessary Offer a visual diagram to aid navigation if your
site is extensive
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
ColorColor
Use RGB (hexadecimal) color codes
Make choices that emphasize continuity and readability
Use color choices to highlight hyperlinks
Consider accessibility issues
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Organizing a WebsiteOrganizing a Website Non-sequential organization emphasizes multiple
connections among topics or ideas.
Hierarchical organization groups pages by levels and sublevels, resembling a pyramid.
Network organization interconnects all of the pages for maximum flexibility.
Begin by sketching, using a large sheet of paper, a chalkboard, or a whiteboard.
Consider the structure that best expresses the web site’s main idea.
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Websites and UsabilityWebsites and Usability
Address navigation: make sure users know where they are in a site and how to get around
Address content: make it clear and consistent throughout, without overloading the page
Address visuals: make sure they pertain to the content and do not overwhelm the users
Address other aspects, like branding
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Website EthicsWebsite Ethics
Ensure accessibility for those with disabilities
Present a fair company image
Provide accurate information to the public
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