Signs that Spring isn't too far away

By Ralph Tolbert, Educational Technology Consultant ()

1. No football halftime shows arranged by MTV

2. All school snow days have been used

3. Proficiencies ('nuff said)

4. Your principal suggests it's time to update and improve the school Web Site.

As the 'tech' guru the last indicator of spring falls into your lap-but not to worry, just as in the TV show, What Not to Wear, you can learn what to include in your Web Site.

First Rule: "Keep the main thing the main thing" where the 'main thing' is your purpose or priority. You can create a focused and informative Web Site because there is a clear understanding of the purpose of your Web Site. Effective design results in the successful communication of your message to your intended audience.

1. What do you want to say?

2. Why is that information needed?

3. What do you want people to do as result of your information?

Navigating Your Site
How does the user move around your site? Can they jump to any unrelated sections of the site from any page? Must they use the browser's back button to retrace their steps before they move to another section? Hint: Site map and navigation buttons on each page.

How the user moves around your site should be a topic of discussion from the earliest planning stages of your site's development.

Features that help navigation:

Buttons on your site design create a natural association for links.
Bullets or small images draw attention to the navigation area.
Distinct visual spaces, such as columns, help identify navigation tolls,
Label all images and their links.

A consistent interface helps the user to know where to look in each section. The individual items may change, but the 'look and placement' is kept across all pages.

Effective Visual Presentation
You've identified your message, developed the look and feel, and gathered all the assets you are going to place on your pages. Now where do you place those graphics and text for the best effect?

Apply the Second Rule: Remove all design items that are unnecessary. This means the cute animated flag, school fight song, huge graphic file for small image, any mystery meat navigation devices (don't know what mystery meat is, ask a student about this week's school lunch menu), hope you get the idea by now.

Many of the new books dealing Web design forget the essentials and focus on the glitz, not so with Effective Web Design: Master the Essentials by Ann Navarro and Tabinda Kahn. Sybex 1998. This extensive beginner's guide covers all the key basics for designing a state-of-the-art Web page. There are excellent sections covering basic art design, grids, and effective choices for fonts, web color, graphic formats, and animations.

Additional Recommended Books:
Web by Design: The Complete Guide by Molly E. Holzschlag, Sybex 1998
A lesson-by-lesson approach to every core element of Web design

Inside Web Design (2000) by Ron Wilder, Element K Press 2000. Tips and techniques for Web designers.

For the advanced Web designer:
Creating Killer Web Sites, The Art of Third Generation Site Design by David Siegel. Hayden Books 1997. Check out http://www.killersites.com

As a former teacher and tennis coach there was a phrase I liked to use: "It's easy to learn/play when things go right, but you learn more when they don't." This phrase can also help you improve your Web site by looking at some really defective examples.

Attention! This is a plug for Maria's Web Page and links and not a defective Web Page. http://wneo.org/staff/Mariaweb1.htm, http://wneo.org/hotlists/webbook.htm, and http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com which will take you to the Home page of Vincent Flanders, author of Son of Web Pages That Suck: Learn Good Design by Looking at Bad Design by Vincent Flanders. Sybex 2002, which is an amusing follow-up commentary on those Web pages that don't quite make the grade, and hints to avoid having yours be one of them.

Finally, remember to attract return visitors by making your Web Site both interesting and informative because as Theodore Geisel explains, "From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere". You are competing with other sites to keep your site active. Your students know Theodore Geisel as Dr. Seuss. The Seuss was his middle name and he added the Dr. because his father had always wanted him to become a doctor.