Weekly Blog Activity 9.30.09

I found that it is important to use certain critera when evaluating websites. The criteria used to evaluate websites consists of having a purpose; authority; objectivity; appropriateness; currency; responsibility; clarity; and accessibility. Also, Web addresses can indicate to you what the purpose of the website is and who the producers are. For example, if you see a web address that ends in .gov; you will be accessing websites that have to do with the government. It is also important that the information on the website is up to date and authentic. The author's point of view shouldn't impact the usefulness of the information and there should be contact information listed, as well as the sponsoring organization.

After reading the resources on web design features, I learned that there are features that can make or break a Web design. Features that make a website look or good depend on the backgrounds, text, links, graphics, tables, junk, blinking animations, navigation, and the general design of the website. To be specific, a good Web design is one that lacks the bad Web design elements. Features that make a good Web design are the text, navigation, graphics, links, and the general design. It is important to have good features in order to communicate more effectively with the targeted audience.

GIMP stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program. GIMP is an application for image editing and graphics creation. There are many sites that can teach you how to use this application and its tools.

When writing for the Web, it is very important to organize your information before you write a line of code to develop the site. The Web supports media that is nonlinear, which gives the author more freedom to do different things on the website. Users should be able to navigate the website with ease and not hit dead ends. Print media conveys information in a linear format, which doesn't allow for much freedom.