Martha Meloy

Article Summaries
Web Design and Development Summer 2009

Article 1

Reynolds, Erica (2008). The secret to patron-centered web design: cheap, easy, and

powerful usability techniques. Computers in Libraries, 28 (6), 6-47.

The content in this article gives potential web designers insight to the importance

of involving staff members and patrons when updating or changing existing web sites.

Involving others to test ideas and to offer ideas to a new foundation of an existing site is

important to ensure that the site is perceived positively. Reynolds gives details for the

many steps involved with updating her county library site including card sorts, paper

prototypes, and usability studies. The first important feature for involving patrons is the

card sort, where the main, homepage navigational buttons are determined. Paper

prototypes are the second step in the process, which helps with the development of a new

updated site before the actual interface is set in stone. It allows designers to get feedback

from potential users before coding time is wasted. Lastly, usability studies are tested out

on the potential patrons and staff members who will use the web site. The usability

studies allow patrons to get involved in the actual development of the site, which gives

them a voice in the process and keeps to the overall goal of creating a positive patron

friendly updated site.

This article was very informative for web designers who will need to update an

existing site that patrons are already using. Sometimes, new sites or ideas for sites are

automatically perceived negatively, for the simple fact, that people don’t like change,
unless it is vitally needed. After reading the article it gave me an understanding that when

creating a web site the designers wants and needs are not as important as the users of the

actual site. It is very important to think about who uses the site and for what reasons. I

thought focusing on the research end of the new library site, by using extra usability

studies, was key since that is one of the main uses for the site making the extra time spent

on this topic worthwhile. When I first started reading the article I thought the idea of

using index cards, preparing scripts, going through the process of scheduling individual

studies and carrying them out with potential patrons was a waste of time and paper.

However, after I read the entire article and realized how smooth the web site transitioned

and how positively it was perceived, I realized that the most vital aspect of web design is

good efficient planning with clear goals determined before beginning a project. This

article was very informative and thoughtful for web designers to realize the importance of

involving perspective patrons of a site in the planning process and formulating a well-

developed plan that can be adapted if needed.

Article 2

Curran, K., Walters, N., & Robinson, D. (2007). Investigating the problems faced by

older adults and people with disabilities in online environments. Behavior &

Information Technology, 26(6), 447-453.

This article focuses on the importance of adhering to the Web Accessibility

Initiative set forth for web designers to ensure all citizens, including disabled persons,

can use web sites appropriately. By allowing access for all people, sites can maintain a

positive image from society. There is also a huge impact financially for businesses and
sites that offer services. Due to the increasing number of people whose health will

diminish in the next few years and the increasing number of babies being born with

disabilities, due to technological advances, their buying power in the years to come is

substantial. Details about disabilities are covered in this article, including the definition of

someone who has a disability. The specialized hardware that is used by persons with a

disability, including assistive technologies such as screen readers and head pointers are

also recognized. Information on how to test web sites and their compatibility to the Web

Accessibility Initiative using web sites like The Cynthia Says portal, which tests a URL

and it’s accessibility using guidelines set by the WAI. Modifications to the HTML code

to ensure disabled persons can navigate and interpret a site are also given, including the

necessity of providing text for all images. Accessibility solutions are given to help bring

sites up to par. Different organization’s sites were tested for compatibility and 75% of

them failed to meet the requirements set forth by the Initiative. This lack of adherence to

the Web Accessibility Initiative unveils the awareness that needs to be generated about

these priorities making all web pages accessible to all people.

After reading this article, I realized that most people are not aware of the Web

Accessibility Initiative, which is vital to maintain a healthy atmosphere on the web where

all people can locate sites appropriately and with limited distress. This article was an

extension of my learning along with one the lessons presented the first week of this class

entitled “how people with disabilities access the web”. It brought to my attention the fact

that we need to think about all people and how they search and use the web. I don’t like

to admit that I never thought about people with disabilities when I made my classroom

web site or when I taught my students to make their own. It saddens me that I was one of
those people who were not aware of the standards and that I didn’t teach my students

about the standards that are used to create functional web sites for all to view. This article

is useful for any web designer who plans to create a web site for any reason. It brings

attention to the importance of following guidelines when designing and how to test for

accessibility using sites like Cynthia Says. I felt that the research presented different

types of organization’s and their URLs to gain insight in the accessibility issue. This gave

a broad range of web sites that people frequent and how people are not aware of the

standards that should be followed. It is imperative for thriving businesses and all others

with informational sites to update their existing sites to meet the standards. We as

educators have a bigger step to take in teaching our students to think about these

guidelines as well. They will be the future web designers of tomorrow so we need to

teach them about the guidelines today. This is the kind of information that should be

taught along with the technology standards set forth by the state. I know I’ll bring

attention to the facts presented in this article to my students so that they can become the

knowledgeable, web savvy gurus I want them to be.

Article 3

Friedman, M. G., Nelson, D. B. (2007). Web accessibility design recommendations for

people with cognitive disabilities. Technology & Disability, 19(4), 205-212.

This article brings to the forefront the issue of people with cognitive disabilities

and how accessible the Web is for them. It focuses on the definition of cognitive

disabilities, which encompasses a vast variety of topics. The wide array of data that

constitutes what a cognitive disability is also hampers progress when trying to find ways
to make the Internet more accessible for persons with cognitive disabilities. Overall,

progress has been made since the WWW Accessibility Initiative was launched in 1997.

However, most of the improvements have benefited other disabilities like blindness and

not so much for cognitive disabilities. Part of the problem is establishing a general

consensus of what would benefit a cognitive disabled person when using the web, which

is what much of this article focuses on. Research was done to find ways to address web

accessibility and how to make it easier for a person with a cognitive disability.

Recommendations for improving web design for persons with cognitive disabilities

include establishing a uniform set of guidelines for web designers to adhere to, getting

these guidelines established as a higher priority level when the WWW Guidelines are

updated and published. It also states that any country writing their own guidelines must

include accessibility issues for disabled persons. Continued research is needed to

establish well-developed guidelines that can be tested and updated as needed.

After reading this article, I thought about the implications of not taking into

account the needs of people with cognitive disabilities. As the article points out, there are

over 22 million Americans that have a cognitive disability. When we think about our

classrooms and how many of our students struggle with different learning disabilities it is

easy to overlook the necessity of making the environment on the web more accessible. It

is usually the technology used in the classrooms that grab the attention of ADD students

and entice them to learn. However, when focusing on reading and finding information on

web pages that are text filled, it is easy for ADD students to get lost in the process.

Learning becomes navigating through mazes of pages of information while only minimal

quality learning is taking place. However, with all that being said, sometimes, fun pages
with a lot of sparkle and movement is fun, especially for 5th graders. I feel that this article

is beneficial for web designers to understand the significance of accessibility and it’s

usefulness for people with disabilities. Appropriate guidelines for accessing the web are

vital to the success of the web in the future. More and more people are using the web

consistently for information, goods, services, and even friendships so is it vital to make it

accessible to everyone of all abilities.

Article 4

Park, J. Y. (2007). Empowering the user as the new media participant. Digital Creativity,

18 (3), 175-186.

This was a very interesting article that covered levels of interactivity users

achieve when using the Internet. Different examples of high interactivity used online,

such as net art and blogging are detailed and how web designers should create pages in

this technology changing environment to achieve high levels of interactivity. The article

stresses the point of users not simply being a passive audience but an active participant

and creator on the web. It covers in great detail the experience realms using a model that

encompasses passive participation, absorption, active participation and immersion. It

agues that designers should try to achieve the highest interactive state possible know as a

state of “flow” for the user, where the user is actively participating in with the web and

not simply looking at visuals on the screen. This article also brings light to the ever-

changing technology associated with web development, such as using mobile phones to

update blogs with voice updates or web cams that are used to capture video for all to see.

It portrays the new web being one where off line activities are being connected with
online activities, which create active participants and not bystanders of information.

Design features, forms, elements, and principles that web designers can use to create

interactive web pages are discussed. The world is rapidly changing and technology is as

well. Stagnant pages are no longer the desired type of web page for Internet users. As

designers of web pages, we need to look at this phenomenon and create accordingly.

This was an informative article that I think all web designers should read. It really

dives into the role of the user on the Internet. Until I started my Masters in this program, I

was active online with email, buying goods, and searching for services and information

but I didn’t realize how much the Internet is changing and the purposes people are using

it for are continuing to grow. If you ask young people if the only reason they go online is

to read stagnant web pages, the answer is no. They enjoy posting, chatting, listening,

looking, blogging, commenting, and being active in the environments they frequent

online. As designers we need to think about these interactions that are vital for web pages

to be competitive in online environments. It is important to think about what users want

and desire when they visit the Internet. It was also enlightening to really examine the

levels of engagement that this article focuses on. It made me examine my own role as an

internet user, which after reading this article I realized that there is so much I’m not even

aware of out on the vast World Wide Web. When I develop web sites in the future, I will

ask myself this simple question. Do I want the visitors that pass by my site to be passive

participants who lazily look at my stagnant page or do I want them to become immersed

with my site and become active participants who can contribute and collaborate with

others? I will make sure I create or link to places on my 5th grade web site where this

absorption and immersion of active interactivity can occur.

Article 5

Chang, K., Sung, Y., & Zheng, J. (2007). Hypermedia authoring with writing process

guidance. British Journal of Educational Technology, 38 (5), 851-860.

Focusing on the overall writing process when authoring web pages is very

beneficial for the quality of the page as shown in this study done with 7th grade students.

It presented the process of authoring pages and the steps taken to create a well-developed

site including setting the topic and goals of the page, planning, organizing, building the

content and reviewing the page. Two groups were established with one having guidance

on the writing process mentioned above and a control group who was not offered

guidance. They also looked at which gender produced better web pages. For both the

gender issue and the overall issue of writing process guidance, all pages were scored

using the Webpage Assessment for Secondary School Students. Males scored higher than

the female students. Ideas as to why included males having better computer skills and

greater interest in the computer and females being less capable of figuring out problems

and the time females spent finding interesting pictures with less time spent on editing

their pages. The results of this study showed how in all categories of good web design the

experimental group that had guidance of the writing process scored consistently higher

than the control group, thus concluding you must and should always provide writing

process guidance at all stages of development of web pages.

This article was very refreshing for me to read. My 5th graders made their own

web pages and it was enlightening to see how others conduct the process in China. It

gave me great ideas as to how to grade the sites that my students create. It also gave
concrete steps in how to write and organize hypermedia documents, which are the five

stages of web page authoring. I will definitely use this in my classroom. The Web Page

Assessment for Secondary School Students also portrayed the importance of the content

(65% of grade) of a web page with the layout (15%), structure (15%), and links (5%) not

as vital. As an educator who has her own students create web pages in the classroom, this

article was very beneficial. However, if you are a web designer who already knows the

importance of planning and a designer who already knows the writing process well, this

article might not portray enough information for them to find it useful. Unless, you are a

male and then you could always say… males design better web pages than females, as

proven by this study conducted in China. ☺

Article 6

Goans, D., Hackbart-Dean, P., & Kata, L. (2007). On your mark, get set, go! An

overview of a digital project from start to finish. Computers in Libraries, 27 (3),

16-23.

The steps involved in ensuring old journal articles from the International

Association of Machinists were preserved and making them accessible to others in a

digital format that can be accessed through the web is the focus of this article. It gives

great detail of the entire process, along with important questions that need to be

addressed in order for the project to be successful. It states the project plan team and what

each member needed to contribute, the decision making process of securing an

appropriate vendor for scanning all of the documents and what types of files would be

beneficial to have in creating the digital images. Creating a functional web site to locate
all of the new files was also addressed and how to label the copyrighted material

appropriately was also discussed. This article was informative and useful in

understanding the process a team of people must go through in order to publish old

material that wasn’t first written in a digital format and getting it accessible on the web

for others to view.

I thought this was an interesting article. It made me realize how in depth a process

it is to create digital files from old journal entries. Readers can see the many steps it takes

to get articles published on the web. I didn’t realize all the thought processes that went

into something that seems simple. I thought just scan the pages but there is so much more

to it than that. The idea of what types of files needed, pdf or text only, resolution sizes of

the scanned documents, and TIFF images were all ideas I had not thought of. This article

is great for any librarian or other archive worker who might have to get involved in

making old documents accessible to others on the Internet. Web designers would also

benefit from reading this article since the process is detailed so nicely.

Article 7

Baumbach, D. (2009). Web 2.0 & you. Knowledge Quest, 37 (4), 12-19.

This article was very informative on the different tools available known as Web

2.0. It reviews the statistics that show the lack of awareness of the new tools that

educators could be teaching with on the web and the need for professional development

in this area. The barriers associated with Web 2.0 tools are filters in the school web site

systems that don’t allow some sites to be visited. There is also the issue of budget cuts

and the time that teachers need to devote to the new mediums in order to learn them and
of course the lack of knowledge on their existence. Fortunately, the article does a great

job at providing links to learn more about these new tools and it points out that most sites

have free videos and tutorials to learn about each one. Numerous reasons why Web 2.0

should be taught to educators are also listed that include the fact that most Web 2.0 tools

are free, which is nice since most schools are suffering budget cuts but more importantly

the positive impact of using these tools will have on our students. The chances to

collaborate, communicate and create on the web using some of the new Web 2.0 tools are

extremely worthwhile for teachers and for the students they teach.

When I first read this article I wondered if it was appropriate for a Web Design

article but the more I read the more I realized it was very appropriate. As I read about the

new technologies, it made me realize that there are numerous, potential links I should use

on my 5th grade web site. As I stated in an earlier critique to one of the articles I want my

web page to be engaging in this new era of web design. As educators it is vital that we

teach our students how to use the latest tools on the web so that they can become creative

thinkers and contributors in online environments and not passive bystanders reading

information. As web designers we need to create spaces that aren’t simply read and

looked over but gain the attention of the user and ignite a desire to be a part of the page

by contributing to it in some way. I want active participation on my web site just as I

want active participation in my classroom.

Article 8

Darby, A. & Gilmour, R. (2009). Tutorial: adding delicious data to your library web site.

Information Technology & Libraries, 28 (2), 100-103.

 This tutorial was very informative about how to add Delicious Data to a web site.

Delicious is a social bookmarking service that allows users to save, manage and share

web pages from a centralized source. The tutorial introduces the Delicious uses and

features and describes various approaches that can be used for incorporating Delicious

data to web pages. The tutorial is very useful, providing instructive examples and clear

descriptions to share links using Delicious by employing simple to advanced approaches.

The simplest approaches use linkrolls, tagrolls, and RSS, but these methods can limit the

control over how Delicious data appears on the web site. Delicious data can also be

retrieved using JavaScript Object Notification (JSON) or XML APIs to provide much

more complex control for displaying Delicious data on a web site, but requires more

programming and scripting knowledge.

I had never heard of Delicious Data before reading this article. This tutorial is

good because it describes the methods in increasing order of complexity; readers that

follow the tutorial to include Delicious data on a web site will be able to start with the

easy approaches and will only need to follow the more complex examples if desired. This

article was very informative for me. I had always created a separate page for bookmarks

used in my classroom. Including Delicious software in my HTML code might be a more

efficient way for me to add bookmarks more easily and access them more efficiently. All

web designers would benefit from reading this article to further their web development

skills.

Article 9

Trippe, B. (2007). Adobe advances its publishing position with CS3. Seybold Report:
 Analyzing Publishing Technologies, 7 (7), 3-6.

This article summarizes the new features of Adobe’s Creative Suite 3. It details

the usefulness of combining different aspects of web design into centralized software

including Dreamweaver, InDesign and Flash Professional as well as other web authoring

software. The integration of these products makes producing web pages more efficient.

Details are discussed such as the new export to HTML feature and the use of importing

CALS tables accurately and manipulating them efficiently. It also details the new features

making long document processing easier. Overall this new software promises to integrate

programs efficiently making the web designers job easier and more proficient.

After reading this article I had to investigate CS3 more thoroughly. When I

completed a Google search for Adobe’s CS3 I found that they had already created CS4,

which shows how quickly software becomes out dated. I was even more curious about

the differences of the two products and did another search to compare the two. I found

that people said CS4 is worth the money and was much better than CS3, which shows me

that 2 years ago when this article was written and all the hype that surrounded CS3 and

it’s release is now second best to a new, improved product. Will we ever be able to keep

up with the changing times in technology? Reading this article also made me realize all

the different applications that are used to build web pages. I have only used Microsoft

Frontpage for all of my web designing needs, which is no longer sold or supported by

Microsoft. One idea that is apparent to me is that you can never stop learning about web

design or the Internet for that matter. It is constantly changing and adapting to serve the

users of the web as well as the creators of the web better and more efficiently.