The document provides guidance on planning a website by exploring different possibilities for content and design. It recommends examining other existing sites to find components to incorporate. Text, images, multimedia, and interactivity are discussed as key elements to consider. Interactive pages allow users to choose topics, animate processes, search, make purchases, manipulate on-screen elements, question experts, and play games. The goal is to engage users rather than have them passively view content.

1. Planning a Web Site Understanding the Possibilities of the Web

2. Possibilities How can you know what’s out there if you never look? Before you begin to plan your site – go shopping! Look at other site! Examine sites in your market As you surf the ‘Net, look for components you like on other sites

3. Possibilities Look for functions and structures that will be serve your sites purposes There are many ways you can communicate Human voice Images Text Sound and music Animation Motion video Virtual reality

4. Using Text Text Most efficient means of transferring information over the web HTML – Hypertext Markup Language Universal language spoken on the net – requires only a browser to read Reading from a computer screen not as comfortable as the printed page Important to make text on the page easy to read

5. Hypertext Hypertext – text that is active – it does something! Generally, it’s going to take you somewhere or display something Hypertext links are generally represented as underlined text.

6. Hypertext Hypertext can be used to: Link to another Web page in your own site Link to another Web site Link to a spot elsewhere on the same page Link to an image on your Web site or elsewhere Link to a voice, music or sound clip Link to a video Open a new window (display a definition, show information, show pictures)

7. Hypertext How will your site use links? For navigation? To access content? How will the links be represented?

8. Printing Some documents are able to easily read on the computer screen Long documents are better in another format MS-Word (.doc) Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) If you’re going to present different file types, be sure to include a download link for the free viewer software.

9. Things to Consider Look at the purposes and functions of your site Which will best be achieved with text? What type of text Long, scrolling articles Short paragraphs that can be read on-screen Has the text been written in another organization document? Does it need to be composed from scratch?

10. Images Most frequently used form of information after text Images often replace or support text as the message) Images can be used as navigation tools Images can be used as icons (represent an idea)

11. Images Speed of users Internet connection has a huge impact on viewing images Users with limited bandwidth will find pages load very slowly Bandwidth - measures rate at which data moves between points Many users have high-speed Internet connections, but designers should remember many still do not

12. Images Keep the size of images down Generally, aim for image files sizes under 50 kilobytes. Here’s an example of a site where the images are used for navigation: http://www.weather.gov/

13. Multimedia Refers to a broad range of online media, including: Animation Sound Video Virtual Reality http://www.virtualgettysburg.com/vg/panoramas/multi_node.html

14. Interactivity Definition: The Web page involves action on the part of the user – the user does more than sit passively and look at the screen. That’s so important…let’s say it again: The user is not passive! The user is involved with the Web page

15. Interactivity Interactive pages allow users to: Choose – select their topic Animate – click and see a process in action; learn a concept via a moving diagram Search and find – don’t make the site a scavenger hunt…make it easy! Buy and sell – making a commercial transaction (e-commerce) Manipulate – use the mouse to move things Construct – build something on-screen Question and answer – ask an expert and get a response Converse – Chat and Discussion Forums Play – the highest form of interactivity – make it fun!