Jennifer Scagnelli - Reflection 1

Jennifer Scagnelli
IT 578 - Web Design	Reflection One
My background knowledge of web design: My knowledge of web design is limited, though I do have some prior knowledge of Dreamweaver through employee training classes offered here at UT. I have created my own webpages just for fun, but I didn't do so with any design guidelines in mind. I've completed IT 575 and have learned basic HTML coding and CSS, but again I didn't pay much attention to design issues other than trying to make the website look organized, attractive, and easy to read and navigate. I know that there is a lot of planning involved to properly design a website, and during the course of this semester I hope to learn about such design principles and guidelines. The importance of site file/folder organization is something else that I'm familiar with, mostly through trial and error in learning how they need to be organized in order for a website to load properly. I know I'll need to keep this in mind as I complete work for this class. The importance of making web pages usable: As someone who views websites on a daily basis, both for work and for personal interest, I realize that it's important to create web pages that are usable, but haven't yet learned how to properly do so. The internet plays a major role in information delivery and it's important that web pages are updated as necessary and contain accurate information. They should be easy to navigate so that information can be found easily. If a website is not well designed it's usually difficult to find the information that you are looking for and I feel that this reflects poorly on both the designer and the organization represented by the site. When I hear the word usability some of the things that come to mind are easy to read text, minimal graphics (especially Flash), no dead links, nicely organized & easy to navigate, and overall visual appeal. Also, I'm aware that there are certain standards that web designers must follow so that their websites can be viewed across platforms and ensure browser compatibility. What looks good in IE might not look so great in Firefox or another browser. Usability means user friendly for all people, and website accessibility is an area that I know little about (other than using alternate text), so I'm looking forward to learning more about that as well. Jen's 578 Home Page \| Reflective Journal \| Activities Table \| 578 Class Activities Page Contact Me Back to Top

My background knowledge of web design:

My knowledge of web design is limited, though I do have some prior knowledge of Dreamweaver through employee training classes offered here at UT. I have created my own webpages just for fun, but I didn't do so with any design guidelines in mind. I've completed IT 575 and have learned basic HTML coding and CSS, but again I didn't pay much attention to design issues other than trying to make the website look organized, attractive, and easy to read and navigate. I know that there is a lot of planning involved to properly design a website, and during the course of this semester I hope to learn about such design principles and guidelines. The importance of site file/folder organization is something else that I'm familiar with, mostly through trial and error in learning how they need to be organized in order for a website to load properly. I know I'll need to keep this in mind as I complete work for this class.

The importance of making web pages usable:

As someone who views websites on a daily basis, both for work and for personal interest, I realize that it's important to create web pages that are usable, but haven't yet learned how to properly do so. The internet plays a major role in information delivery and it's important that web pages are updated as necessary and contain accurate information. They should be easy to navigate so that information can be found easily. If a website is not well designed it's usually difficult to find the information that you are looking for and I feel that this reflects poorly on both the designer and the organization represented by the site. When I hear the word usability some of the things that come to mind are easy to read text, minimal graphics (especially Flash), no dead links, nicely organized & easy to navigate, and overall visual appeal. Also, I'm aware that there are certain standards that web designers must follow so that their websites can be viewed across platforms and ensure browser compatibility. What looks good in IE might not look so great in Firefox or another browser. Usability means user friendly for all people, and website accessibility is an area that I know little about (other than using alternate text), so I'm looking forward to learning more about that as well.

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