Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Final Project

My final projects differed a lot from my original story board. I landed up changing the names of one of my pages from events to rules and some of the content i had on them.I had to cut some of the content out due to me writing so much about the topic. I changed the way photos had been placed and or the layout of the images. I changed my website from Demolition Derby's to Demolition Derby's in Eastern Pennsylvania. I had changed the original image i wanted to my backround to a rust backround to match the theme of the website in 2.0. I had a lot of fun creating the website in 2.0! The layout between the two websites was completley different so of course this was a big difference between the two!

Compare and Contrast

Creating each of the websites was challenging for me. They were both so different! The biggest difference between the two way the layout with the templates. When i created the 2.0 website it was a lot easier than using the web expressions. The 2.0 website in a way walked me through each step and it was easy to navigate my way around for never using the Wix program. Using the web expressions was a lot more in detail and it was more difficult to find something that went wrong, If i ever make a website again i would chose to do it on a free web creater. Figuring out the HTML was a lot more challenging for me. When i used wix it gave me a lot of different backrounds to use and a lot of templates for my layout comapared to web expressions. They are in some degree the same due to the fact that they are both programs to create web sites and they both offer templates to help you create what you want. I had to make a lot of adjustments between the two of them when using wix like i said it was quite simple to place my photos and content, when using web expressions i had to resize my images and content compared to wix.

Reflecting on what i have learned

When i first walked into Mislevy's web design class i had not a clue on how to make a website. Being involved in this class taught me so much. I learned all the cool tricks in photoshop and never have i once tried photoshop! I can not crop, resize, add and change filters, duplicate images, change hue and saturations, make new layers and so on. I have also learned how to create a website (using a free website of course) and i can understand the HTML to a small degree (thank god for the free websites like Wix, webnode, weebly and webs)! I truley did learn a lot and to be honest i probably will not make another website in the near future but if i decide to i know now how to get started. I will honestly look at websites and ads, flyers, and posters a lot differently using the CRAP method!

Reflecting

I thought the reading this week was very helpful for when creating a website. It gave me tips on a lot of different areas that can be utilized when creating a website. I liked the quick tips for photoshop it came in handy when i was adjustiing and making changes to my pictures for my website.It did not take as long to find what i was looking for in photoshop as i used  the smaller and the larger brush and i also used the layers palette. The storyboarding was extremly helpful, doing this ahead of time deffinetly gave me a visual of what to expect, i still landed up making a few changes afterward when actually working on my webpage but it gave me a sense of direction and confidence in knowing that i would like my page when completed even though as i mentioned i still landed up making a few small changes when actually working on the Wix itself.

Wix

I chose to use Wix to create my website. I found this website to be easy, it had very interesting templates, and i liked how i could navigate through it easily. I started working on my web page through Wix and so far i like it a lot. I like how it almost does all the work for me all i have to do is place my pics where i would like them to be and being that i previsously wrote up all my content i was able to copy and paste my content into the webpage. All i had to do was place the items where i wanted them to be located. I also liked the different backrounds Wix offered me, i was able to find one that went perfect with the topic of my website!

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Usability and Accessibility in web design!

When creating a website that is both usable and accessable you are making a website usable for all people of all types considering there abilities and disabilities. It is very important to keep this in mind when creating a website so you can accomidate all your viewers! Making your website accessable is haveing larger print for those that can not see, having color for those that need it, having your website be able to commuicate to those that can not see or read the text ext. Making it usable is making the website so that it accomidates all the above mentioned features!

Should anyone be able to create a website?

I think not! Just because you have a laptop and internet connection does not mean just anyone should or could create a website. Creating a website takes time, if your not doing it yourself it involves money for an editor, and it can be challenging if you do not have the proper knowlege on how to make one. Before i began taking web design i had no idea all that went into websites, even now i do not know all that goes into one just the basics! If you have the proper knowlege and time im sure you could make a great website but for someone who just wants to make one and post it publicly i do not feel that this is a great idea leave it to the professionals!