Reflection

1) Share your overall impressions of the project. What were the most rewarding or challenging aspects of it? Has it contributed to your personal and/or professional advancement?

I enjoyed working on this project overall. I found that creating the e-book itself was challenging which made the end product rewarding. I have had limited experience with creating websites before and I typically did those through trial and error. Many of the things we learned this semester helped to make the process easier and smoother as well as allowing me the opportunities to do things with websites that I could not figure out or accomplish on my own. My favorite part and the most challenging part specifically was the use of scripts. These can be very confusing and just the slightest error in typing or in placement of these scripts will cause the website to not work properly.  I have always wanted to learn how to create websites and I think this has definitely given me some of the basics needed to create sharp looking and creative web pages. This will allow me to be able to create the family website my dad has been begging for as well as help to update the athletic training education program website which is in desperate need of some attention. I also found it very interesting to be working on this project with a partner. At first I was pretty excited about this concept. My original thoughts were that it would make everything much simpler and in some ways it did but it also brought about challenges that I was not expecting. Creatively, I have tendency to not trust my instincts so I spend a lot of time going back and forth on what looks good, it this will work or not, etc. By having a partner, I had someone there who I could bounce ideas off of and I was not limited to my own creativity or doubts. But we did struggle to find time to work on things together. Neither one of us wanted to “take over” the project so it was important that we each knew what was going on the whole way through the process. This was an EXTREMELY busy semester for both of us at our job and our schedules conflicted a lot more often than we anticipated. In the end we both found our strengths and weaknesses and were able to complement each other nicely.

2) Look back at your initial purpose statement and audience analysis and reflect on whether you achieved your goals and objectives. If not, what were the obstacles?

Yes, I believe we did achieve our goals. The purpose of the entire website was for senior level students to be able to use the website as a review for their certification exam which was accomplished through the use of non-linear navigation. The students have the option to study what they want and to skip things they already know. We did not however make our final product as extensive as we had originally wanted to. Due to the massive amount of material that our students learn during their four years at OSU, there was way too much for us to complete everything during the course of this semester. We plan to develop the website further in the future and also add features for those teaching the athletic training courses.

3) Evaluate the usability of our website:

· Describe how you applied the PARC principles (proximity, alignment, repetition, and contrast) in the design of your e-book

We tried to limit the amount of scrolling necessary to navigate the website. Everything is fairly close together to allow the user to locate what they are looking for fairly quickly so that they do not get discouraged or distracted. We have the same theme on every page with each page having the same font, colors, hyperlinks, navigation menu, etc so that once the user has figured out the layout for one page, they will know how to navigate the subsequent pages.  · How do you promote your website¹s identity (banner, logo, etc)?

We created this website to be in conjunction with our athletic training education program’s website so we used the same theme as required by the OSU websites. We differentiated the site by using a banner at the top of each page to designate where within the site the user is. This allows them to be able to orient themselves and through use of the breadcrumb navigation, see where they are and where they have come from. · Is the chunking and sequencing of the learning material appropriate to your audience and purpose?

Yes, while it may appear odd to an outside user, the flow of the e-book will be extremely familiar to any athletic trainer and especially to athletic training students. The sequence follows the sequence of material presented in course work and the links help students to make connections between concepts.  · Have you implemented linear or nonlinear navigation? Why?

We have implemented nonlinear navigation because this website is intended for more advanced learners who are familiar with the terms and concepts. This will allow them to choose what material they will or will not focus on and also will allow them to make the more advanced connections between classes and concepts that may or may not be presented in normal class work.  · Are you using terms that might be unfamiliar to your learners?

No. We do not anticipate any users from areas outside of athletic training education and so we therefore made sure our wording and terms would be familiar to those who would actually be on the site. It was important for us to use medical terms so that our students would be able to understand the material better and would continue to think like medical professionals.  · Have you included any instructions on how to use the e-book or some of its features or do you think the design is simple enough?

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'">The overall structure of the material is fairly straight forward. The concept should be familiar to any who have used a website before but just in case, we have included a link at the bottom of the first page to a screencast which will help users to be able to understand how navigation of this site works. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"> · What affected your decision to select this particular color scheme? Are there any violations of color stereotypes?

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'">Again, because it was in conjunction with our athletic training site, it was necessary for the colors to follow the theme of the OSU main page. This was really the only factor that affected our decision as far as colors. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"> · Is there sufficient contrast between colors of the text, background, links, etc? Is the use of color consistent?

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'">Yes, the background and text were pretty far off as far as color goes which allowed the text to be easily visible and readable. We avoided the use of black background with bright text so as not to overload the visual response. The hyperlinks are all in OSU orange on every page which is keeping in context with OSU’s theme. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"> · Does the color draw appropriate attention? How does your use of color support the visual hierarchy of the website? (For example, elements that are highlighted or subdued based on their importance) Are more important things visually prominent? <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'">The area of focus for the site was in the center of the page. We used vivid pictures and text to draw the focus to this area.

· What other coding methods besides color have you used (e.g., font face, size and style, positioning, alignment)?

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'">We used generic sans-serif fonts (Helvetica, Arial) for all the main font so that the text would appear the same to all users since most computers have both fonts set as defaults. We used OSU font for the banners of the pages. This helps give it validity and continuity to the OSU main site. The banners are image files so that they will appear the same to all users. We aligned the main text to the left which feels fairly comfortable to most users and in some cases we aligned small amounts of text to the center so that the overall look of the page flowed well together. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"> · Does the website have moving text, or distracting animations?

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'">No we choose not to use any of these types of things. Because it is an educational website, we wanted the user to be able to focus on the material and study and if we were to have used moving text or animations, it would have interfered with the learning process. Both would have taken away from the site more than they would have given. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"> · Do you think you use white space effectively? I there too much or too little of it?

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'">We attempted to limit the amount of white space on each page. The borders of the boxes are kept fairly close to the content so that the page does not look bare but there is enough of a bumper between border and content that it does not cause clutter and cognitive overload. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"> · Is upper case and centering/alignment of text used appropriately?

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'">Yes, we tried to keep the content area neat and clean. We centered the navigation menu for visual appearances. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"> · Are the navigation, headings, image size, banner, logo, table structure, footer etc consistent within and across pages? If not, what are the reasons?

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'">Yes they are. We used the same template for each page for consistency purposes. The only difference between pages was the actual content. This was adjusted for size depending upon the amount of content and visibility of the pictures. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"> · Can the users tell which objects are links?

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'">Yes, users are given the instructions at the top of the page to click on pictures for links. Links are also a different color than the rest of the text so that they can tell them apart. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"> · Does the navigation reflect the structure of learning content, needs, and interests of your audience?

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'">Yes, the students are familiar with the way the structure is set up. They should be able to easily find what they are looking for and make connections within the material based on things they learned during their classes. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"> · How deep is your website? Will that affect its navigability? Will your users get lost?

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'">Our website will eventually be fairly deep and wide just due to the large amount of information that will be available. It should not affect its navigability however because the flow of the material will make sense to students. Also, we have incorporated breadcrumb navigation to keep the user from getting lost. There is also a link to the homepage on every subsequent page so that they always have a “home base” to come back to. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"> · Do the users have to scroll a lot to get to the information they are looking for?

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'">No, we purposefully tried to limit the amount of scrolling necessary for the user to get the information. Most of the information is visible as soon as the page opens. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"> · Have you implemented any “here-you-are” indicators to help orient the user (e.g., headings, breadcrumb navigation, page titles)?

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'">Yes, breadcrumb navigation was very important to us because of the eventual depth of the material. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"> · Can the users easily get back to the homepage from every page of the e-book?

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'">Yes, the navigation menu has a link to the homepage that is visible at every point through the website. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"> · Are the images that you have used easily interpreted? Do they complement text? <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'">Yes, we spent a lot of time trying to find pictures that fit with the topics we were covering. It was important for the pictures to make sense so that the user did not spend a lot of time trying to decipher why one picture was chosen over another. It also helps the user to more clearly identify what material is located under which topic based on the picture associated with it.

· Are the clickable images clear to the user? <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"> Yes, because the cursor changes shape as it passes over the image. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"> · Do the images support/conform to the visual theme of the website?

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'">Yes because the theme of the website is athletic training education and the pictures all pertain to athletic training. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"> · Do the images have text labels and alternative tags in the code? Why?

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'">The images do not have alternative tags because each image is used as a link and there is text directly below it that lets the user know what their options are. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"> · Are the images large or small in size?

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'">They are smaller in size so that they are easily viewable in a web browser. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"> · Are any of the images re-used on several pages (e.g., logo)?

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'">The OSU logo is used on every page for consistency. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"> · Are there any typos, broken links, or other problems that would affect its credibility?

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'">The website has been reviewed for typos and broken links several times. There are many links that do not lead anywhere because those pages have not been created yet. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"> · Have you tested your e-book¹s browser and platform compatibility? Does it look and work equally well on PC, Mac, Linux, using Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and Netscape? <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'">We have tested it in Internet Explorer and Firefox. Because it was created and reviewed in internet explorer it works perfectly in this browser. Firefox creates a line in the middle of the logo due to the way the logo was inserted into the page.

4) Having critically reviewed your work on this project, - what would you have done differently? What are some areas for improvement? <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'">The first thing I would have done differently is that I would have chosen a smaller topic. The amount of material necessary for this website was extensive and we unfortunately were not able to complete anywhere near as many pages as we would have liked to be able to make the site more extensive. Secondly I would have devoted more time to the content portion of this site. This was a very demanding semester for me professionally and I wish that I would have had the time to devote to this project like it deserved. I spent most of the time I had available to work on the project trying to figure out different things within the html coding and not as much time on the things that I put into the site. I think the e-book overall turned out quite well and I am definitely satisfied with the end product. There are many things I would like to do with it in the future; add video, add more content, and create additional products such as worksheets, quizzes, etc.