Web Site Design: Status Report #1

Date of Report: 02/10/2004

Up to this point, I have primarily worked on implementing a design of a web site that can be easily accessible for older populations. By creating rollover effects in imageready, I have placed a navigational bar on the top of the page for the New Jersey Association of Senior Center Directors, as well as prominently displayed text that displays along with the button for each link to various aspects of the site (such as links, information, email, etc.) Since the population who will be viewing the page will vary greatly, I have developed the page to fit on multiple screen sizes, from 800x600, to 1024x768, etc. I have optimized the graphics that will be used on the main site so that download times can be minimized for slower internet connections.

One challenge that I have faced is how to create rollover images that allow images to appear at other places on the web page, so that text may pop up on the screen at the same time as a button is in the "down" state of a rollover. For instance, a visitor would move their mouse over a button, and a graphic would be displayed in another location indicating where the link will bring them. I am working on how to resolve this issue, and have investigated the use of simple javascript that imageready can create for this to work properly.

Another challenge I am facing is how to implement sounds into the buttons of the web page. I would like to be able to have the browser make a noise as a button is depressed, so that the visitor may be more aware of their action on the page. I will be investigating this issue and will hopefully find a solution that provides a small download size while producing adequate sound quality for the purpose.

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