Chapter 20

Web Design

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Chapter overview

• Gives an introduction to Web design

• Examines the rhetorical purpose of Web design

• Looks at the structure of Web design

• Discusses the visual design of Web sites

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Introduction to Web design

• Chapter doesn’t focus on the technical aspects of how to create a Web site, but rather on the basics of how to design one.

• It contrasts the way people use information online as opposed to printed information.

• People visit a Web site, navigate the site, and choose their own path from numbers of hyperlinks.

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Planning a Web site

Planning begins with an analysis of your purpose (or the call to write) and audience:

• Who will visit your site?

• How will the design indicate who your audience is?

• What do you want visitors to do when they

get to the Web site?

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The rhetorical purposeof Web design

Web sites are designed with the same three purposes mentioned in chapter 19:

• Identification

• Information

• Persuasion

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The structure of Web design

Structure has to do with how pages are linked to each other. Several options are discussed.

• Shallow structure: Home page has limited options, and visitors can get to any page with one or two clicks.

• Hypertext structure: Links pages to each other and makes it possible to take different routes from the home page.

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Visual design: Four suggestions

• Establish a consistent visual theme

• Make the navigation tools easy to use

• Resist clutter

• Create chunks of information

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The home page

Should give an overview of the Web site

• Identify its purpose

• Summarize the information found there

• Provide links to navigate the site

It should also send a visual message, so you need to select colors, images, fonts, and overall design carefully.

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Planning a Web site

“begins, as other types of writing do, by identifying a call to write and clarifying your purpose” (600).

• Identify the Call to Write

• Understand your audience

• Understand the genre

• Design web structure

• Draft and revise

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Navigational tools

• It should be easy to move around the site and find information as needed.

• You can use a menu, icons, or words to link the main page to other pages; however, whatever system you choose, use it consistently throughout the site.

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Navigational tools, cont.

• It is important that you make sure visitors know where they are while exploring the site and how to get back to the home page.

• The navigation tools on the home page are like a table of contents, giving an overview of the main topics.

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Student Companion Website

• Go to the student side of the Web site for exercises, chapter overviews, and links to writing resources for this chapter:

http://college.hmco.com/pic/trimbur4e