Summary

As I structured my Webtext design, I considered the qualities that would optimize my site’s effectiveness and appeal. The design element I sought to convey most through every aspect of the site was organization. Often only on the viewing end of research or web content in general, this assignment allowed me to entertain a different role, as the source generator and designer of the information provided. Given the opportunity to design a site layout in accordance with my personal criteria, I strived to address issues I frequently encounter while navigating the web. Some small details included in my site for a quality viewer experience were the font I chose and visible links to my site sections on both the top of the page and the side bar. The font was a crucial element of this site for me. I have very poor eyesight and struggle on a daily basis to read dense text on the Internet, especially when it is presented in a font that is too bold, too compressed, and borderline unreadable. For this reason, I paid close attention to the font and made sure it not only looked nice but was easy to read as well. To some degree, media took an intentional “back seat” to the linguistic content on my page as, Communications is a field that primarily relies on written explanations or real-time observation of behavior, and those cannot be depicted as well through a photo or video. When deciding on media I attentively examined where to post it and its appeal to my viewer. Each page of my site has two carefully selected images on it, one that is the same in all of the pages to further feelings of organization and uniformity, and others that differ from page to page that depict communication in its many forms. While there is Communications jargon throughout the site, I actively attempted to use language that could be understood by all. Thus, my Webtext design is intended to appear organized, informative, uniform but still visually appealing, easy to navigate, and for an audience with minimal knowledge on the Communications discipline but an interest in knowing more/pursuing the field. The purpose of my site was largely to explain what communications is as a concept and discipline, how discourse is seen within the field, and what factors qualify a scholar or research in this field.