Thoughts for Autism blog postings

Blog Ideas:

1. What is Autism?

2. The difference between a complete diagnosis of Autism and Asperger's Syndrome

3. Strategies for adjusting to hearing the diagnosis of Autism for your child

Social Networking

Social networks have become a part of today's culture. This constantly growing trend has made its way into the lives of millions of people who now use these sites on a daily basis. The networking sites once meant for specific purposes, business profiles, school experiments, etc, have become a global phenomenon. As a daily user of networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, I can honestly say I do not remember why I was ever on the internet for long periods of time before these sites were created. Networking is now part of our lifestyle. People are curious. Websites like facebook give people the opportunity to peek into another person's life through their profile.
Social networking sites are now important tools in spreading news or messages. It's a great way to get people to support a cause or attend an event. Even schools have begun to integrate spcial networking websites into their classes.
I think this is a smart move considering high school and college students spend the majority of their internet surfing on one of these websites. If teachers can make some of their work accessible through these sites, the students may be more likely to do it since it is a website they would be visiting anyway.

Google Sites

Google has yet again made the internet much easier to manipulate. This step by step online program creates a very simple way to create your own web page. They keep everything very straight forward. There is no "computer talk" that only the technologically inclined could decipher. This is a site that even I would be able to use to create a web page and that is saying something considering I am inadequate when it comes to computers. The video tutorials also prove how easy this website is. From what I've seen Google can do no wrong.

Calvitto's Pizza Visual Design...or Lack Thereof

Contrast:
The website for Calvitto's Pizza lacks contrast. It is simply a boring black and white. The only hint of color viewers see are the tiny clip art pizzas, breads, cupcakes, and Italian flags that the web designer added. It is not appealing to the eye and is not likely to draw new customers in. Their actual logo in person is much more welcoming. They should at least incorporate their logo so that people know what to look for.

Repetition:
One thing that this website seems to has working for it is repetition. The entire website is one page and that page consists of their menu set up in a table chart format. Everything is clearly stated and each section is titled with a large bold text. Each section is tied together by different types of clip art, which although may not be very affective artwork, still ties things together so that customers know which section they can find certain items in.

Alignment:
Almost everything on this website appears in the center of the page. There is a lot of space left unused on the page.

Proximity:

The website does have a sense of order to it. There are separate sections for each type of item they sell, however, they do not go into detail about any of their products and there doesn't seem to be any particular reason why the sections are placed in the order that they are in.

Scrolling down the page we see pizza first, this is an obvious choice because they are known for their pizza, next comes the bread/rolls, then pastries, and then calzones. Maybe it's just me but aren't calzones basically just a folded pizza with different ingredients? I think they should be directly after pizza followed by the bread and rolls, and leave the pastries for last since people would normally think of dessert after they have eaten their main course which in this case would be a pizza or calzone.

Purpose, Audience, and Tone are very important aspects of websites. They each go hand-in-hand. Your purpose will have an affect on the audience interested in your work, your tone will narrow this audience even more. Website designers should try to express their opinions and beliefs but not in an offensive way, try to keep your website neutral enough so that audiences with opposing ideas will still want to see things from your perspective. Use your own voice! Don't try to sound like someone else, it will backfire! People want to be able to relate, they want to feel like the author is talking to them not at them.

Web Design

As this chapter says, it is important to state information in an organized fashion. Information should be clear and simply stated. I find navigating websites to be one of the most important aspects to look at. Wed designers should make sure everything makes sense when putting all of this information together. There should be a certain flow to how and where the information is placed on a website. Personally I prefer websites with a hierarchical design. The scaffolding effect will allow those visiting the website to understand the depth of the subject. They will find everything from general background information all the way to small specified topics.

I live in Bonnet Shores in Narragansett, RI. We have mentioned in class that this website is a mess. I have become frustrated many times attempting to navigate this site. Another poorly designed website is www.miauk.com this is the website for music artist MIA. the site is too bright, with too many graphics on the home page. It makes me want to leave the site very quickly. Yet another poorly designed website is www.unofficialroyalty.com. This website was originally pretty well designed however it was renovated and unfortunately has downgraded. The site is boring. The font is small, the titles do not stand out. The first thing you see when visiting the page is a box with the word "DONATE" in it with a list of credit cards they accept. People do not want to immediately see that a website wants money. This was a bad design idea.

Information Ecologies

This chapter gives a very interesting view of places people use everyday. I would never have thought of a hospital as an information ecology before reading this. There are so many places around us today where technology plays a large role and requires people to contribute their own parts as well.
Wiki travel could be considered its own information ecology because it is dependent on people having a computer with internet, and it also needs knowledgeable people to fill in the site. People from around the world can come together in this one place to create web pages. If someone makes a mistake, there is always someone that comes along in a matter of minutes to fix the error. It's a system.
I can also see ways where Wikitravel may not be considered an information ecology. the website does not need more than one person in order for it to work. One person could fill out entries on their own without help from anyone meaning there was no collaboration involved. Also, some people add things to Wikipedia and Wikipedia as a joke. They are not helping the cause, they are creating a distraction from it.

The first thought that popped into my mind before it was even mentioned in the chapter was school. School is definitely an information ecology, especially today. Students are constantly learning about integrating technology into classrooms and that it is "the way of the future". Just last semester one of my classes had a guest speaker through video chat. It is true that schools worked just fine before technology entered the classroom but today, I'm not sure how schools would go on without it. The technology like computers, projectors, smart boards, email, etc, keeps everyone at the school connected. We can get text message alerts when school is canceled. It seems a bit crazy but it makes things convenient.
The author's mention of Kinko's reminded me of my latest trip to the copy center at Staples. They have a self serve station with paper, pens, staplers, and tape among other things but they also have the counter you can go to for help if you are having trouble. What I see in this chapter is that everyone in a local information ecology, which we find ourselves in everyday, comes together for a similar cause and work together with the now integrated use of technology.