This suppose to be a memo and I don’t see how many words its suppose to be or format.Not sure if I have selected the right Type of paper, number of
words, subject area or style. This is for a English class for Technical Writing.
English 235 OAS, OBS (1173, 1174)
Technical Writing
Spring 2015
Written Assignment 1: Web Site Evaluation
The Technical Writing Situation:
The use of typographical elements and visual page design is a characteristic of technical communication that distinguishes it from other kinds of writing (expository, narrative, essay). Chapter 7 (pp. 142 – 176) in your textbook is the support chapter for explaining the rules for Designing
Documents and Web Sites. In other words, the same page design rules are applied for presenting information in a written document or online in a Web
site.
“The design of a page or a screen can help a writer achieve many goals: to entertain, to amaze, to intrigue, to sell. In technical communication,
that goal is typically to help the reader accomplish a task (142).”
“The effectiveness of a document or Web site largely depends on how well it is designed, because readers see the document or site before they
actually read it. In less than a second, the document or site makes an impression on them, one that might determine how well they read it – or even
whether they decide to read it at all (143).”
The Goals of Document and Web Design:
• To make a good impression on readers
• To help readers understand the structure and hierarchy of information
• To help readers find the information they need
• To help readers understand the information
• To help readers remember the information
Assignment:
Start by reading Chapter 7 and understanding Learning Theory and the Design Principles explained in it before writing your evaluation. The chapter
explains how technical communication uses each of the design elements listed in your assignment. Explain how well your design element fulfills the
four major Design Principles: Proximity, Alignment, Repetition, and Contrast (see Chapter 7, pages 144-146).
Your assignment is based on Exercise 4, on page 176 of Chapter 7:
Find three web sites within a single industry, such as personal watercraft, cars, computers, colleges, or boat brokers. Study the three sites,
focusing on one of the following aspects of site design:
• use of color
• quality of the writing
• quality of the site map or index
• navigation, including the clarity and placement of links to other pages in the site
• accommodation of multicultural readers
• accommodation of people with disabilities
• phrasing of the links
While it is helpful to study the three sites to form your comparisons, you only need to write about the strongest Web site and the weakest.
Which of the three sites is most effective? Which is least effective? Why? Compare and contrast the two sites you have chosen in terms of their
effectiveness.
I have included links to two sample categories of Web sites (Boat Brokers, and Colleges/Universities) that you may choose to analyze, or choose your
own category and Web sites within it. If you choose your own Web sites, please be sure to imbed the links to the sites or screen shots of the sites
in your assignment, so that I can view them when grading your evaluation.
Format:
• Choose one design aspect to analyze, then write a short (about one page) memo to me explaining which Web site is the most effective, which is the
least effective, and why. Your goals in presenting technical information are to state it clearly, directly, and concisely, so focus on writing
clearly and supporting your analysis with specifics about the two Web sites.
• Begin with a short introductory paragraph (3-4 sentences) explaining your overall comparison of the Web sites, and why one is more effective than
the other.
• A good way to organize the body of your Memo would be to divide it into two sections, each that describes one Web site with its own heading: Most
Effective Site Design, Least Effective Site Design.
• Another possible organization would be to divide the body of your Memo by aspects of the page design element you are analyzing, such as looking at
the use of color by proximity, alignment, repetition, and contrast. The body of your Memo would be divided into four sections in which you compare
and contrast the most and least effective Web sites.
• You may start using standard technical writing conventions: short-medium length sentences; single-space between lines; double-space between
paragraphs; triple-space before and after major headings.
For guidelines about writing memos read Chap. 9, Writing Correspondence, in PSTC (pp.223-232). You may use a standard Memo template for the heading,
as long as it contains the four essential lines: To, From, Date, and Subject.
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