28 jan 2010 jour3340 website design&elements
DESCRIPTION
UNT Professor Neil Foote's course notes.TRANSCRIPT
Website Design:What Makes a Good News Website
JOUR 3340 – Online JournalismJanuary 28, 2010
Today’s Class
Elements of Design Next Tuesday’s assignment
Blog Post #1 Based on today’s lecture on websites, go to
AssignmentEditor.com to find a local newspaper or television website (outside of North Texas). How does this news website meet the criteria? For additional information, read the following links.
Elements of News Website Headline Summary Main story Breaking news
briefs Links to related
stories Time lines Short bios on key
sources
Photos/graphics Audio Still and/or video
slide shows Polls Games Discussion forums Email link to
reporter Database
The Home Page
Web 1.0:Navigationon the Left
The Home Page cont.
Web 2.0:Navigationat Top
Large
Colorful
Photo
Ad
Space
The Home Page cont.
Web 2.0:Navigationat Top
Headlines,
Blurbs, Links Reader
EngagementInteractive Packages – Slide Shows
Best Newspaper Websites
© 2008 Compiled by The Bivings Group, a communications consulting firm
© 2008 Compiled by The Bivings Group, a communications consulting firm
© 2008 Compiled by The Bivings Group, a communications consulting firm
© 2008 Compiled by The Bivings Group, a communications consulting firm
Elements of Basic DesignTraditional v. Web
Traditional Modular Balance Fonts Headlines,
subheads, bylines Lead story, off
lead, display feature
Charts/boxes Hi-res images
Digital Media Balance Simple, clean Colorful Headlines Photos with captions Interactive graphics Animation, flash Low res, fewer pixels
The Home Page Hooking your
audience immediately
Who is your reader? Your viewer?
Why will they/would they come to your website?
What’s the ‘so what’ of your website?
Choosing the right images
Removing distractions
Understand the limits of design ‘Above the fold’ &
‘below the fold’
Web DesignYesterday & Today
Yesterday QuarkXpress,
Adobe Pagemaker HTML code
Hyper Text Markup Languague
FTP: File Transfer Protocol
Today Dreamweaver Adobe EnDesign Flash, Shockwave WYSIWYG (What You
See Is What You Get ) Content Management Systems
Basic Elements of Design
Balance: No obscured elements Big elements shouldn’t obscure small ones Dark elements should not obscure light ones
(e.g. black background, orange font)
Contrast & Focus Using white space wisely
http://www.statesman.com/?r=t http://www.cleveland.com/
Web Journalism, James Glen Stovall, ‘Design on the Web’, Chapter Ten
Basic Elements of Design Readability
See and read stories on the website No more than two clicks from HomePage
Simplicity Avoid lots of complicated graphics, animation
Consistency Throughout website, particularly on article pages
Variety Be creative, but not obtrusive
Purpose: Always ask: What’s the purpose of this website?
Web Journalism, James Glen Stovall, ‘Design on the Web’, Chapter Ten
“You have to say, How do I take the same basic information and tell the story in a way that works on a Webpage? You have to take the information and turn it on its head – actually, you have to turn the method of storytelling on its head – then tell the story taking advantage of the new technology. You can’t approach it in the same way if you want o be effective.” Retha Hill, Director, New Media Innovation Lab Walter Cronkite School of Journalism Formerly VP Content, BET & executive producer,
WashingtonPost.com
Balancing Editorial & Revenue Editorial
News: Local, Regional, National, Int’l
Sports Business Lifestyle Opinion/Editorials
Revenue Classifieds Banners Advertorials Paid links Sponsored
content
Organizing the New Website Cont.
Within each story Byline Reporter’s email address Audio, video links Slideshow: photo and/or video Related links Comments section
Web Journalism, James Glen Stovall, ‘Design on the Web’, Chapter Ten
Organizing the New Website Cont.
Within each section front Consistency is key
Controlled by content management system, in many cases
Links to other sections Links to related articles
Web Journalism, James Glen Stovall, ‘Design on the Web’, Chapter Ten
Format of your Analysis
Website Analysis Grid
Website Name:
Website URL:
Content
Interactivity
Design
Functionality
Advertising
Analyzing a Website
Content: What’s featured on homepage? Local? National? News? Features?
Interactivity: What’s being used? Links? Slide shows? Video? Comments? Blogs?
Design/Navigation: Is it hard or difficult to find content on site?
Functionality: Is the useful? Informative? immediate
Advertising: How is it integrated? Is it distracting? Banners? Type?