March 24, 2007

Accessibility using CSS

Accessibility using CSS will be very important for the website that we will be redesigning for this class. The zoo and there website are probably used by a wide range of people and some maybe with disabilities. After taking a look at how we were going to develop our site we determined that the main reason people will come to the website is to find basic information such as hours the zoo is open, location, and special events. By using CSS we can insure that every one will be able to find and use this information. The zoo has continuously changing events and probably can't afford to continue someone to pay to make changes to their website, by using css we will allow someone there to be able to go in and change the text without messing with the original design.

Duluth Billboards

Yes. I think that digital billboards are extremely distracting therefore should be regulated. Imagine if there were 20 billboards in a mile stretch of road! You would have to concentrate really hard to focus just on the road. I don't feel like there is an issue right now with there being to many billboards. However, I can easily see there being a problem unless they start regulating them now. Unfortunately I think it will be really hard for them to do much about it. Who gets to determine who is allowed to have a digital billboard. If you own the property you control what gets placed on it.

Web fonts

I found an article online titled the Anatomy of Web Fonts and thought it was really interesting.

"If one aspect of design has suffered most in its transition to the Web, it is the art of typography. For years, Web typography involved little more than choosing a typeface and font size. Unstyled Times New Roman was the norm, and the integration of established typographical techniques and rules was unimagined."

"But times change. Since the adoption of CSS into mainstream Web design, we have entered a new age of Web typography. This facet of design has been opened up to the Web designer in a way that wasn't possible in the past. We now have the tools to return typography to its true role within the sphere of design."

Low contrast and simple strokes with a consistent weight and thickness, wide letter spacing, tall x-height, and wide punch (counter) width make for the most legible web fonts. Ultimately though however carefully we try and pick our fonts as designers the viewer has ultimate control. If I was posting a large body of text on my websites and I felt that my audience would more than likely print it to read it since this is easier on the eyes, I would go with a font like Helvetica that has been proven as a legible font for both web and print.

If you have a chance read the article. It is a bit elementary but the guy makes some valid point. The technical part of the article is what was most interesting.

Eticketing Kiosk

I personally have not searched out a Kiosk but my room mates both have used eticketing at airports in the last two months. When asked what they thought about them they said that it made getting your boarding pass quick. There were no lines to wait in which was especially nice when you didn't have to check baggage. All you need to use them is your flight number and a form of identification, your drivers licenses, which you swipe into the machine. It gives you options to switch seats, showing you a map of the open seats on the plane. The cons about this kiosk is that you can't easily go back through if you made a mistake. If you said no to print a receipt and as soon as you hit the button change your mind and want one, you can't go back.

February 5, 2007

Second Life

I think second life is an interesting concept but I don't think it will ever take over the internet. At least for now is seems to be to slow to really be efficient and get things done. Also I think as a human race we all need physical interaction with each other. If second life ever actually took off, there would be a lot of social and ethical problems as a result. It already has turned in a negative direction with the whole pornography route. Also what does it tell us about how we view ourselves. We could live a double life by changing what we look like or how we acted and I think thats a scary thought. Would there be any sort of a Government? Who gets to decide what one can do in second life? I found it fascinating how a group of users rioted the whole land issue and won.

January 16, 2007

Interactive Day 1 - Questions

What is Interactive Design?
Interactive design is design that is interactive, the audience has some control over the piece. Interactive design is usually created using digital media.

What do you want to learn in the course?
I would like to learn how to design a user friendly website. Also I'd like to learn different ways of developing a website.

I would like to learn about css, html basics, Java and anything else that might be useful.