Creating a Roadmap :: Internet Websites Computers Essays

Creating a Roadmap There are a variety of ways a link can be represented on the web. One of the challenges of designing a page is making a site visually appealing to the eye. Visual perception is how we analyze the world around us. Visual perception is â€Å"an active, thinking process of planning for, as well as interpreting, sensory data from the eyes† (Hilligoss 7). The layout and utilization of graphics serve as a roadmap for any website. Therefore, in order for people to effectively navigate a website, they must be able to communicate effectively through photos, icons, and text. The first key idea is the placement of the photos, icons, or text that will serve as buttons. â€Å"As we look around, we find focal points† and it is these points that direct our attention to the important areas of a page. When placing buttons, we do not want to make the size too small or to have a picture obscured behind text. If both text and graphics are used to represent the button, it is visually appeal ing to keep the text and graphics of equal width. This is exemplified on the main page of the WebCT course page where four pictures are used in conjunction with text labels. Each picture does not exceed the size of the text label, keeping the formatting consistent with the text serving as the foundation for the link. Choosing to use photos, icons, or text as buttons is up to the discretion of the author. â€Å"An icon is a graphic intended to convey a single specific message† (Farkas 208). Icons are largely symbolic and do not realistically represent their intended meanings. Authors M. Jimmie Killingsworth and Michael K. Gilbertson say that â€Å"iconic signs present general impressions that allow the observer to view a thing or a concept as a whole† (55). Iconic symbols should be chosen on their fundamentally understood meanings: a finger pointing right represents ‘Next Page’ or a printer represents the action ‘Print’. Killingsworth and Gilbertson call icons â€Å"relational and holistic,† meaning that the interpretation of a chosen symbol is relative to a culture (53). For a more specific meaning, an author may want to try using photos. Killingsworth and Gilbertson make the distinction that â€Å"the photographic image is not an icon, despite its near perfect resemblance to its object† (52). In this case, a photo must accurately represent the button or link.